For clubs to remain relevant and effectively governed, it is important that planned, strategic turnover is applied to senior management. Industry consultant Warren Tapp explains
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I have seen clubs with the same Board or committee for 20 years, and that is not good for a sustainable club.
Succession planning is the key to the future of your club, by allowing the governing body to be refreshed with new skills and ideas every couple of years. Some clubs stagger their Boards/committees and limit their terms, so that half the board must change after others must retire.
Why do some people stay too long on their club Board/committee? It may be that they think nobody else can do it as well as them, or they are enjoying the ‘perks’ that come with the role. More likely, it is because they cannot get anyone else to volunteer to be elected. With the amount of regulation and responsibility today it can be a challenge to ask anyone to out their hand up. For younger members, they may not feel they have the time, with work and families.
The challenge here is to do a skills matrix to identify what skills are missing on your Board/committee, then start looking for members that have them. Look outside your current membership too, and invite good people in the community to join the club with a view to being nominated. For these people it is a good start to developing a future Board career as a director and may welcome the invitation. Consider changing your Constitution to allow a nominal fee to be paid to Board/committee members to attract people who will take the role seriously.
Perhaps set up a Board nominations committee who have the job of working out when current directors will need to be replaced and start looking for future candidates. Have a timetable going out to five years to see when there needs to be succession for the President or others and have the right candidates.
Succession planning is an ongoing process that avoids knowledge gaps when long-term directors leave, and refreshes the ideas and thinking at Board level.
It ensures long term sustainability of the club.
Warren Tapp
