Today’s business environment is continuously resetting the bar for effective board oversight. New business models, impacted by new technologies and consumer behaviors, are emerging, while industry boundaries disappear. At the same time, sustainability risks and social awareness are increasing, driving a reprioritization of stakeholder and corporate values. These developments underscore the need for boards to evolve and learn by incorporating the appropriate external perspectives into their agendas to stay ahead of the curve and position the board as a strategic asset.
How can the board of the future keep pace? To help boards stay agile and relevant, board education practices should adapt to reflect the rapidly evolving external developments and strategy, risks and talent oversight needs. We frequently hear from boards who have a growing interest in tailored education and onboarding sessions for individual directors, committees and boards. We offer the following considerations for boards as they challenge how to strengthen their effectiveness in this area.
Tailor board education to company and individual needs
A robust, future-focused board education plan that is codeveloped by board and committee leaders and informed by the views of management and external advisors is key to advancing board effectiveness. Annually, board leadership in consultation with the CEO and other members of management should consider establishing a formal and customized learning plan for the board, its committees and individual directors. Such learning plans should have qualitative and quantitative goals and objectives. They should flex and adapt to changing market dynamics and regulatory developments, with a focus on meeting the unique learning needs of individual directors, committees and the board. While board and committee sessions should address current and future-focused topics, individual directors may need more baseline learning to bring them up to speed. Individual directors should play a proactive role in communicating their education needs to board leaders.
Boards should embrace the benefits of the full board and committee members collectively participating in education sessions on issues specific to the company’s business and circumstances. That collective education provides a shared experience and terminology that can help the board more effectively apply that learning to its oversight role.
A significant focus should be on closing the information gap on emerging trends and developments. Boards need ongoing insight sessions and a continual education program that keeps the board fluent regarding rapidly developing topics and helps directors maintain the skills and knowledge needed to effectively execute their responsibilities.
Today’s virtual business environment makes bespoke online education for the board and committees easier and more effective than ever to schedule and conduct. These sessions can occur outside of the board’s regular meeting cycle, allowing for a deeper dive into education topics without taking away from the board’s already crowded meeting agenda.