What Governance Professionals Need to Know, Do and Deliver to Support the Board with Excellence!

Our Governance Professional Certificate Program is designed to impart the basics of the role of the corporate secretary and governance professional, giving you insights into what board members and senior executives really want and need from the team that supports their governance role.

Over the course, you will better understand both the wants and the needs of the board that you serve, and how to meet expectations.

Be prepared for a new set of skills:

• Enhance your boardroom confidence
• Balance the needs of the board and management as you fulfill your role
• Identify and eliminate governance-management gaps
• Succeed in planning and orchestrating meetings of the board and its committees
• Produce minutes that matter
• Obtain practical tools and solutions
• Informally benchmark your practices, and make connections, with your peers
  
  

Video 1
The Governance Role of the Governance Professional

• What is governance?
• Why do boards meet?
• What does the board need from you to fulfill its role in governance?
• What does the executive team need from you to fulfill their role in governance?
• Legal hierarchy – Act, Regulations, Bylaws, and Policies – what do you need to know?
• Reporting Relationships

Video 2
The Strategic Role of the Governance Professional

• Developing the organization’s approach to governance in consultation with the Board and Management
• Acting as an advocate for the Board with Management
• Supporting the Board Chair in performing his/her role
• Acting as the gateway and facilitator for information between these two autonomous power bases (board and management)

Video 3
The Administrative Role of the Governance Professional

• Agendas - board and committee meetings: agenda preparation and management
• Board meeting pre-read kits and types of formats/information
• Rules of Order
• Recording of Minutes
• Ensuring appropriate action and support of directives and board actions
• In-Camera Sessions and Minutes
• Board Portals – the benefits and the cautions - managing board information

Video 4
The Governance Effectiveness and Process Role of the Governance Professional

• Creating a comprehensive governance manual
• Supporting and directing governance processes
• Board and Committee charters and workplans
• Board assessment and evaluation: different methodologies and choices
• Boardroom culture and behaviour
• Ensuring appropriate action and support of directives and board actions

Video 5
The Board Recruiting, Onboarding, Orientation, and Education Role of the Governance Professional

• “Buy, Build or Rent”: How to build board capacity
• Board matrices and profiles: a five-level approach
• Diversity on the board
• Pre-orientation programs: Before nominations and elections
• Governance orientation and onboarding
• Ongoing Board education and professional development – options and approaches

Video 6
The Governance Professional’s Interactive Role with Directors and Senior Management

• Providing advice and counsel to individuals and groups preparing presentations and memoranda for the board or board committees Advising and keeping directors informed of corporate and legal responsibilities
• Coordinating and organizing the flow of information to directors
• Obtaining information for legal and regulatory compliance
• Keeping the CEO informed of Board and Committee views and preferences
• Alerting senior officers to matters which should be brought to the attention of the board or board committees
• Tips for enhancing interpersonal communications and negotiations

Available Resources:

By joining this course, you will have access to curated materials from Governance Solutions.

- Delegation of Authority Policy
- Governance and Performance Alignment System
- Questionnaire: What Type of Board Are We – and Should We Be?
- Robert's Rules of Order Cheat Sheet
- Minute Taking Guide
- In-Camera Meeting Policy
- Virtual Meeting Policy
- Effective Board Evaluation
- Board Evaluation Decision Matrix
- NACD Report – Culture as a Corporate Asset
- FRC Report – Corporate Culture and the Role of the Board
- The Culture Formation and Change Process
- The High-Performance Board
- Boardroom Culture Tool Solution
- 3 Top Board Diversity Mistakes
- Spencer Stuart 2020 Board Index
- 20 Questions a Directors Should Ask About Building a Board and Sustaining an Effective Board
- Board Member Orientation Framework