When training advanced level Certified Public Secretary students, it always comes as a surprise on the diverse range of skillsets that a Company Secretary (CS) needs to have in order to remain a valued member of the board and of executive management. Some of these skillsets (apart from being the governance expert in the room) could be:
1. Organisation and administrative skills – to put together well designed meetings;
2. Financial literacy to follow the interpretation of the financial statements and translate these interpretations into the minute records;
3. Corporate affairs to tailor the right messaging for shareholders, stakeholders and the community at large and
4. Human Resource skills- as the defacto HR manager of the Board, managing the Board’s human capital talent; among many other skillsets.

So as a defacto Board HR Manager, one task that the CS would need to ensure to get right would be the induction, introduction and onboarding of new Board Members. An induction programme should be mandatory for all directors, regardless of experience.

New members need to be caught up on a lot of information in a relatively short amount of time so that they are able to hit the ground running. A welcome process that outlines current initiatives, who to contact for information, and your organizations current goals allows new board members to catch on quickly.

The board induction is often the point in the talent management process when the CS becomes fully involved. This could however be mistaken to be largely an administrative and information passing role. It should be viewed as a set up for the Secretary to start presenting themselves as an advisor, mentor and coach, to support more behavioural, emotional, motivational, relational and resilience aspects of what the new director uniquely might want and need.

One useful method of doing this, is in partnering the new director with an executive board member which may speed up the process of them acquiring an understanding of the main areas of business activity, especially areas involving significant risk.

A summary framework which a CS can use to tailor an induction programme may include:
i. Presentations from management on the strategy, the business model, profitability and performance of the organisation
ii. A review of the previous 12 months’ board papers/minutes to understand current issues
iii. Meetings with key executives/functions such as finance, marketing, IT, HR, etc
iv. Site visits to understand how the business works and to meet people on the ground
v. Meetings with advisors, for example, bankers, brokers, accountants or others
vi. Explanation of regulatory and governance issues that affect the organisation
vii. Attendance at an investor day or an initial board meeting.

We at Akira Consult are happy to partner with you and assist onboard your new directors to ensure they get off to a flying start!