Egan Associates

Board Effectiveness

All boards need to monitor and improve their stewardship. As a research based organisation with extensive insight to the dynamics of public and private sector boards, Egan Associates offers several services to boards to ensure their effectiveness.

The collapse and underperformance of corporations globally during the GFC demonstrated forcefully that compliance alone is insufficient. The crucial determinants in effective board performance have been shown to be mindset and boardroom dynamics.

Egan Associates can assist boards in addressing both these issues through:

board evaluation – outstanding stewardship demands significant capability from everyone in the boardroom. Independent evaluation of the performance of the Chairman and individual directors, followed by counsel and advice,can ensure feedback designed to enhance individual performance as well as group dynamics.

review of governance practices, including:
1. the appropriateness, number and structure of board committees
2. effectiveness of board agenda. Research reveals that the highest concerns for boards are strategy, talent and risk. Yet many board agendas are not weighted to address these issues adequately. Egan Associates can provide an agenda audit to assist in prioritisation
3. how the leadership of the chairman can be enhanced
4. a practices “audit”, informed by our database of over 400 reviews to provide suggestions to enhance governance

diversity and capability audit – in order to enhance capability and to ensure that robust debate, well informed by deep knowledge of different kinds can occur, all boards need a process of renewal. A skilled capability audit coupled with director specifications provides a rigourous road map to assist board renewal.