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IMPROVING
BOARD PERFORMANCE
Making
whole board assessments interactive
There's only
one good reason to perform a Board Self-Assessment - to improve
the board's performance and contribution.
Many boards have found that the traditional, questionnaire-driven,
approach doesn't deliver the results that they're looking for.
They prefer an interactive approach that gets everyone fully involved.
In our experience, an interactive approach unlocks the talents
of the whole board. It brings a shared commitment to issues and
solutions. It is also invaluable in quickly introducing new board
members to the dynamics of the board and in building their confidence
to contribute vigorously and effectively. Many boards search for
new directors to add energy and different perspectives. Often
existing directors already possess much of this energy and talent
- it's just a matter of providing the right opportunity for them
to contribute it.
This interactive
approach is more fully explained in:
Interactive
Board Assessment.pdf
Evaluating
individual director performance
Whereas whole
board assessment has become "table stakes" in today's
governance environment, whether and how to perform individual
director assessments is still a troubling issue for many boards.
Approaches vary from informal chats, through paper self evaluations,
to "real-time" group evaluation of peer performance.
Usually, it's
best to introduce peer assessment only after the whole board assessment
process is well established and effective. Even then, there are
several criteria to be considered in balancing the risks and potential
benefits.
We'd be pleased
to discuss various approaches with you and how they might be implemented.
REAFFIRMING
CORPORATE ETHICS
Enron has done
us one favour - we no longer have to worry about exactly what is
meant by corporate ethics.
In the future,
boards and investors are likely to tolerate nothing less than exemplary
corporate behaviour in every aspect of business.
Boards of directors
have a key role not only in reviewing an organization's Code of
Conduct but in making sure that it is consistently and effectively
applied at all levels. Together with the CEO and senior executives,
they set the leadership tone for the whole organization.
Good governance
requires the board and executives to work closely together in crafting
an appropriate code and developing communication and education media
for ensuring that it is understood by all employees and other stakeholders.
Both Michael Gunns and Mark Wexler are experienced in helping organizations
develop and introduce codes of conduct that reflect their particular
characters and needs. They are familiar with both the benefits and
potential pitfalls of introducing and modifying codes, and with
the challenges of monitoring compliance. They also have extensive
experience counseling clients on how to handle tricky ethical issues
and crises.
Look for a new
publication: "20 Questions that Directors should ask about
Codes of Conduct" to be published by the CICA towards the end
of 2004. This booklet, authored by Michael and Mark, explains the
background and objectives of Codes and how to effectively develop
and implement them. It's expected to be useful reading for both
boards and executives.
View
Ethics Slide Show
SPEEDING-UP
COMPLIANCE REVIEWS
Does this ever
happen in your company?:
- reviews are
postponed, usually to the last minute,
- those being
reviewed resent the implication that they may have made mistakes,
- review time
is protracted as other priorities compete for time, and
- negative
findings are resented and little commitment is generated towards
fixing problems.
Yes, there is
a better way.
A facilitated
approach allows a group to quickly and readily hone in on any areas
of weakness and accept ownership for correcting deficiencies. This
is the reverse of traditional approaches where the reviewer, regardless
of their best efforts, invariably precipitates defensiveness in
those being reviewed. This slows down the process and reduces the
likelihood that problems will be acknowledged and addressed.
Most compliance
topics (such as safety, environmental, privacy, sales practices,
complaint handling, transaction timeliness, conforming to practice
guidelines, etc.) can be covered by a small group of participants
in less than a day. The results are a comprehensive report showing
strengths and weaknesses, and pointing the group towards areas where
further inquiry may be warranted.
©
GUNNS GROUP 2011 l TORONTO, CANADA l 905-893-3316
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