Articles

Making Boards Fit for Purpose

Many successful organisations have not, until now, had to navel gaze – or change. Why worry if you can keep doing the same thing successfully, year after year? However, post Hayne and post Covid 19, the landscape has changed. “Good old boys drinking whisky and rye_“1 should no longer govern even the local cricket club. No organisation can ignore the requirements of corporate governance, risk management and the changed landscape – post Covid 19.

Diversity and Inclusion in the Boardroom

The twin concepts of diversity and inclusion were rising to overtake ‘culture’ as the leading ideals for organisations at the close of 2019. There is no doubt that they will take a back seat for a while as Australian companies respond to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. We will be changing many of our traditional ways of doing things (culture) on the other side of this pandemic. Now is the time to embrace D & I, meet its cousin ‘belonging’ and see if we can launch into the post virus world fully engaged with our stakeholder communities.

How to run remote board meetings securely and effectively

Remote meetings present technological, social, legal and security challenges. But they also offer convenience, an opportunity to expand your board’s membership and a catalyst to evaluate the effectiveness of your meetings. Access to technology and digital literacy are vital to successful virtual meetings. Provide any skills training board members need to confidently participate in video or conference calls. Security is a particular concern with remote meetings, so review your company’s security protocols and make sure you understand any risks involved with the technology you use.

Cultural Intelligence (CQ) for Not-for-Profit Organisations

If your not-for-profit organisation serves a diverse community, has stakeholders (staff, volunteers, donors) who come from a culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) background, or operates in multiple different locations, then cultural intelligence has a direct effect on the success of your programs and services. Culture refers to the total way of life of a group of people. It comprises everything that a group of people thinks, says, does and makes — deposit of knowledge, systems, beliefs, values, roles, art, habits, cuisines, symbols and attitudes.

An NFP Dispute: a Tale of Two Hugs

Summary This story concerns a cultural group that formed a church in a Melbourne suburb to promote their faith. During 2019 an “us and them” culture developed with a new church committee adopting an authoritarian populist governance style. I do not make judgment about that style but mention it to set the scene. I acted for certain members (the “accused” members) who faced accusations from the committee and the committee’s associates.

Evaluating the CEO: essentials for not-for-profit boards

Like any employee, your CEO needs a regular formal evaluation of their performance in the role. It holds the CEO accountable to their role, but also ensures that the board is actively meeting its duties to their organisation. The benefits of doing a proper CEO evaluation are invaluable. Growth Evaluations provide a CEO with an overview of their efforts. It helps them to understand their strengths and weaknesses and gives them direction for areas where they can continue to develop professionally.

Good Governance in remote Australia – it’s closer than you think

There are remote areas all over Australia, across Western Australia, Queensland, South Australia and NSW; but the Northern Territory classifies as entirely remote and very remote1. The population of the Territory is small, at around 240,000 people – that’s about the size of Wollongong. There are many highly skilled and experienced board members and potential board members in the Northern Territory. However, the small population and high transience of skilled professionals means that ensuring there is the right mix of skill sets (finance, legal, leadership, marketing, fundraising,) as well as member representation, local level knowledge, content expertise and regular board renewal – it’s a really big ask for many boards.

Keeping Charity and NFP Governance Front of Mind: The Pre- and Post-Merger Quandary

With an increasing number of charities and not-for-profit organisations considering mergers and acquisitions, it is important for directors and management to keep governance front of mind. When governance is strong, it can keep your organisation grounded through the changes and uncertainty that will inevitably arise during merger and acquisition activity. However, with the myriad of factors at play during a transaction and the increased pressures on directors and management, it can be easy for governance considerations to take a back seat or become about ensuring baseline compliance.

Reversing the Onus of Proof: a Proactive Response to Preventing Abuse Within NFPs

Legislation that creates a statutory duty of care is likely to have an important impact on the governance culture of not-for-profit organisations involved in caring and supervising children, but it also presents some challenges if that culture is to change. Background Changes to the law are appearing throughout Australia to create a statutory duty of care for organisations involved with caring and supervising children1. The changes mean that a child abuse survivor does not need to prove that the relevant organisation has a duty of care; instead, the organisation must be able to prove that it took reasonable precautions to avoid liability.

Unlocking the Power of Strategic Thinking and Planning

How do you think and plan strategically to address complex missions while balancing resource and workforce constraints? It’s an important question for the non-profit, philanthropy and social enterprise sector. Being strategic appears to be critical if organisations wish to be sustainable and improve employee and client outcomes, yet many non-profit leaders and staff frequently say that they can’t find the time to think or plan strategically. Clever organisations are overcoming this problem by instilling strategic thinking within their organisational culture.