Michael Pain is the founder and Chair of Forum Strategy, author of the book Being The CEO and the thinkpiece Thriving Governance (with leading corporate governance expert, Patrick Dunne), a coach to CEOs, and Chair of Satis Education’s Advisory Group. In this article, he explores how the growing demands on trustees and governors is impacting the ability to recruit and retain high quality individuals, and the steps that can be taken to alleviate these pressures, ensuring governance roles remain attractive and rewarding positions to undertake.
One of the key challenges facing many boards and board members is the growing demands on their time. A new report this Summer by the National Governance Association (NGA) on governance workload underlined the pressures – with an increase in respondents who are considering resigning from their governance role compared to 2023. The number of governors who strongly disagree that the role is manageable around their personal and professional lives has doubled since 2023.
“it’s taking its toll on individuals who are, it must be remembered, volunteers bringing valuable social and professional capital to our organisations”
These growing demands are brought about by a range of issues – such as more complaints; operational factors such as the pressures of inspections, buildings maintenance, SEND and safeguarding matters, and recruitment; and rising vacancies on boards increasing the workload of those remaining in post. Indeed we should consider the wider trends here – a combination of the growing complexity and specialist nature of many operational issues; a lack of funding; and fewer people to draw on; has meant the line has become increasingly blurred between the strategic and the operational. And, it’s also taking its toll on individuals who are, it must be remembered, volunteers bringing valuable social and professional capital to our organisations and sector. The NGA report found that “All of these pressures contribute to a mental load which is taking its toll on many committed volunteers. The governance community has spoken loudly and clearly: there needs to be change.”
Yet, these trends are not just confined to education. A new report published last month by Heidrick surveying boards across the economy has found that “UK respondents far more often than their global peers cite board members’ specialised knowledge and a lack of CEO bandwidth as reasons their boards have become more involved in operational matters.” There is a slow creep of boards becoming more involved in operational leadership as a result.
The flipside of this is that boards – and especially Chairs – are finding it more and more difficult to carve out time for strategic thinking, for considering issues such as medium- to long-term resource allocation and investment, and for stakeholder engagement. Yet this work has never been more important or necessary as we face some major shifts in our society, in communities and across the economy.
“…how we set strategic direction matters more than ever. We need boards to be having those forward thinking, insightful discussions..”
At times when resources are limited, and we face these defining shifts in our organisations and communities – how we set strategic direction matters more than ever. We need boards to be having those forward thinking, insightful discussions with their executives on vision and how best to turn it into reality through strategic resource allocation and investment. We need our boards to have the headspace to bring their strategic expertise and insight to the table – on issues such as being an employer of choice; technological and economic insight, not least in areas such as AI and skills; strong financial oversight; stakeholder relationships – local and national; and sustainability. We must provide the space for visionary and strategic discussion – as well as for oversight and the discharge of compliance – not only so that we avoid a leadership culture that is reactive and predominately driven by immediate events, but also in order to retain the talent and professional capital that exists on our boards.
There are some steps boards and executives can take to address some of this:
- We need to clearly define the role of trustees and the role of executives, and to avoid trustees falling out of an oversight, advisory and strategic decision making capacity into one that is overtly operational in nature. There is a big temptation to draw boards into operational delivery – especially in complex areas such as school improvement, technology and HR, for instance – but it undermines the important demarcation that needs to exist for good governance and healthy workload. This focus on demarcation should be reinforced by annual training and reflection on the role of trustees (not least in relation to other roles in the organisation) and self-evaluation of the board’s work. It also requires CEOs and executives to be clear on the difference, and to play their part in ensuring that necessary demarcation – tempting though it may be for some to draw trustees further into the operational.
- We need to ensure that agendas and the reporting of information to boards reflects their role in strategy and oversight. I too often see and hear of boards being presented with far too much information, whether that’s a CEO’s report wishing to relay every operational detail ‘just to make sure’, or the full minutes of every local governing body as pre-reading for a trustee meeting. This is unsustainable, and encourages boards to fall far into ‘the weeds’ from an early stage in their meetings. Trusts must be savvy in presenting headline information that presents major successes, key risks, strategic questions and insights, and data and information that directly links to their oversight and statutory responsibilities. All of this encourages the board to discharge its functions and avoids role creep or blurred lines. Note: I write extensively on CEO reports in my book, Being The CEO: Being The CEO – MAT CEO Training Programme | Forum Strategy
- We need to ensure there is dedicated time in the boards’ calendar year for big picture discussion and thinking. I would suggest an ‘away day’ at least once a year, where the board can undertake reflection on stakeholder feedback; the big trends and developments – both in the sector but also societal and economic; to reflect on the trust’s strategic plan and how it may need to be refined; and to consider how the trust is investing its resources over the medium- to long-term. Every two or three years, a board must also dedicate time to revisiting and refining the wider organisational vision. If this time is not set aside, the work of boards can feel increasingly laborious and descend into nothing more than a series of committee work – it is essential that boards connect with and revisit strategy in order to ensure their wider work and meetings are grounded in it, and to inspire and enthuse members on their wider purpose. Note: you can read more on the difference between mission, vision and strategy here. At Forum Strategy we support and deliver ‘Governance Development Days’ providing the space, insights and facilitation for boards to engage in this work, and to ensure they are informed, inspired and encouraged to reflect on their roles and the strategic issues they need to address: Board Development | Forum Strategy
- We need to ensure high standards of governance practice through clear expectations and the support of governance professionals. One issue identified by the NGA, alongside the rise in vacancies, was the challenge that non-attendance, last minute reporting, and poor reporting have on the culture of the board, and the impact on trustees’ time. Ensuring that trustees have more than sufficient time to read the papers before a meeting, that papers are presented clearly and are not overly long or cumbersome, and that they are clear on what is required of trustees, is essential. A governance professional can not only ensure effective administration of correspondence and meetings, but can also advise on the preparation of well presented and constructive documents. One thing I advise CEOs in their reports to trustees is to not only make them relatively short and accessible, but also to be clear throughout their paper on labelling what is for information, what is for discussion and feedback, and what is for decision; bringing a strong degree of focus and sense of outcome to the agenda item. It should also be said that trust boards and Chairs should have very clear expectations both on attendance and the quality of reporting, and creating a form of ‘memorandum’ that sets down these principles and expectations is helpful for sharing both on induction and on an annual basis, reinforced by regular training.
- We need to put stakeholder engagement and insights at the forefront of governance. Trusts and schools are there to serve children and families first and foremost. Yet, as the NGA annual report found this year “stakeholder engagement cultivates transparency, trust, and accountability. By actively involving parents, pupils, staff and the wider community in decision making, boards can ensure that diverse perspectives and needs are considered, leading to more informed and effective governance”. It may seem that adding more data and intelligence into the mix will only add to the workload, yet I would encourage boards to ensure that this kind of insight is presented – in a focused way – at every board meeting. This could be through the feedback of pupil, parent and/or staff surveys, it could be through an agenda item with the pupil council, or it could be by undertaking meetings in a school each half-term, with an hour’s walk around the school meeting pupils and teachers in classrooms. It is for pupils and families (and staff) that trustees do the work they do, and if their meetings and work is grounded in this, they will not only be more inspiring and engaging – ensuring retention – but will also feel more informed by the lived realities of those we serve. This can also provide an important and routine way of triangulating the information provided by executive leaders. Strategic leadership and direction can only be truly achieved by knowing those we serve and their experiences as well as we can do.
- Invest in board recruitment and induction. Still too many trusts and organisations take a reactive approach to board recruitment and succession planning – this is a big oversight when we consider how profoundly influential and responsible a board of trustees is. Getting this right requires a strategy itself, informed by experts in these areas, and based on research and insight around how best to attract and retain people with the necessary expertise and skills to volunteer significant time and energy. Expectations around flexibility, remote working, and investment in CPD are all areas that must be taken into account here, as is conveying the purpose, vision and impact of the organisation and role of trustees in achieving that. It also requires careful planning and investment in the induction of new trustees, so that people know that if they join the board they will receive the necessary support and training delivered in as flexible and accessible a way as possible. Some key questions to ask here: Does your board have a succession planning strategy for the Chair and trustees? Does it invest in high quality recruitment marketing and processes, informed by experts? Is induction of a high quality, whilst being flexible and accessible for people with busy lives?
There is no silver bullet for ensuring we hold onto great trustees and governors. It is a sign of these complex and uncertain times that their role has become even more demanding. Yet we can take steps to make the role more sustainable, whilst also encouraging more effective governance and ensuring our board members feel as supported, valued and inspired as possible. We need them more than ever.
Michael Pain runs Board Development Days for trust boards, delivered alongside a range of pre-reading and resources. To find out more about this, please contact admin@forumeducation.org
Other useful resources:
https://forumstrategy.org/thriving-trusts-thinkpiece-3-reflections-on-thriving-governance/