The Sunday Mail
BoardroomTalk
Dr Proctor Nyemba
One of the most common beliefs among people wishing to work their way into the boardroom is that they need some sort of governance training qualification. While I do not want to denigrate governance training courses or those who have been through that process, I can tell you that the notion they are a prerequisite to landing a board role is — quite frankly — untrue.
But before we talk about why governance training is not strictly necessary for would-be directors, let us quickly bust a few myths around this belief.
Many people looking to land a director role simply believe that without some sort of formal qualification, they will be overlooked by hiring boards.
However, the reality is that boards value experience and variety in their directors over governance training.
Out of our programme mentors (all of whom are on boards), fewer than half have governance training; likewise, of the people who go through our board programmes and land a board role, fewer than 20 percent have any formal governance training.
Another misconception around the so-called need for governance training is that without it you will not have the financial and legal know-how to be an effective director.
In my experience, the need for this knowledge in the boardroom is important, especially as it relates to your duties, but what you initially need to know, you can easily learn without going through a course; or you can ask someone who has those specific skill-sets. As a new director it is highly unlikely that you are being hired for your governance experience. Deeper skills can and will be learnt over time.
What is more important than fiscal knowledge and anything you can glean from governance training is your experience and how you work with others; your ability to question, challenge and hold others to account; in short, the unique qualities that you can bring to a team.
People go through governance training probably because they believe it will allow them to easily find board work after they receive their qualification.
However, these types of training courses fail to offer advice and tips on how to follow through and land a director role. And they do not tell you how you can excel once you become a director.
The reasons we have set up our programmes the way they are is because we believe it is important to show people the practical steps they need to follow in order to land a great board role, and the skills they will need in order to succeed once they have it.
We encourage our alumni to include governance training into their board career plan but, importantly, we also encourage our alumni to get trained or educated in a wide range of topics to be better governors. For example, digital marketing, crisis management, cyber security, community engagement and product development.
As non-executive directors, you will be presented with ideas and strategies in these areas and you need to ensure you are knowledgeable enough to assess the risks and opportunities for the company and its stakeholders.
Again, none of this is to say that governance training courses offer no value. They do. It is just they will do little to help you find a director position in the first place.
We believe the teachings they offer are great for people who are already in a board, because they become more practical and less theoretical. But before you have even set foot into the director space, governance training can be a little abstract.
My advice is to understand exactly what governance training courses can do to help you specifically, and whether you absolutely need one to follow the path you have your heart set on.
If you spend some time putting the research in and you deem it to be a necessary step for you, then by all means, do it. But if you sign up to a governance training course — even a credible and reputable one — without knowing all the facts, then you may be about to spend a large amount of money on something that does not offer much in return.
Dr Proctor Nyemba is Certified Professional Director®-Pro.Dir specialising in governance and strategy, governance and risk, governance and people, governance and board effectiveness, governance and resources, governance culture and behaviour. For comments and feedback, please send to [email protected], Call 0772469893, 0719469893.
