Performance

A businesslike approach to trusteeship

Governance | Sarah Hodgkinson | 31 Oct 2011

As Trustees' Week gets under way, Sarah Hodgkinson outines the benefits that businesspeople can bring to trustee boards.

Charities can greatly benefit from having business skills on their boards, but a key question is… what can the executive and the board do to ensure that individuals with these skills can become as effective as possible?

“The most important thing, when appointing people with business backgrounds as trustees, is for the charity to invest time in a thorough induction and  make them feel welcome," says Naveed Ahmed, chair of Enfield Asian Welfare Association.

Martin Jervis, chair of Thames Hospicecare, believes that a good planned induction is essential.  He organises twice- yearly CPD events, inviting speakers from the sector and from the charity, to contextualize the trustees, and he encourages trustees to join online newsletters and attend other events.

Inductions should include the charity’s vision, values, strategy and challenges, and Ahmed suggests that after induction, there should be a review of new trustees’ understanding of the organisation and its challenges, so they can say what they think they can contribute.
 
Both Ahmed and Jervis approached Getting on Board to find suitable opportunities as trustees.  Ahmed has worked for many years in retail, and his expertise is in programme and change management, governance and process-engineering. Jervis has led a number of European technology companies, including charity technology company Blackbaud.

Jervis says: “The transition from the business to voluntary sector can appear daunting, but it’s not that different. However, if someone thinks it’s easy, it could be difficult. The executive live and breathe the passion – this can be a problem – but the board can cross-pollinate ideas.  The challenge is for the charity to become more professional without losing the 'touchy-feely' aspect.”

The chief executive of a charity has the primary responsibility for preparing the executive and board members for the appointment of business trustees.

Jacqueline Clark, chief executive of Thames Hospicecare, says: "Businesspeople bring a rigour, discipline and strategic challenge to the board.  It is important, however, that trustees get an early 'feel' for the organisation’s  values and culture. They could, for example, spend time with staff or volunteer in a shop for a day. 
 
"Establishing a common ground of language is also important. A recent example from my own charity is a new trustee asking the senior management team what 'being a winner would look like', when the SMT response would be to descibe what 'being successful would look like'.  For many hospice staff, 'winning' would conjure up the idea of 'losers', whilst 'success' would conjure up the idea of a possible 'win win' scenario."

Here are some suggestions for actions that the executive team and the board can take, to enable new trustees with business backgrounds to become effective as quickly as possible:

1.    Conduct a skills audit, to achieve a diverse board. This ensures that each trustee has something unique to contribute
2.    Understand what would make the charity attractive to potential business trustees
3.    Prepare the executive and the board for the appointment of  business trustees, in particular dispelling preconceived ideas about them and their ethos
4.    Appoint one person to be the new trustees’ contact.
5.    Prepare new trustees – including the need to be respectful of the charity’s professionals.
6.    Provide opportunities for new trustees to understand the charity and how it works, such as:

• Meet key people, in the charity, to get to know them, as well as getting to know the organisation
• Spend time at operational level
• Spend time with other trustees, to get to know them

7.    Make sure trustees deal with bureaucratic matters early
8.    Organise an excellent induction
9.    Conduct a review of trustees’ understanding after induction
10.Organise awaydays and other CPD activities to include the trustees and all levels of the organisation, to formulate future plans.

There is a real interest on the part of employers and professional associations, to encourage employees and members to volunteer as trustees – they see board-level volunteering as a key component of a leadership development programmes. Getting on Board works increasingly with talent-pool members, and these young business and professional individuals, like those who have had successful careers, can bring a great deal to charities.

The key is to create a level of understanding between the executive team and the board of the charity. This needs careful preparation, commitment, time and effort. But the rewards are well worth it - if new business trustees feel truly welcomed and valued, they will bring tremendous benefits to the organisation.

Sarah Hodgkinson is chief executive of Getting on Board.

Trustees Week runs from 31 October until 6 November 2011.  Check out the website at www.trusteesweek.org.uk for details of local events being held over the next few weeks.

Tweet

Who's Who: Sarah Hodgkinson