Director Onboarding Series: Setting New Board Members up for Success (Installment 4 of 5)

MFDF has encountered various onboarding practices in discussions with fund directors that are newer or may be less common across fund boards. Consider these ideas as more of a menu than a plan, it is not necessary for a board to employ all of these approaches, but one or more may be combined according to board culture, priority, and need.

For the fourth installment of the Director Onboarding Series, we have selected a few methods that may be helpful in setting new board members up for success. In different ways, each of these approaches expose incoming directors to knowledge and experience that will serve them long-term in their roles on the board.

• Advisory” roles for incoming directors to “shadow” meetings ahead of formal election – For various reasons, a new director may be identified but not able to be elected to the board for a certain period of time. Boards may wish to allow new directors to attend meetings prior to their election. There are questions of confidentiality and compensation to consider when bringing new directors into the meetings that should be discussed with independent counsel. Some boards have a formal advisory board or consultant director role that they deploy in these cases. For some new directors, attending these meetings ahead of becoming full voting members of the board allows them to shadow the meeting, observe, and learn cultural practices on the board, as well as getting up to speed on where the board is on various issues and concerns before they are responsible for those subjects.

• Bringing in directors as a “class” rather than one by one – On larger boards, or in cases where multiple board seats are turning over in close succession, it can be helpful to bring in new directors simultaneously rather than staggering their start dates. Bringing in a “class” or pair of new directors together, particularly if they have different backgrounds or areas of expertise from each other, can give them the benefit of learning from each other as they onboard. They may have different questions as they navigate the learning curve on the board and running things by each other and sharing insights as they go can allow them to more quickly integrate into the board. This can also create efficiencies for the board in onboarding procedures.

• Committee responsibilities – Some boards rotate new directors through all of their committees over their first few years on the board, while others place new directors on committees that they have less familiarity with (for example, a director with significant audit experience might serve first on the Nominating Committee to gain exposure to other board functions). Using committee assignments to bring new directors up to speed with various board activities can be helpful to continue those directors’ onboarding beyond the initial training session. Some boards also use ad hoc or project-based committees that stand up in response to a particular governance need. These are also places where newer directors may be placed as with a new regulation or project, familiarity with historical context is less necessary, and newer directors can gain valuable leadership advice and confidence on the board from taking these roles.

Fund management and/or counsel to the independent directors may run sessions introducing new directors to the fund complex, etc. which can be instead of or in addition to any of the approaches we have included in the series. Look for past and future posts on:

• Utilizing a mentor/buddy program (click here to view the post);
• How board leadership can facilitate onboarding (click here to view the post);
• Setting new board members up for success (click here to view the post), and;
• Creating onboarding education that sticks.