We believe that a balanced, diverse Board is stronger and better equipped to consider the risks, opportunities and challenges facing Smith+Nephew, understanding the views of all stakeholders, including our shareholders, in order to reach decisions which take into account a wider range of perspectives. The aim is for the Board to have a broad range of backgrounds, skills and experiences and value a diversity of outlook, approach and style in Board members. We believe the Board’s composition gives us the necessary balance of diversity, skills, experience, independence and knowledge to ensure continued efficiency in running the business and delivery of sustainable growth.
In order to ensure that the Board remains diverse in the broadest sense and that members have the skillsets to support and deliver shareholder value as the business evolves, Smith+Nephew analyses the skills and experiences required on an ongoing basis against the skills and experiences of the Board.
Diversity is not simply a matter of gender, ethnicity, social or other measurable characteristics. Diversity of outlook and approach is harder to measure than gender or ethnicity but is equally important. A Board needs a range of skills from technical competence on governance and regulatory matters to understanding the business in which we operate and the needs of our stakeholders. It needs some members with a long corporate memory and others who bring new insights from other fields. To perform effectively, the Board needs to be both supportive and challenging. When selecting new directors for the Board, Smith+Nephew looks for members with suitable professional backgrounds, who provide fresh perspectives. Smith+Nephew will continue to appoint Directors on merit, valuing the unique contribution that they will bring to the Board, regardless of gender, ethnicity or any other diversity measure whilst being mindful of governance requirements and recommendations.
At 31 December 2023, our Board comprised of 33.33% female directors and 16.67% of non-white ethnicity. Our Executive Committee has four members of non-white ethnicity and comprised of 33.33% female employees on this date.