A review commissioned by the British government called on U.K. banks to link executive compensation to the number of women working in senior positions at their companies, according to The Washington Post.
It also recommended banks name an executive to oversee diversity issues. The government plans to measure improvement and publish a report by next year, according to the paper.
Firms such as Kraft, Sodexo and LinkedIn have implemented similar programs before that tied progress on diversity to bonuses, according to the report. However, The Post notes tying the bonuses to specific targets is less common.
Firms are often wary of establishing diversity benchmarks for a few reasons, according to the report. One is that the company may hire less-qualified candidates to fulfill requirements, or that it could stigmatize new hires as people who are just there so the executives can check off a box.
Jayne-Anne Gadhia, the CEO of Virgin Money, who chaired the report, said she hopes posing the challenge, measuring progress and reporting on it will get executives' attention and motivate them to take action, according to the report.
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