Increasing gender diversity is a key topic of discussion among organizations today, and companies who are already in the process of catapulting their gender diversity efforts will progress quicker than others.

Although organizations have begun to hire a somewhat equal number of men and women, the percentage of women who make it to the C-suite is still decidedly low. Only 5% of working women in India make it to senior leadership positions in the corporate sector, compared to a global average of 20%. Companies that don’t yet have female representation on the board should act now. Those who do should make efforts to add another woman, as research shows that that is how real change begins to occur.

A growing body of research shows a wide array of business benefits linked with gender diversity on corporate boards, including value-added decision-making, decreased risk, broader and deeper market understanding, improved customer and employee satisfaction and boosted reputation. There is additional evidence that companies with a higher percentage of women on their boards tend to have fewer governance-related disputes, as well as advanced environmental, social and risk-management ratings and strategies.

Lastly, such aspects add to increased investor confidence and healthier valuations, as well as access to lower cost financing, through reduced risk.

India has shown improvement in this regard, post the Companies’ Act 2013 mandate, which stipulated that every board must have at least one woman director. Before the mandate’s enforcement in 2014, only 5.1% of directors were women. Today, that number is at 13%.

The argument against this is that it leads to tokenism and reduces the overall value of board diversity, and some have expressed doubt on or whether these policies have made a positive difference by pushing companies to action. Needless to say, appointing someone with little attention to qualifications is likely a lost opportunity to bring about positive changes that could enrich organizational performance.

To ensure a steadfast and smooth tenure on their boards, companies should give their female nominee directors in-depth training to prepare them for the job on day one – the returns will more than make up for the investment. Women nominee directors can benefit from soft skills training, such as how to ensure their voices are heard, as well as gender-neutral training on the applied facets of directorship, namely board operations, responsibilities, and dealings with management.

While women’s representation on corporate boards around the world remains at remarkably low levels, progress is possible. This advancement is pushed in part by institutional investors, who are asking more questions about board composition as part of their investment due diligence. Activist shareholders are also beginning to insistent on bigger female representation on the boards of companies in which they hold ownership stakes.

Board diversity holds the promise of palpable benefits such as brand enhancements and increased investor interest. Additionally, decreasing the gender gap in the boardroom to better mirror the composition of the world’s professional workforce is simply the reasonable thing to do. As more companies come to recognize this, those that don’t, risk being left behind.