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"You never count your money..."
I got married to the sounds of Kenny Rogers' The Gambler - strange but true - and my wife still hasn't forgiven me. But what has poker got to do with quotas? Well quite a lot actually...
Without quotas in place the glass ceiling will never truly be smashed says the red corner. The nays claim that quotas will just mean too many undeserving women being put into demanding board positions which will put back the cause of gender equality by a good 20 years.
"...sitting at the table..."
But here's the rub. When it comes to big business the stick is typically far more effective than the carrot. Lord Davies played his cards pretty well: no, he wasn't in favour of quotas but if companies' didn't start getting things sorted then he would change his mind pretty quickly. The European Commission seems to be playing a similarly poker-faced game. They keep talking about quotas, which is good; but I'm also fairly sure that they've got a few other priorities currently. Crackers and damaging in equal measure. But I still think the powers that be have to pretend to be serious about them...
"There'll be time enough for counting..."
This brings me to my point. The Think, Act, Report initiative is sensible, clearly thought out and could be a great way of pushing the gender agenda forward. But it will never grasp the business community's imagination until the Coalition talks seriously about the initiative entering the statute books. Don't believe me? Just look at some of the fantastic support networks the investment banking community trail blazed pre-Lehman when they thought gender pay transparency was just around the corner.
Come on Dave, we need you on message...
Ben Black
