Board self-assessments provide an opportunity to analyze everything from how a board is structured to the performance of directors in order to pinpoint areas in need of improvement and equip the board to better meet company goals. While board self-assessment is already top of mind for many companies, some question how best to begin. The following guide is designed to help you zero in on which aspects of your board to evaluate, and how to apply the results for future success.

Board Composition

Building a “strong, qualified board of directors” -  along with appraising its performance - tops law firm McInnes Cooper’s corporate governance best practices list. So what should you look for when assessing the composition of your board?

According to the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, boards and corporate governance committees must “think critically” about the skills and attributes of their current directors, and consider how these relate to company oversight.

While the right mix of skills may vary from board to board based on factors such as industry type and company objectives, the Harvard Law forum paper notes that high-performing boards typically require several things: “agile directors who can grasp concepts quickly, fiercely independent thinkers who consciously avoid groupthink and are able to challenge management - while still contributing to a productive and collegial boardroom environment,” and “directors with different backgrounds… who understand how the company’s strategy is impacted by emerging economic and technological trends.”

Companies and their administrators can use these characteristics and criteria to assess their existing board and its culture, but they’re also useful for creating a strategy related to future board appointments, whether you plan to add new directors to expand the size of a board or engage in a board refresh.

Aside from analyzing directors’ skills and competencies, companies can use self-assessment as an opportunity to ensure that their board is sufficiently diverse. According to PricewaterhouseCooper’s 2016 Annual Corporate Directors Survey, 96 percent of directors agree that diversity is important, but global executive search firm Spencer Stuart found that in 2015 women represented just 20 percent of S&P 500 boards. Meanwhile, research from Catalyst, a nonprofit dedicated to creating workplace diversity, shows that organizations with the most women board members experienced a superior return on sales and return on invested capital, compared with boards that included few women directors.

Board Effectiveness

When it comes to evaluating the effectiveness of your board, consulting resource Boardroom Metrics recommends that companies ask the following questions:

1. Do the board members’ skills and expertise match the strategic direction and plan of the organization?
2. Does the information the board receives support its ability to assess risk, set direction and lead the organization?
3. Is effective leadership provided by the board and committee chairs?
4. Do the board’s processes facilitate effective knowledge-gathering, decision making, planning and execution of board decisions?
5. Does the board work together well as a team and with management?

Honing in on what’s to blame for ineffectual performance can help a company identify the specific areas most in need of attention. It could be, for example, that your board members are disengaged. In this case, a board refresh might indeed be the ideal solution.

Perhaps your directors could benefit from better communication with the C-suite crowd, or possibly an outdated system for sharing board meeting documents and board meeting minutes is negatively influencing efficiency. Either way, the results of your board effectiveness assessment will determine your next steps.

Board Meeting Process

If you do find that your board meetings aren’t as effective as they could be, then your meeting process is likely to blame.

In an article titled “8 Ways to Better Board Meetings,” published by national nonprofit leadership and strategy practice CompassPoint, the company’s senior project director Marla Cornelius explained the importance of maximizing board meetings.

“The job of board members is very complex, and by nature, intensely collaborative,” Cornelius wrote. “Making the most of board meetings isn’t just a good habit to aspire to, it’s essential to good governance, strong leadership, and healthy organizations.”

When meeting process is a point of issue, adopting board portal software to streamline communications and enhance collaboration can help. Among other things, tools like this allow directors and administrators to refine how board meeting minutes are taken and distributed.

CompassPoint named board packets as a top tool for improving board meetings by increasing member engagement and making the most of the board’s “collective wisdom.” When companies transfer these materials online, along with a board meeting agenda, board members are capable of accessing meeting-related documents from anywhere in the world. That, in turn, makes it easier for members to come prepared and - as CompassPoint notes - have “the right focus at the right time.”

Corporate Management and Board Communication

A board assessment wouldn’t be complete without an evaluation of the way your board and your company’s executive management interact, as this plays a huge role in ensuring that a board can achieve its objectives and complete its mission to build and maintain a successful company. On the subject of creating a better board-CEO relationship, Trustee magazine writes, “Good communication between the board and CEO is essential, and this applies to both substance and style.”

Similarly, an article published by The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University states: “For a company to function effectively, the management team and the board of directors must be in general alignment.” Naturally, that can’t happen unless the lines of communication are open and all parties are able to interface effectively.

To assess the relationship between your CEO and your board, explore whether board members and management are able to have productive discussions in which everyone involved feels comfortable voicing their opinions. Additionally, it’s important to determine the degree to which the CEO and upper management openly accept the outcome of decisions made by the board.

Trustee magazine’s advice is to “aim to create a culture of trust where it’s safe to disagree, but everyone understands that once a decision is made together, everyone supports the decision whether they agreed or not.”

When companies embrace the board self-assessment process and use their findings to build a more functional board, they stand to gain big. As you launch your own board evaluation and engage in future assessments, always keep these fundamental aspects of board structure, performance and functionality in mind.

Article is sourced from Diligent. 

While industry association membership is a non-negotiable for some sectors and senior staff, for others, and often those in more junior positions, it can be a self-funded expense that stretches the budget.

And this is a shame, because people at the beginning of their careers have so much to gain from industry association membership - they’re usually keen to network, access professional development and get ahead.

But for these self-funded and often younger members who are yet to reach their earning potential, membership fees that need to be paid upfront can be prohibitive. To be honest, this can be the case wherever you’re at in your career if the lump-sum fee is significant.

So what can associations do to make it more affordable for new members to join and existing members to stay on?

Providing a direct debit billing or subscription option can be the key. It can make it more feasible for an association to bring early career members into the fold sooner, and to build an ongoing relationship with them. It can also make it easier for existing members to continue their membership, because their monthly payments are smaller, regular, budgeted for and more affordable than a lump sum.

Benefits for associations

Using a direct debit billing model such as PaySmart has major benefits for associations and administrative staff.

For starters, your Secretariat will no longer have to process and chase down overdue payments - you can leave that to PaySmart! This relieves your staff or volunteers of these admin tasks and steers their time and energies into the project work that matters most.

Direct debit billing can also positively impact your association’s cash flow. It can deliver regular income to the association throughout the year, which aids in cash flow budgeting, but it can also boost membership numbers and retention as payments become more affordable over a longer period of time.

Associations can also use direct debit billing as a way to make participation in association activities easier and more affordable.

For example, attendance at trade shows, conferences, awards dinners or professional development programs can sometimes be difficult to manage because of cost. But what if you offered members the opportunity to pay these expenses off in smaller portions via direct debit in the lead up to the activity? Food for thought…

Speaking of conferences, PaySmart is looking forward to attending the Australasian Society of Association Executives (AuSAE) Conference and Exhibition (ACE) in Sydney in May. 

Please drop by to see us there and to find out more about how PaySmart can help boost your member recruitment and retention, as well as your cash flow!

This article is sourced from PaySmart. 

Hundreds of people around New Zealand have today marched against the United States President's stance on science, as part of a global movement.

The March for Science was today held in Auckland, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.

More than 500 similar marches are planned around the world.

The event is prompted by what organisers perceive as anti-science initiatives from the Trump administration, including appointing a person to run the US Environmental Protect Agency, who denies humans are causing climate change.

The March for Science coincides with Earth Day and is organised by a group of scientists supported by the New Zealand Association of Science.

Association president Craig Stevens said the march was prompted by anti-science initiatives from the Trump administration, including putting a person in charge of the US Environmental Protect Agency who denies humans were causing climate change.

He said there were huge challenges to the legitimacy of climate science.

"That's one thing to ignore or deliberately denigrate scientific conclusions but also putting that into action by cutting funding to a number of agencies that are highly connected with ongoing research relating to climate."

Scientists were in shock, he said.

Dr Stevens said the marches were also a chance to recognise the challenge scientists face here.

"It's very clear that New Zealand does not fund science particularly well, so we need to improve support for science.

"But really one way of making that happen is for the voting public to have a better understanding of science and so they will vote for politicians that value science and then this funding will come that way."

Dr Stevens said it was important to recognise that the March for Science was not necessarily just by and for scientists.

"It's very much around improving the profile of science for all of us so we can value it better and perhaps get it better understood in our political and policy processes and lift the profile of science nationally and internationally."

This article was originally sourced from Radio NZ.

The Outdoor Media Association of New Zealand has reported a 30% increase in revenue for quarter one of 2017.

The announcement:

The advertising revenue spent through members of the Outdoor Media Association of New Zealand (OMANZ) continues to grow at levels unseen in the history of the medium.

In quarter 1 2017, revenue was recorded at $26.37 million. When you compare this vs the same period last year, the growth was an additional $6.1million or an increase of 30%.

All three individual months demonstrated significant growth, with March recording an outstanding 35% increase vs the same period last year and over 70% increase vs March three years ago.

OMANZ General Manager, Derek Lindsay, commented, “The increase in total quality sites along with the growth in digital screens has driven a lot of this growth. However, all Outdoor companies have developed smarter, targeted marketing and sales thinking, resulting in better quality solutions for agencies and advertisers. This approach will continue to drive growth in the Outdoor medium in the foreseeable future”.

This article was originally sourced from Mumbrella.

The Housing for Older People limited partnership between charitable trust, The Selwyn Foundation, and Auckland Council has confirmed its appointments to the Board of its General Partner and has also announced its new name, as it prepares to take over operations of the council’s Housing for Older People portfolio on 1 July 2017.

The limited partnership was formed in December 2016 to undertake comprehensive tenancy and asset management services associated with the council’s stock of 1,452* rental units for senior citizens, which are located in villages across south, north and west Auckland. As a 51 per cent shareholder, The Selwyn Foundation has appointed three directors – Selwyn Board members, Helen Melrose and Vicki Sykes, and Selwyn CEO, Garry Smith. Matthew Harker and Kerry Hitchcock have been appointed by Auckland Council following an external selection process. Helen Melrose is the Board Chair.

The Board has appointed Gabrielle Clezy as the partnership’s General Manager. Ms Clezy has been Chief Executive of aged residential care service provider, TerraNova, since 2014 and has extensive leadership and operational experience in social services and aged care in both the UK and New Zealand. She has worked for not-for-profit organisations in the healthcare arena, such as Bupa Care Services and specialist addictions mental health trust, Odyssey House, and has also held senior roles in the UK tertiary education and national health sectors.

‘Haumaru Housing’ has been registered as the name of the limited partnership, and the General Partner has been registered as ‘Haumaru Auckland Limited’.

Board Chair, Helen Melrose, says: “Haumaru Housing aims to provide outstanding social housing for older Aucklanders and to create safe and secure age-friendly communities for our tenants. As ‘Haumaru’ means ‘shelter, to provide a caring and safe haven for everything’ – and has associated meanings of protection, security and refuge – we believe this encapsulates our vision and objectives for the partnership and the quality and respectful service that tenants can expect to receive.”

Chair of The Selwyn Foundation Trust Board, Kay Hawk, says: “The Selwyn Foundation has a long history of providing housing and accommodation for older people – since 1954, our mission has been to provide services for vulnerable elderly. Today, our charitable mission focusses more than ever on helping people into affordable rental homes, as well as alleviating the problems caused by loneliness, social isolation and financial hardship that equally affect the wellbeing of senior citizens and make them particularly vulnerable.

“We are very much looking forward to Haumaru Housing commencing services on 1 July and to applying our 60-plus years of experience and concern for the welfare of the older person, to the benefit of ever greater numbers of people. With our Auckland Council partners, we aim to provide a responsive, quality service and, in so doing, create environments where people will feel comfortable, content and secure in their homes, thereby enriching the lives of those who are most in need.”

Councillor Penny Hulse, Chair of Auckland Council’s Environment and Community Committee, says the initiative is all about improving both the quality of housing for Auckland’s older people and the associated services provided. She says: “The Selwyn Foundation is a New Zealand-owned and operated charitable organisation with many years of providing quality retirement accommodation and care and, as such, is a great partner for Auckland Council.

“When addressing the future of older Aucklanders, the council faces some tough choices. The reality is, we have ‘baby boomers’ nearing retirement age, an ageing housing stock requiring upgrading and is not necessarily evenly spread across Auckland, and a limited budget.

“We have made a promise to maintain the current number of homes and the current level of service and we are confident this relationship will help us increase that number and improve the quality of homes.

“Most importantly, it means our tenants' homes are secure.”

Haumaru Housing (pronounced Hoe-maa-ru) is expected to receive Community Housing Provider registration shortly, which will enable it to access the Government’s Income Related Rent Subsidies scheme over time, thereby providing valuable funding to help further improve the services for tenants.

* The total of 1,452 includes 1,412 existing units and 40 that are committed to being built in Wilsher Village in Henderson. Most units are in the south (686), followed by the north (458) and the west (308). Devonport-Takapuna has the largest concentration with 274 units.

This article was originally sourced from Auckland Council.

More than 800 New Zealanders from the health and tech sectors will unite at the annual Health Informatics New Zealand (HiNZ) conference in Rotorua later this year which aims to help break down silo barriers and support the success of complex digital health projects to improve health outcomes for New Zealanders.

The HiNZ event is the largest digital health conference in New Zealand and is attended by the leading national and international decision-makers and influencers in digital health, from public and private healthcare providers and funders, government and industry.

This year HiNZ, NZ Health IT and Nursing Executives of NZ (NENZ) are combining their efforts for the first time to provide opportunities at the conference for the health and tech sectors to gain greater understanding of each other’s needs.

HiNZ chief executive Kim Mundell says the conference offers a convenient way for a broad range of professionals to learn about the latest in digital health. This diversity ensures a holistic perspective, with no one professional group dominating the programme.

“The HiNZ conference gives clinicians, IT professionals, health sector managers, academics and students the chance to broaden their networks and collaborate on important digital health issues – between professions, regions and organisations.

“Digital health projects require adaptive change and the success of a change project has more to do with people than technology. The barriers are often cultural and behavioural in nature, not technical which is why this conference includes speakers talking on issues that relate to the psychology of change and to organisational leadership and culture,” Mundell says.

Mundell says the one-day NZ Nursing Informatics (NZNI) conference run by NENZ is a vital component of the three-day event because nurses need to increase their influence on digital projects.

“Nurses are frontline users of many of the technology solutions being introduced into healthcare so having them positively engaged is always a key success factor in IT project rollouts.

“To better link technology with clinical practice and daily workflows, nurses need to increase their influence on projects at the earlier design phase. Developing their IT vocabulary will assist nurses to better articulate their clinical needs to technology experts,” Mundell says.

Health Informatics New Zealand is a not-for-profit organisation that supports the field of health informatics and links a diverse group of professionals in the health and IT sectors. HiNZ has run the annual HiNZ Conference for the past 15 years.

This article was originally sourced from Stuff.co.nz.

Central Christchurch businesses and non-profit groups want to hang onto a funding lifeline from ratepayers until the city centre gets back on its feet.

The Christchurch City Council has been making an annual contribution to the Central City Business Association's costs for the past decade, including promotions, events, marketing and security.

It now wants to cut this back to less than half its original contribution. From $150,000 a year before the earthquakes, the sum has been reduced to $100,000, and this year council has proposed in its draft annual plan to cut that further to $60,000.

This month the association made a submission on the draft plan, asking council to leave the contribution untouched at $100,000, for now.

Association chairman Brendan Chase said they had been also spending built-up resources, which were almost exhausted.

"We do intend to become self-funding, but we have to figure out how we are going to do it," Chase said.

"From this year, hopefully, the central city will be a more financially successful business environment. It's becoming a going concern but there's still a lot to do.

"With all the building going on, it's not a natural business environment and a lot of the public are still reluctant to come into town and spend money."

The association's members include retailers, tourism, hospitality and service businesses, property owners, arts and educational and charitable organisations, and others working in the central city. It was formed in 2007 to strengthen the struggling central city and help it compete against growing suburban malls.

Chase said targeted rates for the commercial parts of the central city would be a good funding option. An annual membership fee was another method, but this could be hard to charge fairly so as not to over-burden small operators, and risked allowing others to free load, he said.

The association also intends to apply to the council's Business Improvement District grant fund, set up by the city council last year, for help to run a poll.

The association has one part-time employee and a voluntary executive. Its membership has built back up from fewer than 20 just after the earthquakes, to around 200 now.

Chase said that with the private sector starting to grow in an environment where the government sector had been in charge, good communication between them was vital.

"A collective, private sector voice is very important in this rebuild environment," he said.

"We can't be effective if we are running on the smell of an oily rag."

As part of its planning for the year and feedback to council, the association is writing a strategic plan setting out how it works and what it hopes to achieve.

Its objectives according to its draft plan include advocating for the private sector, developing new events, creating "an enticing urban environment" for business, recreation and culture, helping small businesses and creative groups find affordable premises, building public pride in the central city, fixing parking and accessibility problems, celebrating both the old and new aspects of the city, and trying to attract more young and elderly people.

A council spokeswoman said they could not comment on funding for the association while the annual plan process was still under way. The annual plan is due to be adopted in June.

This article was originally sourced from Stuff.co.nz.

GISBORNE’S business community is the nation’s fastest growing when it comes to sharing tips on how to do better business.

Business Mentor registrations in the region have grown by a staggering 50 percent, with more businesses than ever before being matched to a business mentor under the national Business Mentors NZ programme.

If you are in in the business community and could offer an hour a month to help fledgling businesses with support and advice contact linda@activatetairawhiti.co.nz

Activate Tairawhiti chief executive Steve Breen said that was the most significant increase of any region in New Zealand, and it indicated the healthy state of new businesses in Tairawhiti.

“Businesses successfully utilising the service range from horticulture to IT.

“The strength of the programme is with our mentors passing on their experience and skills to our new business owners.

“That informal transfer of knowledge makes being in business so much less daunting and it’s great seeing our businesses growing as a result.

“Activate Tairawhiti are also pleased to see mentors using their new Biz Hub to meet with clients.

“Having mentors using the hub is adding to our goal of it becoming a hive of business activity.”

BMNZ regional administrator Linda Hermon said there was still room for the programme to grow in Gisborne.

“The growth has been fantastic. We’re seeking more mentors to join us and be part of the action.”

Business Mentors New Zealand is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to supporting the success and growth of small businesses through the knowledge and experience of volunteer mentors.

This article was originally sourced from Gisborne Herald.

The Board is pleased to announce that Mark Cameron has been appointed CEO of Bowls New Zealand following the retirement of Kerry Clark OBE.

Mark Cameron comes with an extensive sports administration background from his previous positions as Chief Executive for Auckland Cricket, Chief Executive for Northern Mystics Netball and General Manager for New Zealand Basketball League. Mark also currently serves on the Board of the Northern Stars netball team and is Chair of Hearing Dogs New Zealand.

Chair Cushla McGillivray said she was looking forward to working with Mark and the energy and perspective that he will bring to this role. "We are delighted to have someone of Marks experience lead the sport of Bowls into its next phase of growth in New Zealand", she added.

Cameron said he was clearly looking forward to the role and bringing a fresh energy to a sport with a long and successful history in New Zealand. "What excites me about the role is the growth potential in the sport, primarily at the grassroots level".

"We need healthy sports clubs if we are serious about the wellbeing of our communities. Bowls is a game that can be played by everyone, irrespective of ability, age or ethnicity. The greatest challenge for any sport is positioning the game so that it is attractive to the younger generation - bowls is no exception."

Cameron also acknowledged the outstanding support Bowls had received from retiring Chief Executive Kerry Clark OBE, over the past 20+ years. "Kerrys long association with Bowls NZ is universally respected within New Zealand sport, and I am personally appreciative of the leadership and vision he has provided Bowls."

Mark will take up his role in Auckland on the 3rd July 2017.

 This article was originally sourced from New Zealand Herald.

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