Building Strong Boards

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Building Strong Boards Practical Tools

• Janet Salopek of Salopek Business Consulting Ltd.

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Im glad you signed up!

• Lets connect!
• Introduce yourself to your neighbour and talk
  about the challenges in Building Strong Boards.
• What do you believe to be the biggest challenges?
• Lets share our ideas and our stories

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Objectives

• Understand the processes that are important to
  effective governance boards
• Assess what is important in your association in
  order to strengthen governance processes
• Develop a plan to introduce new governance
  processes
• Take with you some tools that will help you get
  started in implementing new processes

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Let me introduce myself

• Janet Salopek
• Owner Salopek Consulting
• Focusing on Board Governance, Strategic Planning
  and Human Resource Management
• Member of the Institute of Corporate Directors
• 15 plus years experience in the Board Room as a
  member of Senior Management Team
• 12 years as a Corporate Secretary
• Sits on the Board of Directors for 2 non-profits
• Human Resource Association of Calgary
• Calgary Immigrant Womens Association
• Currently enrolled in the Directors Education
  Program at the Haskayne School of Business

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Lets hear from you

• How many sit (or have sat) on a Board of
  Directors?
• How many report into a Board of Directors?
• What are the challenges facing Boards today?

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Common NFP Board Challenges

• According to study by Strategic Leverage Partners
• Landmark study on the governance practices of
  Canadas not-for-profit boards
• As reported by the ICD in April 2006
• Challenges
• Effective Recruitment of Directors
• Developing a clear board mandate
• Strong Leadership for the chair of the board
• Not For Profit

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Why Effective Board Governance?

• It guides us to put processes in place which help
  us with decision making when timelines are tight

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How does it help us with.

• Effective Recruitment of Directors
• well defined job descriptions
• identify core competencies criteria for
  recruitment
• appropriate orientation sessions for new
  directors
• continuing education for all members of the Board

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How does it help with

• Developing a clear Board Mandate
• Annual Strategic Planning Sessions
• Reviews, debates, fine-tunes and ultimately
  accepts a strategy with realistic goals and
  objectives, with clear implementation strategies
• Ensures management has the resources for
  successful implementation
• Ensures that strategy is turned into operating
  plans and budgets
• Identification of strategic issues to be reviewed
  at regular intervals
• Monitor the performance of management

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How does it help with

• Strong Leadership for the Chair of the Board
• Competency in communication and relationship
  building
• Tasked with building and maximizing the Team
• Board evaluation focused on development and
  capacity building

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Effective Recruitment of Directors

• Core Competencies
• Strategic
• Big picture
• Can think outside the box
• Sound decision maker
• Alert and responsive to change
• Analytical
• Probes the facts, challenges assumptions, ensures
  discussions are penetrating
• Communication
• Good oral
• Good Listener
• Open
• Interacts well with others
• Fosters co-operation and effective teamwork
• Assertive ready to take charge
• Persuades others to give their agreement and
  commitment
• Motivates
• Results Orientated
• Has appropriate energy and time

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Tool Kit

• Provides you with Interview Guide to assist you
  in asking the right questions
• Remember to consider the strengths and weaknesses
  of your current Board when recruiting new members
• Recruit to shore up you weak areas

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Development of the Board

• Competency development in the following
  dimensions
• Contextual
• Educational
• Interpersonal
• Analytical
• According to Chait, Holland and Taylor in
  Improving the Performance of Governing Boards

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Contextual Dimension

• Ability to adapt to the culture of the
  organization
• Relies on mission, values and tradition
• an understanding of the culture and norms of the
  organization
• Re-enforces organization values

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Educational Dimension

• desire for education and development
• seeks information and feedback on performance
• pauses for self-reflection

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Interpersonal Dimension

• Fosters cohesiveness
• Creates a sense of inclusiveness
• Develops group goals and recognized group
  achievements

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Analytical Dimension

• Recognizes the complexities and subtleties of
  issues and accepts ambiguity and uncertainty as
  healthy
• Approaches matters from a broad outlook
• Dissects and analyses
• Raises doubts, explores tradeoffs and encourages
  expression of differences of opinion