On 1 March the Tasmanian Division of the AICD opened its new Business Centre and Member Lounge (BCML) in Hobart. Centrally located in the Hobart Corporate Centre, the new BCML is a unique space available exclusively to AICD members.
Member lounge: Open for business
The BCML offers discreet meeting places, networking hubs and quiet spaces to rest and relax. A range of complimentary services including concierge and daily storage, wifi, tea and coffee, printing and newspapers are also available. Whether you are travelling interstate or simply need a break from the office, our lounges are the ideal place to work, hold meetings and meet colleagues.
The AICD’s state-of-the-art BCMLs are also located in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide and the Brisbane BCML will open in early June. This means that as an AICD member, your office away from the office is available almost anywhere you go.
A short course to development
Key to making the most of your professional development is ensuring that you are targeting areas that are interesting and relevant to you. The AICD’s short courses allow you to delve into issues and specialisations that can enhance your skills and clarify your aspirations in intensive half-day or full-day sessions.
Our short courses focus on a series of specialised topics including mergers and acquisitions, subsidiary boards, financial acumen and governance foundations for not-for-profits (NFPs). A range of other subjects designed to help further your skillsets in areas that matter most to you are also available and will help you further your professional development in 2017.
Our courses are held across Australia and are offered throughout the year. Upcoming courses include Reporting to the Board in Adelaide on 8 March, Mastering Financial Governance in Melbourne on 17 March, Mergers and Acquisitions in Sydney on 27 March, Boardroom Financial Acumen in Brisbane on 10 April and Governance Foundations for NFP Directors in Perth on 11–12 April.
Advisory launch
This month, the AICD officially launches its Advisory business unit, a new service for boards and executive teams. Designed to enhance board and senior leadership performance, Advisory offers:
- Board Advisory and Consulting
- In-house Professional Development
- National Partnership and Sponsorship
The Advisory team’s extensive knowledge and expertise offers the latest information, thinking and advice on corporate governance and insight into the ways organisations are responding to market conditions and evolving social, economic and political trends.
The Board Advisory practice provides tailored advice to help boards navigate and solve challenging issues and improve governance arrangements to standards of best practice.
Our in-house professional development programs draw on the depth of AICD’s curriculum and experience in teaching the principles and practice of good governance.
Sponsorship opportunities allow your business to engage with AICD members on a number of directorship topics through events, content and partnership collaborations.
The services offered through AICD Advisory have been developed to help your board and your business to better govern for better performance outcomes.
Diagnostic approach: the cornerstone of Board Advisory
No matter the size, purpose or maturity of an organisation, directors should periodically consider whether the governance arrangements in place are fit for purpose.
In order to perform, an organisation must be supported by the right governance structures; the best mix of skills and capabilities on the board; an effective flow of information between the board and the business; and an appropriate risk and compliance framework.
Once these elements are in place, the board is best equipped to guide the organisation to achieve its business objectives through an increasing focus on strategic stewardship and long-range business drivers.
Our Approach
AICD Board Advisory takes a systems-approach to governance improvement and board effectiveness. We work with boards to identify issues, understand root causes, engage key stakeholders in solution options, offer practical models for improvement, and partner with boards throughout implementation.
Identifying and focusing on the right issues at the right time helps boards move swiftly toward their performance ideal.
We invest effort early in the consultation process to diagnose governance elements that are holding the organisation back. Working with the board, we identify aspects which require attention and the sequence in which they should be addressed. This is determined in light of key relationships, interdependencies and the broader operating environment of the board and organisation.
Diagnostic Tools
Our range of diagnostic tools which assist board members to evaluate their organisation’s existing governance arrangements and practices.
Insights drawn from the diagnostic process are analysed and assessed against standards of best practice and benchmarked to market. The AICD has conducted more than 100 governance reviews using our standard Governance Analysis Tool™ alone, against which performance can be benchmarked.
Insights are further interpreted using access to an extensive body of governance research, education, studies and data and are cross-referenced with our deep, practical knowledge of governance in practice. The results combine to form a hypothesis of those areas that, when combined, are most likely to drive the most improvement.
Engagement
Following the diagnostic phase, a series of in-depth interviews are conducted with board members and the CEO on key matters identified for more detailed investigation. Often interviews will incorporate other stakeholders including members of the executive team.
These interviews provide further insight into existing arrangements and are a fundemental element of the context specific, practical solution that will ultimately be provided.
Blueprint and Implement
Analysis of the outcomes is then combined with our knowledge and resources to provide boards with the very best advice specific to their circumstances. All recommendations are underpinned by a disciplined focus on performance impact, helping boards bring the full value of their skills and expertise to their organisation efficiently and effectively.
The AICD has already provided advisory services to many boards across multiple sectors on matters ranging from full constitutional and governance reform through to very specific and subtle shifts in boardroom behaviour. The quality of our advice stands alongside the strength of our brand, providing assurance to all stakeholders that the board has availed itself of advice supported by the strength of Australia’s leading authority on directorship and contemporary governance practice.
AICD’s Advisory service focuses specifically on governance. We are independent. Resolutely focused on providing the best quality governance advice to boards, we are uncompromised by conflicted interests in other advisory service areas.
The governance skills and experience of our advisors combined with AICD’s practical knowledge and expertise provides boards with the assurance that they are gaining the strength of Australia’s leading authority on directorship and governance at their board table with every engagement. Advisors are backed-up by a core team of AICD governance experts and analysts who play a key role in linking the full value that AICD can offer to boards through our data and research, knowledge and access.
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