Club industry consultant and impending PhD Warren Tapp works in the arena of club legislation and governance, and has advice for clubs to help maintain a high standard in its Board members.
*
Club Managers often say to me that they have to work with a Board that is incompetent and an obstacle to running a good club. This all gets back to the process used in recruiting Directors in the first place. Try these suggestions:
Change your Constitution to allow ALL your members to stand for the Board and not just a small clique who control the process. If you allow social members to stand it opens up the pool of potential directors with the right skills to run the clubs.
Have a documented succession plan so the Board knows when the Chair or any director will not run again, and you need new people. The constitution should limit the terms of such people so you can refresh the Board every year or two with one or two new people.
Do a skills matrix to identify the gaps in director skills you need to fill.
The Board can set up a Remunerations and Nominations committee (including external experts) who manage the recruitment process for the CEO as well as new Directors. Find the people with the skills you need and ask them to become a member and nominate for the Board.
Make a new by-law/policy that says any member standing for election must do governance training from time the time they are nominated and before the AGM. That way they hit the deck running and contribute to good governance. The Chair and CEO should manage ongoing professional development for all directors, over and above any mandatory requirements.
I would suggest the CEO and Chair both have a lot of influence over the quality of the Board and the people elected to it.
WARREN TAPP
