There’s much talk about the quality and robustness of the pipeline to the Boardroom. Getting this right should be a priority for shareholders and stakeholders but building the pipeline has clearly not always attracted the attention it should have, particularly given increasing expectations for Boards of corporates and non-profits alike.
Therefore, in the latter half of 2018, Fidelio was delighted to speak on a number of panels addressing prospective Board Directors, who were interested in contributing at Board-level and, importantly, willing to prepare and learn.
These panel discussions included:
- The ICSA Annual Conference for Company Secretaries – a panel which included Sacha Sadan, Director of Corporate Governance, Legal & General Investment Management; and Vyla Rollins, Executive Director, Leadership Institute, London Business School;
- A Non-Executive Director Panel Discussion at the Association of Corporate Treasurers (ACT) with fellow panellists including Charlotte Morgan, Non-Executive Director and Deputy Audit Committee Chair, Ford Credit Europe Bank plc, and moderated by Caroline Stockmann, Chief Executive, ACT;
- And a panel discussion for a major global Financial Services company, where co-panellists included Brenda Trenowden, Global Chair, 30% Club, and Melanie Richards, Deputy Chair, KPMG.
What gives Fidelio considerable optimism from the above panel discussions is:
- The tremendous interest among talented and highly qualified professionals, who are typically very financially literate, in contributing at Board-level and ultimately building a Board portfolio;
- The recognition that this requires preparation and, while a Board career builds on corporate experience, additional skills relating to governance and the ability to work through influence are critical;
- And, finally, a very strong interest in contributing to non-profit Boards, yes to learn and develop as a Director/Trustee/Governor but, importantly, also to give back.
What gives us cause for concern is an evolving sense that corporate Boards may lie beyond the reach of the majority, including among these highly qualified audiences. If we are to keep routes to the Boardroom open, and our goal is greater Board diversity, then we need to avoid the perception of a two-tier system which downgrades governance experience outside the DAX30 or FTSE100, for example.
On balance, however, as Fidelio looks ahead in 2019, we see the growing levels of interest in governance and the work of the Boardroom as a major opportunity for non-profits and important for all Boards. Organisations keen to tap into cutting edge executive skills can achieve this through including fresh talent on the Board of Trustees or Governors. What many prospective Board Directors are hungry for is not remuneration but experience.
A wise Chair will be able to provide a development opportunity for less experienced Directors in return for bringing fresh and innovative thinking– which may well still be at the executive end of the spectrum – to the Board discussion. A potential pitfall is time commitment and the same Chair would do well to insist that the there is an explicit understanding that attendance is a priority and will be respected by the employer. This is not an unreasonable arrangement as there is considerable evidence that senior executives benefit substantially from external Board experience – bringing back insight and a broader perspective into their day job.
And perhaps the most important aspect of this appetite for Board opportunities and Board learning is the humility – the recognition that being a well-paid, highly successful executive is not all it takes to be effective in the Boardroom. This surely bodes well for 2019.
Fidelio’s focus is building Boards fit for the future. We do this through Search, Development and Evaluation on an international basis. To find out how Fidelio can support your Board, get in touch via info@fideliopartners.com