Board Effectiveness and Governance Reviews

The Combined Code on Corporate Governance requires the Boards of UK listed companies to undertake a formal and rigorous annual evaluation of its own performance and that of its committees and individual directors.

IDDAS is able to provide a stand alone or integrated Board Effectiveness Review providing the Chair and Non Executive Directors with a means of standing back and assessing their Board’s performance and readiness to meet the needs of their immediate and future company strategy, see Board Effectiveness Team.

This consists of:

• A Statutory Governance and Compliance Evaluation
• Board Leadership and Behavioural Effectiveness Facilitation
• Board Development Assessment
• Corporate Governance Development Programme

The Statutory Governance and Compliance Evaluation

IDDAS can provide an independent evaluation in a structured manner following discussion with the company’s Chairman. The process is conducted sensitively and intelligently by a team who have Board experience and are aware of the challenges that face Chairmen, Non-Executive Directors and Executive Directors. IDDAS will provide an evaluation of the whole Board, its committees and individual Directors and recommend actions in respect of areas identified for improvement.

This consists of a Board evaluation of:

• The Board structure and composition review
• Collective and individual Board capabilities
• Formal operation of the Board, its Committees and their effectiveness

Board Leadership and Behavioural Effectiveness

IDDAS is able to provide a facilitated process which directly addresses the collective and individual performance of the Board as a unit.

We achieve this by:

• Capturing the leadership and behavioural effectiveness of the Board as a ‘team’ and as ‘individuals’ within this team
• Facilitating the discussion of the outcomes and objectives for the Board Team to maximise effective debate and discussion
• Identifying direct and efficient actions for development

IDDAS has a world class facilitation team who are regularly working with top Boards and Leadership teams. Their role is to support and expedite the team, creating an awareness of the behavioural and group dynamics which may be hindering or hijacking effective debate and discussion.

Board Development and Education Plan

For newly appointed and existing Board Directors the necessity of understanding all aspects of a complex business is an inherent requirement of their role. Consequently ensuring there is a structured and proactive Board development and education plan for each Board member and for the Board as a whole is an increasingly critical requirement for the Chair.

IDDAS achieves this by:

• Creating an individualised Development and Education plan for each Board Director
• Applying an individualised Development and Assessment process to articulate the development required of individuals to meet future requirements and capabilities of the Board

Corporate Governance Development Programme

As a key element of Board Effectiveness IDDAS offers a Corporate Governance Programme which is of direct practical relevance to the needs of today’s Board executives and is comprehensive in providing a thorough appreciation of current best practice.

It is ideal as an induction for new Directors and NEDs or refresher and update for existing Directors and NEDs.

IDDAS achieves this with:

• A Group Seminar for a specific organisation
• Regular Group seminar which we run, mixing Directors from a range of organisations in a confidential environment
• One to One coaching of Board Directors

Leading roles in the delivery of these Programmes are taken by Professor Andrew Chambers, Editor of Tottel’s Corporate Governance Handbook, and Cliff Weight, an acknowledged expert in remuneration solutions.

The Programme has proven highly successful in equipping individuals with the knowledge, tools and skills to perform effectively at board level, be they new to the boardroom, or with an existing executive or non executive remit.