Does the board have the right skills and knowledge to drive success?

‘We were just out of our depth. The funder’s advisers went to Harvard Business School. Our lot qualified at the local technical college.’

Senior officer highlights why a stock transfer association went into supervision

Every board needs members with knowledge of the law, accountancy, human resources, housing management, asset management and customer care. Depending on your organisation’s objectives, board members who understand capital finance, regeneration, development and merger might be required.

  • What particular areas of knowledge are needed on your board? How and when did you decide on these?
  • Do you have individual board members with a sound grasp of law, finance, housing management, asset management and other key areas?
  • Do all board members understand their responsibilities under the companies’ acts and health and safety legislation? Are you sure that gas safety and asbestos responsibilities are properly managed?
  • Do all board members understand the overall financial position of the organisation? Does everyone know the turnover, key sources of income, major heads of expenditure?
  • Do all board members understand the performance level of the organisation (eg, Housing Corporation traffic lights, likely or actual Audit Commission stars rating and performance against PIs for satisfaction, empty home turnaround times and speed of repairs)? How do they know (eg, recent inspection or independent report)?
  • Is there a board champion for diversity? Do they have access to a profile of the customer base? Do they appreciate what different groups want and aspire to? Are they clear on the outcomes the organisation wants to achieve for different groups, eg, speed up aids and adaptations and/or more allocations to particular ethnic groups? Are the outcomes being achieved?
  • Do board members keep their knowledge up to date? Is there a training programme to close knowledge gaps? How are topics chosen? How do you know that the training works? Is the programme up to date?

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