Procter & Gamble Co. shareholders shot down a proposal that would have forced the consumer goods giant to consider current and former non-managerial employees as candidates for open seats on the board of directors as part of an effort to bolster board diversity. 

The proposal’s sponsors, corporate governance bloggers James McRitchie and Myra Young, had asserted that employee representation “grows long-term value of companies” through increasing the diversity of boards “in terms of race, gender and wealth.”