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The fundamental role of board directors is to support the executive management team in generating long term added value for shareholders or stakeholders and society at large and to account to shareholders for the company’s long term performance or the general public for public sector and voluntary sector organisations.

The government has taken decisive action in recent years to improve the corporate governance framework in the U.K and ensure that it continues to be respected worldwide.

The Higgs report and the revised Combined Code have put a new emphasis on the professionalism and effectiveness of directors and this is backed up by the Company Law Reform Bill.

No board can function effectively if its members lack the basic skills and knowledge required to discharge their responsibilities.

Directors need to understand the way the law treats companies and other organisations and what it means for them. They must be aware of their responsibilities at every stage in the 'life' of the business/organisation-including periods of difficulty and financial uncertainty. Frequently, directors need an accessible source of information or reassurance that they are on the right track and not proposing a course of action that contravenes regulation or best practice. Having this information available can also help directors realise when it is appropriate to seek professional assistants and have a better understanding of the advice they are given.

What are the specific areas we can cover?

The role of the board

  1. Key purpose
  2. Key responsibilities

Legal duties and liabilities of Company Directors and Good Practice

  1. Summary of the main duties and responsibilities
  2. Examples of good practice

The effective board

  1. Board composition and organisation
  2. The powers, roles and responsibilities of the board and management respectively
  3. Meetings of the board and its committees
  4. The effectiveness of the board as a working group
  5. Building a better board

Tasks of the board and indicators of good practice

  1. Establish and maintain vision, mission
  2. Decide strategy and structure
  3. Delegate to management
  4. Exercise accountability to shareholders/general public as appropriate and responsible to relevant stakeholders

Knowledge and skills and areas of competence

  1. Identifying which characteristics are relevant
  2. What to look for in a new director appointment
  3. How existing board members can be developed
  4. How to assess current board directors for appraisal and improve effectiveness
  5. How to recruit a new director-private and public sector
  6. Board composition

Service contracts and remuneration

  1. How to negotiate and agree employment terms between directors and companies
  2. How to negotiate and agree terms for public sector organisations
  3. The role of the remuneration committee and the setting of fees for non-executive directors

Corporate social responsibility

  1. Practical steps and useful contacts
  2. The principles

The role of the Chairperson

  1. Attributes of the successful Chairperson
  2. Raising standards of board effectiveness
  3. Working with the Chief Executive or Managing Director
  4. Working with the non-executive directors
  5. Assessing directors' performance
  6. Developing individual directors on the board
  7. Managing the boards business including committees
  8. Credibility, personalities, power and politics

A self assessment checklist is available on request and will be used in advance of any training or development sessions.

Summary of the key help we can offer.

  1. We can provide a variety of self assessment checklists to enable you to assess the level of help you need and to tailor our support
  2. We can assess the effectiveness of your board and provide a development plan which meets best practice
  3. We can provide tailored seminars on specific areas of corporate governance
  4. We can help you recruit new board directors
  5. We can provide tailored development packages for individual directors