Bank of Montreal | Formal employee representation in strategic decisionmaking at Bank of Montreal

Status
Withdrawn
AGM date
Previous AGM date
Resolution details
Company ticker
BMO:CN
Resolution ask
Adopt or amend a policy
ESG theme
  • Governance
ESG sub-theme
  • Decent work
Type of vote
Shareholder proposal
Filer type
Shareholder
Company sector
Financials
Company HQ country
Canada
Resolved clause
It is proposed that the Board of Directors explore ways to increase employee participation in the Board decision-making process. It is suggested that the findings of this review be presented at the next annual meeting in 2023.
Supporting statement
The health and economic crisis has underscored the importance of employee health and well-being within organizations. One need hardly be reminded of the benefits of employee well-being, including higher job satisfaction, a greater sense of belonging, a higher rate of engagement among employees, increased productivity, reduced absenteeism, lower insurance costs, and a lower risk of work accidents and occupational illnesses. Over the next few years, boards of directors will be faced with several issues related to talent management and development. In recent years, boards of directors have made a point of increasing the quality of their decision-making by drawing on a variety of experiences and skills and by involving as many people of all genders, ages, backgrounds and religions as possible. Although our boards are comprised of a majority of independent directors, what is lacking is the employee perspective that could provide an alternative view of the organization’s operational and strategic issues, better oversight of senior management decisions, and a better balance of short-term and long-term decisions, as employees tend to favour the long term. In its most recent edition (2018), the UK Corporate Governance Code invited consideration of various initiatives to increase employee involvement in the highly strategic decisions of organizations, including: the creation of a statutory advisory committee on the workforce; the designation of a board member to liaise with employees; the nomination to the board of at least one employee other than the CEO. Fully convinced of the great value of direct and formal employee input into strategic decision making, particularly decisions involving important talent management and development matters, we submit this proposal, confident that the company will, at the next annual meeting in 2023, propose ways to ensure employee input and participation.

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