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Director Effectiveness Survey Overview

Most boards that regularly conduct board assessments also carry out a process to help their directors improve their effectiveness.

Most include the process to improve the effectiveness of their directors at the same time as they conduct their board review. A minority prefer to carry out board effectiveness and director effectiveness reviews in alternate years.

The board’s effectiveness is inextricably linked to the effectiveness, experience and competence of the individual directors who comprise the board. Continually improving the effectiveness of individual directors is essential to achieving better boards, which in turn makes for better organisations.

Benefits of a Director Review

A well-structured review of individual directors’ effectiveness has significant benefits for individual directors, their board, and their organisation. Such a review must be positioned as necessary for directors’ ongoing development and growth and conducted constructively.

Gaps in directors’ self-awareness, attitudes, behaviours, commitment, teamwork, focus, and skills will likely become evident. These gaps may not have been previously apparent to the directors themselves. Additionally, the negative impact of these gaps on the board’s overall effectiveness might not have been previously recognised.

Once gaps are visible using Board Benchmarking’s evidence-based approach, it is easier for the Chair and the individual director to deal with them.

Great boards foster a culture of continuous improvement at the board level. This often involves integrating mentoring and coaching into the processes by which directors are inducted, challenged, encouraged, and supported by the Chair and their fellow directors.

Director Review Process

Before starting your director effectiveness review, ensure all participants understand the process. Directors and any involved executives should be informed in advance. The process typically includes a survey followed by a discussion with the Chair. It should be clear who will access each Director Effectiveness Report. Generally, the Chair will review all reports and have one-on-one discussions with each director regarding their report.

A Director Effectiveness Module, which provides a light-touch review of director effectiveness, can be added to the end of your board survey. Details about this option can be found under Optional Extras. We also offer a more comprehensive yet straightforward and unobtrusive approach to assessing individual directors’ effectiveness. Our innovative Director Effectiveness Survey utilises a specialised online data collection technology, allowing each participant to complete the survey in less than 30 minutes.

 

The survey can also be completed by executives who regularly attend board meetings and know each director well. They rate each director’s attributes and provide comments on their strengths and suggestions for improvement. To protect anonymity, all ratings and comments are combined in the reports provided to each director.

A governance expert will debrief the Chair on their report and advise on the best way to debrief individual directors, focusing on any potentially challenging reports. Individual directors often have the option to discuss their reports with the governance expert as well.

A separate group report is provided to the board, showing the average results for all directors based on the views of others. This report highlights the areas where directors excel and where they can improve as a group.

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Board Benchmarking has developed other surveys and reports to help boards achieve organisational success. These surveys are supported by expert advice on how to interpret and act on the results by our Global Board Advisory Partners.

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