Look for Shareholders to Focus on Diversity and Disclosure on HCM

Our September 24th ESG Alert noted that the success of human capital management (HCM) proposals helped drive the unprecedented level of support for “E&S” shareholder proposals in the 2021 proxy season. This Alert focuses on what we saw in HCM proposals in 2021 and what to expect this autumn and next year. We’re tracking and reporting on shareholder voting trends at Russell 3000 firms in partnership with ESG data analytics firm ESGAUGE, leadership advisory and search firm Russell Reynolds Associates, and Rutgers University’s Center for Corporate Law and Governance.

Three key observations about HCM proposals in 2021:

• First, HCM proposals in 2021 focused more on diversity tha