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Board learning and development - Coggle Diagram
Board learning and development
Approaches to learning and development
70/20/10 model (
Charles Jenning)
Jennings suggests that 'just in case' formal training type learning only constitutes 10% of our total learning
The other 90% is made up of 'just-in-time' informal learning
Mentoring and coaching make up a further 20% of learning
The greatest contributor to our learning is the on the job experiential learning which constitutes 70% according to the model
Board development
A company secretary might best support their board's informal learning
Research undertaken found that the majority of leadership development was to fit for purpose in that it was currently
Not aligned enough to the strategic agenda of the organisation
Spending too long on skills and knowledge and not enough time on shifting mindsets
Not evaluating leadership development in terms of the impact it has on creating value for the organisation and its stakeholders
Overly focused on providing individual development for those in the most senior roles and not focused enough on collective leadership and the leaders of the future
Research suggests some 'green shoots' of tomorrow's leadership development being interventions such as
Challenge-based learning that is about real challenges in cross functional teams and involves stakeholders
Deep immersion training
Systemic team coaching of intact teams
Secondments and peer consultancy across the organisation and in the stakeholder ecosystem
Shadowing
Co-created personalised learning journeys
Self-system awareness
Performance management overview
Performance management is how organisations set goals, evaluate work and determine development needs
The CIPD notes also performance management will reflect the organisation's values and align individual and team goals to organisational vision and strategy
There is now the ubiquitous yearly or half yearly competency based assessment often completed as a 360 degree feedback exercise by one's line managers, peers and direct reports and also through self report
Assessment of board directors
Can be done either as a whole or individually and is often delivered as part of the annual board evaluation
Individual directors may be assessed on the fulfilment of their role description, the contributions of specific skills and a diverse outlook and their personal attributes
Development
Helping individuals set effective or well formed goals can hugely increase a person's likelihood of achieving those goals (i.e SMART goals)
Helping to support someone to make their goals SMART has been shown to increase performance dramatically - however to ensure that a goal is well formed, one needs to consider why a goal exists and how it can be achieved as well as what it is
Good practice in goal setting is about first clarifying one's performance goal, the what using SMART and then also the outcome goal to provide the motivation and why,
Some best practice feedback recommendations are as follows
All feedback is potentially useful - therefore re-label positive feedback as motivation (for confidence) and negative feedback as developmental (for competence)
Research shows that high performing teams require at least three pieces of motivational feedback for every on piece of developmental feedback
Don't do the feedback sandwich (praise/critisise/praise). The meeting gets confused
Give motivational feedback immediately after the event and developmental feedback once emotion has reduced and in time ready for next event
Use words such as I appreciate for motivational and I encourage for developmental support
Provide feedback on specific behaiours rather than identify
Provide examples
Let people know about common reactions to feedback so the can notice their own reaction and in doing so, move to acceptance and renewed action more quickly
Emphaisse that feedback is true from another persons perspective but that this also does mean it is the truth. We can choose how we respond in a way that benefits both ourselves and others
When setting up a written feedback process, confidentiality can be maintained by using an online process or through using a third party provider. Explain that feedback will be anonymous and how the feedback will be used at the end of the collection process
If you are the team leader, role-model feedback good practice by asking for and giving feedback regularly, sharing your feedback with the team and asking for their support to continue developing and listening and saying thank you when receiving it
Giving feedback often reinforces status diferences, creating parent-child rather than adult-adult relationships and conversations. Therefore, first ask people what they think and use feedback as a last resort
Remuneration
The current best practice in reward is on the contrary that is should be more aligned to long-term outcomes. The current UK Code provides significant detail on how this might be done, summarising an effective approach as embracing clarity, simplicity, risk, predictability, proportionality and culture
If we can link performance more to intrinsic motivation and cultural values, such as the universal human needs of autonomy, belonging, competence and purpose or meaning, then board directors will be motivated more by these pull factors than needing the push that inflated reward often clumsily provides
A systems perspective to board performance managment
One final reflection on performance management is the emerging thinking around the systems perspective to performance management which is in line with our approach taken
A systems perspective challenges the whole paradigm and would content the there is actually little benefit in assessing individual director performance as it is largely influenced by systemic factors rendering one's own competence to being a largely insignificant illusion
Like a board that recognises its internal dynamics are largely a reflection of the broader context the board is part of, this perspective completely alters the quality of performance management conversations
With this perspective, a company secretary acting as a board talent manager through coaching conversations with directors can have a significant impact both on the board dynamic inside the boardroom and also on how the board interacts with key stakeholders
Board succession
The Code now requires listed companies to describe publicly their approach to succession planning and how it supports the development of a diverse pipeline in their annual report
The importance of effective board succession planning is that it acts as an insurance policy to reduce he risk of unplanned board exits
It is also a process that may reduce the potential for board conflict due to political jostling for future board positions.
FRC'S Guidance for Board Effectiveness also counsels that succession plans should consider three time horizons
Contingency planning: for sudden and unforeseen departures
Medium term planning: The orderly replacement of current board members and senior executives (eg retirement)
Long-term planning: the relationship between the delivery of the company strategy and objectives to the skills needed on the board now and in the future
Succession plans can also help to increase diversity in the boardroom and build diversity in the executive pipeline - this highlights the more general point that how the board approaches talent may influence the organisation but that the organisation may equally influence the board