The Elephant in the (Board)Room

In almost every survey of boards, directors reveal that they are unhappy with the performance of one or more of their boardroom colleagues. They usually then continue to reveal that their board has done nothing to remedy the poor performance. For example, the 2018 PwC Annual Corporate Directors Survey showed that 45% of directors believed that one or more of their board colleagues should have been replaced. The McKinsey Global Governance Survey2 showed that 67% of directors served on a board where one or more directors should have been removed.

Documenting Customer-Centricity

It would be hard to find a business that did not place customer-centricity as a priority and not-for-profits have in recent times started to catch on. However, customers for many not-for-profit organisations will differ from that of a for-profit organisation. For not-for-profits, the “customer” could range from the beneficiaries of the organisation, to their supporters, stakeholders, members or clients. Customer-Centric Constitution Customer-centricity will often require a cultural shift, and fundamental to any sort of cultural shift in this sector is an organisation’s documentation.

The Touchy Subject of CEO Dismissal

Firing the CEO can be one of the most difficult decisions a board can make – it will also be among the most critical. However, many boards, including those of non-profit organisations, will resist bringing up the need to fire their CEOs, while other boards will be far too quick to fire their chief executives. There are many reasons a board may be slow to act when it comes to CEO dismissal:

Learning for Purpose: Researching & Realising Not-for-Profit Capability Development

The ability of Australian Not-for- Profit (NFP) organisations to respond to change and growing demand – to have social impact – substantially depends on the knowledge, skills, and abilities of their people. This is not merely a trivial argument. Instead, multiple empirical research studies show that NFPs that systematically develop their employees and volunteers do better. For instance, a national study analysing field data from 697 Australian NFPs shows that organisational human resource development practices and policies positively affect organisational competence and capability.

Difficult Conversations About Director Performance

Every board must discuss difficult issues from time to time – and the right approach can have a positive impact on the outcome. James Birch AM, chairman of the Australian Red Cross Blood Service, has found that poor, or less than optimal, performance from the chief executive officer (CEO) tends to top the list of sensitive issues. This is followed by poor performance from a director or the board as a whole.

The Importance of Being Heard: Using Consumer Analytics for Continual Improvement

Listening to consumers, their families and carers, is critical to succeeding in an increasingly competitive climate. For example, the commencement of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and emergence of disruptive technologies, introduces informed choice. As purchasing power shifts to individual consumers, they will become more critical in their choice of service. To meet their due diligence responsibilities, directors must have an effective oversight of the processes in place for engaging with consumers and effectively monitoring and managing the quality and safety of services.

Unleashing the Power of Purpose

In Aaron Hurst’s book ‘The Purpose Economy’, he says “purpose comes when we know we have done something that we believe matters, to others, to society, and to ourselves.” Hurst believes that the nature of purpose is often misunderstood, a point of particular relevance to leaders of for-purpose (not-for-profit) organisations both at board and executive level. Our suggestion is that there is untapped potential in connecting to the power of purpose – both at an individual and organisational level.

Critical Success Factors for Your Social Enterprise

We asked Michael Dawson, CEO of CBB the not4profit people about what advice he had for organisations in the early stages of starting up. He shared with us his seven critical success factors for start-up social enterprises. This article is extracted from a longer interview conducted with Michael for the podcast SproutCast. 1. Put your mission first “Have a very strong focus on mission… We need to have a focus, a clear articulation of our purpose and in Simon Sinek’s language: our “why”.

Why Good Boards Behave Badly - Improving Your Board’s Performance Through Best Practice Boardroom Behaviours

High-performing boards know that organisational sustainability is reliant upon vigilant monitoring of key performance indicators. Similarly, boards need to review their performance against best practice governance frameworks. However, one critical corporate governance indicator of best practice is often overlooked. The unexpected board performance indicator In 2009, Sir David Walker (Walker, 2009) reviewed corporate governance in UK banks in light of corporate collapses. The terms of reference for the review were broad with the government seeking recommendations for a framework for best practice corporate governance.

The Path to Effective NFP Board and Director Evaluations

In the past, board performance in the not-for-profit (NFP) sector was seen to not need to be at the same standard as that required in the commercial sector. Thankfully, this view is changing, as it is far from the truth. Whether an organisation is focused on obtaining a profit or not, its governing body (whether it is a board, council or other grouping) should be adding value to that organisation, not hindering organisational performance.