National Grid 2015 Annual Report Download - page 60

Corporate Governance
Corporate Governance continued
Where appropriate, we will assist with the development and
support of initiatives that promote gender and other forms of
diversity among our Board, executive and other senior management.
Objective met – see page 25 for further details.
Where appropriate, we will continue to adopt best practice
inresponse to the Davies Review.
Ongoing – as appropriate.
We will review our progress against the Board diversity
policyannually.
Objective met – ongoing.
We will report on our progress against the policy and our objectives
in the Annual Report and Accounts along with details of initiatives
to promote gender and other forms of diversity among our Board,
Executive Committee and other senior management.
Objective met – ongoing.
We will continue to make key diversity data, both about the Board
and our wider employee population, available in the Annual Report
and Accounts.
Objective met – ongoing.
Progress against the objectives and the policy will continue to be
reviewed annually and reported in the Annual Report and Accounts.
Executive Committee
Led by the Chief Executive, the Executive Committee oversees the
safety, operational and financial performance of the Company. It is
responsible for making day-to-day management and operational
decisions it considers necessary to safeguard the interests of the
Company and to further the strategy, business objectives and
targetsestablished by the Board.
It approves expenditure and other financial commitments within its
authority levels and discusses, formulates and approves proposals
tobe considered by the Board.
The Committee in action
During the year, the Executive Committee reviewed and
discussed a proposed joint venture with the Berkeley Group.
The strategic aim was to unlock value in our surplus London
property portfolio and transform redundant land to help meet
the current housing and commercial needs of London.
The proposal was initially presented to the Committee for
consideration. Feedback was provided, with requests for
furtherinformation and clarification on aspects of the proposal.
Committee members then worked closely with management
and specialist teams to develop the proposal.
The proposal returned to the Committee for review and was
approved for recommendation to the Board. Following
presentation and review at its November meeting, the Board
gave final approval of the arrangement. The joint venture, called
St William Homes, was formally announced in November.
The nine Committee members have a broad range of skills and
expertise, which are updated through training and development.
Some members also hold external non-executive directorships,
giving them valuable board experience.
The Committee officially met 12 times this year, but the members
interact much more regularly. Those members of the Committee
who are not Directors regularly attend Board and committee
meetings for specific agenda items. This means that knowledge is
shared and every member is kept up to date with business activities
and developments.
Appointment process
Executive Director
The recruitment process undertaken for the appointment of Dean
Seavers was formal, rigorous and transparent. The Nominations
Committee appointed Korn Ferry as the search consultancy, and
the following process was undertaken:
• with input from the Committee members, a role and person
specification was prepared;
• Korn Ferry conducted initial searches, meeting eight potential
candidates and shortlisted three candidates;
• a series of interviews of the shortlisted candidates were
conducted by Sir Peter Gershon, Steve Holliday, Andrew Bonfield,
Mark Williamson, Nora Mead Brownell and Mike Westcott
(theGroup Human Resources Director);
• following a review of the combined ratings from all the
interviewers, the Nominations Committee selected two
candidates for further consideration;
• final interviews with the two candidates were carried out by
Steve Holliday, Nick Winser, John Pettigrew, Nora Mead Brownell
and members of the Executive Committee;
• following discussion, the Nominations Committee recommended
Dean Seavers as its preferred candidate for appointment to the
Board, noting that all members had met Dean; and
• the Board approved the appointment as recommended.
In addition to providing external search consultancy services to
theCompany, Korn Ferry also provided IT consultancy, e-learning
services and coaching for senior management.
John Pettigrew was appointed to the Board with effect from
1April2014. A description of the process undertaken in relation
tohis appointment was provided in the 2013/14 Annual Report
andAccounts.
Board diversity and the Davies Review
At National Grid, we believe that creating an inclusive and diverse
culture supports the attraction and retention of talented people,
improves effectiveness, delivers superior performance and
enhances the success of the Company.
Our Board diversity policy promotes this and reaffirms our
aspiration to meet and exceed the target of 25% of Board positions
being held by women by 2015, as set out by Lord Davies.
We currently have 27% women on our Board and 22% women
onour Executive Committee. The number of women in senior
management positions and throughout the organisation is set out
on page 25 along with examples of the initiatives to promote and
support inclusion and diversity throughout our Company.
During the year, the Committee reviewed the Board diversity policy
and progress made against the objectives which were approved
tosupport the implementation of the policy as set out below:
The Board aspires to exceed the target of 25% of Board positions
to be held by women by 2015.
Objective met – we currently have 27% women on our Board.
All Board appointments will be made on merit, in the context ofthe
skills and experience that are needed for the Board to beeffective.
Objective met – John Pettigrew and Dean Seavers were
appointed on merit.
We will only engage executive search firms who have signed up to
the Voluntary Code of Conduct on gender diversity.
Objective met – Korn Ferry are signed up to the code.
58