5 Key Advices To Ensure A Smooth Onboarding Experience For New Board Members

Established business models are facing a constant threat of being dismantled to create way for new options promoting growth and innovation. Organization boards, which have been the strongest pillars of traditional business operations, are coming under great pressure to verify their relevance. Even in a country like China, where traditional methods of doing business are still quite popular, the investors are increasingly expecting the boards to have meaningful processes in place for renewing their memberships and maximizing their effectiveness. That is why many business organizations have felt the need recruitment of new board members possessing the right knowledge and experience in accordance with the changing business needs.

 

In this context, the providers of board advisory in China services stress on the importance of having the perfect onboarding program to ensure a smooth onboarding experience for the newest board members.  The most important thing for businesses to understand is that the best onboarding programs are tailored to suit the unique experiences, backgrounds and proposed responsibilities of the individual new directors. Discussed below are the 5 key recommendations that can help business organizations to ensure the development of suitable onboarding program.

Clearly Define Processes And Expectations

Most new board members favour a more formal onbarding program that provides clear details about the various processes and expectations. This helps the new members to prepare well for their first board meeting as well as any meetings with the other senior executives and managers. Well structured and formal onboarding programs make it easier for the new members to proactively identify any potential gaps in their skills and expectations and also to formulate follow-up questions.

 

Organize One-To-One Meetings With Top Management

Setting up individual meetings of the new board members with the top members of the management including CEO, CFO, Independent Chair Directors and other corporate executives is extremely essential for ensuring a smooth onboarding experience. Unfortunately, most business organizations tend to overlook this extremely important aspect as they feel that the new members will anyways be interacting with these executives during the board meetings. However, these meetings can go a long way in enhancing the confidence and trust of the new board members and help them to gain a better understanding of boardroom dynamics and board culture and backgrounds of other board members.

Provide A Comprehensive Overview Of The Company

Providing comprehensive information about the company strategies, processes and finances to all new senior level employees is highly recommended by the top leadership coaching firm in China. This is even more important while designing an onboarding program for new board members. Providing an overview of the organization on a historical and forward looking basis ensures provides them a clearer idea of the operating direction and challenges faced by the company. This information can help the new members to suggest the right strategies and come up with the most effective and relevant solutions that can help the organization in achieving its goals in a timely and efficient manner.

 

Encourage 100% Committee Meeting Attendance

In most business organizations, a large percentage of the board work is delegated to committees. Since all new members are assigned to one or more such committees, it is essential to ensure their 100% attendance at such committee meetings. Doing so helps in accelerating their understanding of the company and the board.

Assign An Experienced Mentor To The New Board Members

Assigning an expert mentor to the new board members is something that most organizations still do not include in their onboarding program. These mentors can be chosen both in-house or hired from external organizations providing such services. This provides the new members with a reliable person to turn to in case of any doubts or queries besides helping them gain an understanding of the board’s working from inside.