Training at the top - Viewpoint - careers advice blog Viewpoint careers advice blog

Training at the top - Viewpoint - careers advice blog How can HR play a role in providing company directors with specialised training to help them meet the demands of the boardroom? The corner office, the plaque outside the door, the chance to shape an organisation’s future â€" reaching the very highest echelons means you’ve arrived, says Perry Timms, former Head of HR at the Big Lottery Fund and current Director of People Transformational HR (PTHR). “It’s when â€" for many â€" ‘busy’ takes on a whole new meaning,” he adds. “Where the network really comes into play and the time to develop is no longer necessary. You got there because you’re good, and therefore learning is something other folks do to be as good as you are. And there simply isn’t time to do any learning yourself.” Yet with a seat on the board â€" the apex of the organisation â€" directors have an increased responsibility to continue developing for the benefit of people they now serve as well as lead, Timms says. “A director who doesn’t learn is like a swimmer who doesn’t breathe. You can only hold your breath for so long before it all goes horribly wrong.” Directors’ skills matter Directors need to be able to lead, not manage Corporate failures, from the demise of decades-old high street chains to the failure of global brands to gain a foothold in lucrative new markets, highlight the breadth and significance of directors’ skills and strategic abilities â€" or lack thereof. “Continuing professional development isn’t the only way to stop becoming one of the has-beens, but it is a hugely influential aspect of success,” Timms adds. Executive coach Georgina Woudstra, who works with FTSE 500 and private firms’ top teams, warns that often, directors â€" including CEOS â€" don’t know what good looks like. “A lot operate intuitively and instinctively, and therefore at only 75 per cent of what they could be.” Soft skills Directors also need to be able to lead, not manage. “What directors need to learn is executive leadership,” says Woudstra. “How do I bring my team together so the whole is more than the sum of its parts? How do I change the culture of an organisation and address a lack of collaboration? By the time you get to the top, your whole job becomes about leadership, so few people have had proper training. They cannot even describe what their leadership philosophy is, their principles, or what qualities they think make a great leader.” Such leadership requires skills including influencing, integrity and probity. “It’s no good having a brilliant brain if no one listens to you,” says Tim Copnell, Chairman of the UK Audit Committee Institute at KPMG. “You need things like sound business judgement, the ability to debate constructively, challenge rigorously, be sensitive to the views of others, be trusted and respected. There’s a whole host of softer skills.” Breadth and depth Its no good having a brilliant brain if no one listens to you Standardised training for board members proves very difficult, though. Any concept of international or national guidelines would also need to be very broad-ranging to cover different sectors, organisation types and jurisdictions. “I struggle to see how it would work,” says Woudstra. “I don’t know how they could be universal. My challenge would be more for organisations to develop their own really clear and substantive guidelines.” This is where HR â€" whether on the board or not â€" can play a leading role in developing strategies for directors’ development. Directors need inductions from the day they join the board, and they need ongoing training. And Timms says it is as “guardian of organisational learning and professional development with responsibility for the overall recruitment agenda” that HR must become a proactive advocate for director-level learning. “A progressive and dynamic HR function can point to its own knowledge base, and may find more friends in the boardroom as a result â€" and more influence,” he says. If you enjoyed the above blog then you might also appreciate these other articles, which too originally appeared in the Hays Journal: Training at the top Why talented Chinese graduates are aiming high in Dubai Establishing an effective middle management tier Managing external resources Four pillars of people Family values View the Hays Journal online or request a printed copy from haysjournal@hays.com //