Today’s boards operate in highly dynamic and disruptive environments. As a result directors face increasingly demanding stakeholders and ambiguous challenges.

Governments and Communities also seek to hold directors more accountability for what happens within their organisations.

Boards need to be more engaged, more knowledgeable and more effective. In order to do this, boards must rise above holding a “compliance” mentality.

To use Drucker’s words, Directors need “to do the right things, rather than just doing things right”.

Certainly issues of board reporting, dynamics and engagement need to be reviewed and managed. How does a board achieve a better focus on key priority areas of improvement?

Board can achieve improved performance by using the Governance Intelligence® Board Effectiveness Pulse Audit.

The Pulse Audit taps into a director’s core concerns. It alerts the board to those issues which need immediate attention. This prioritising enables a board to embark on a journey of continually improving their effectiveness.

So how effective is your Board?

Use our Board Effectiveness Pulse Audit today to immediately have valuable insights on:

• where is your Board’s current level of effectiveness
• what are the high priority impediments to effectiveness
• how are directors interacting with each other and their stakeholders and
• how best can the board pursue a higher level of performance

Corporate Compliance is an essential part of governance.

But why is this?

Because effective corporate compliance offers a layer of protection for your organisation, and is a key contributor to its long term success.

This is not an isolated presence. It is not just for a select few.

Having everyone in your organisation understanding its logic and need is of fundamental importance to doing it right, and also for the right reasons.

In addition, a good corporate compliance program isn’t just about meeting legal obligations. Its potential is in offering more. It can perceive possible breaches and deliver early alerts. Therefore enabling proactive preventative measures to be explored and adopted.

Pursuing the program for positive purposes and for its benefits, means looking beyond legal compliance.   For example the positives include:

• improved staff and business performance
• increased client trust and confidence
• minimised negative impacts on the organisation.

These are all important factors for long-term organisational success.

All organisations, whether large or small, need effective corporate compliance programs.

So, how effective is your corporate compliance program?

• Are the organisation’s leaders accountable for any breaches or underperformance?
• How do managers record and manage compliance failures?
• Do staff actually recognise and report illegal/unethical activities? In a timely manner?
• Do you know if your trademarks, copyright and other IP is fully protected?

Use our Corporate Compliance Pulse Audit today and gain valuable insights  to immediately to improve your current corporate compliance.

How important is your organisation’s culture?

An organisation’s culture injects an energy which creates the environment which drives positive outcomes. It is the culture which nurtures and re-enforces a healthy and beneficial work environment. Fundamentally it provides the ‘social glue’ that connects everything that makes up the organisation together. It offers the illumination for the staff to think and behave.  Also to understand what processes to follow whenever particular circumstances may arise.

This elevates the criticality of culture as a non-negotiable value-add for all organisations. Boards and the organisation’s leadership group need to regularly know what the present level of their organisation’s culture is. Regularly knowing the potency of their organisation’s culture, understanding what is currently working well, quickly pinpointing areas to improve, and easily and seamlessly convert to wins is good governance practice.

Why should you undertake a Culture Pulse Audit?

Undertaking the Governance Intelligence® Culture Pulse Audit on a regular and consistent basis ensures your culture is operating as a key driver of competitive advantage. Having available the ready insights into which critical drivers need to have a priority, ensures attaching the necessary value to the appropriate behaviours that can and will deliver your successes. Going from guesswork to a structured and committed approach will mean an upward facilitated growth and sustainability of a dynamic organisation.

The audit inputs the ability to address issues before they become problems. In other words, the organisation culture determines the way staff interact with each other.  Similarly, an effective culture encourages staff to stay motivated and loyal to the organisation.

The Culture Pulse Audit is an easy to use online diagnostic.  It provides an excellent snapshot of the effectiveness of Culture in your organisation.  Above all, it enables you to quickly identify the good, the bad and the ugly of your organisational culture.  In addition, the Culture Pulse Audit can be completed by anyone, anywhere and on any device.

Is your organisation safe from cyber-attacks?

“Many people are confident they would never fall for a scam, but often it’s this sense of confidence that scammers target.”

In addition, “they (scammers) have call centres with convincing scripts, staff training programs and corporate performance indicators their ‘employees’ need to meet.” (Delia Rickard, deputy chair of the ACCC)

Therefore, everyone needs to better understand the importance of information system security.

According  to The Cyber Security Review, cybercrime costs the Australian economy up to one billion dollars per year in direct costs alone.

Apart from financial costs,  other negative impacts of cyber crime are:

– data breaches,

– loss of productive time, and

– damage to business trust and reputation.

Unfortunately, research has found that majority of businesses only spent money on cyber security after the attack.

So, how safe are your systems against cyber-attacks?

Let’s do a quick test.

– Do you have the latest antivirus software and patches?

– Is a staff member specifically responsible for data security and compliance?

– Does everyone in your organisation attend regular training on information system security?

– Do you have an intrusion detection or prevention system?

– How often do you back up system data?

– Do you have a third party to conduct regular security audit or penetration tests?

How did you score?

In other words,  how confident are you that your systems will detect and withstand cyber-attacks?

Be proactive, use our Cyber and Data Security Pulse Audit and protect your valuable data and systems. Don’t wait until it’s too late.

Organisations take great care when they recruit and appoint directors. Formal processes can include:

• forming nomination committees;
• using external search agencies; and
• conducting extensive research on candidates’ background to ensure they can contribute to the collective skillset of the Board.

However when directors leave, apart from the usual acknowledgement and farewell, there is often no formal process to seek feedback. This is a lost opportunity.

A genuine director exit interview process can glean valuable insights that are of immense benefit for the Board.  The Board will benefit by being open to accepting feedback.  And also to use that insight and feedback to address any acceptable identified gaps.

When directors are confident that the Board’s exit interview program is managed professionally, and that their feedback is genuinely accepted and valued; then the more likely their feedback will be honest and meaningful.

The Governance Intelligence® Director Exit Interview Pulse Audit offers a structured and consistent approach in uncovering issues relating to governance practices, that may not be obvious to others.

This Pulse Audit tracks trends across a director’s life-cycle and generates an instant report, offering valuable insights and in turn revealing possible trends or patterns.

Undertake this Director Exit Interview Pulse Audit today.  Promptly address the identified issues before they distort the effective operation of remaining directors’ contributions as well as the overall performance of the Board itself.

Fraud is disastrous and costly. The negative impacts are more than just financial, they include the loss of trust and market confidence.

Further, in some cases fraud destroys the organisation itself.

The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners put everyone on notice when it stated: “No organisation is immune to fraud”.

However, while fraud is preventable, too often the necessary actions are taken after the fraud has occurred. This is too little and too late.

Do you know what actions are in place to prevent the risk of fraud in your organisation?

Be proactive and take action today to address the uncertainty of fraud happening. Firstly, start by assessing whether your organisation has the necessary systematic and comprehensive management practices operating effectively.

Why wait to learn too late about:

– the corporate role of a culture of honesty and integrity?

– the effectiveness of appropriate segregation of duties?

– the adequacy of internal audit?

– the frequency and timing of fraud risk assessments?

Our Governance Intelligence® Fraud Pulse Audit is a fraction of the cost of a fraud expert.

It easily provides immediate insights into your organisation’s processes and practices. Also, allowing you to quickly identify areas for improvement and initiate mitigation of potential fraud risks.

This Audit enables a structured detection approach; leading to a focussed intervention as part of sound governance practice.

Use this Pulse Audit to start your fraud prevention today.

Act now and don’t wait until it’s too late.

Staff, in many organisations, are working frantically. Their increasing efforts don’t seem to be helping the organisation, and in fact, may even be slowing its progress. In other cases, the staff efforts appears to go around in circles. No one is clear on the organisation’s purpose.

High performance organisations, however, have important distinguishing elements.

These include an aligned leadership, staff being clear about their roles and accountabilities, people possessing an openness to embrace change and meet the dynamic nature of their operating environments. Typically, high performance organisations also have an excellent culture and staff engagement.

High performance organisations know where to focus their energies. And, year on year, they experience gains in productivity, increasing performance levels and achieving healthy profitability.

Every sector has high performing organisations who consistently outperform their competitors within the same market environment.

Simply put, high performance matters because the better the organisation’s performance, the better the bottom line. Additionally, good governance demands that today’s boards and leadership group to know what is needed to perform better as an organisation. By using this Pulse Audit, it is possible to identify your current performance efforts, and prioritise key potential actions to leverage improvements over the immediate short term know where your organisation fits?  Is it high-performance, low performance, or under performance?

By doing this High-Performance Pulse Audit you quickly gain insights into what you are doing well, and what to improve.

Organisations in the 21^st century operate in a challenging and often disruptive environment. 

Change is constant. Changes in economic conditions, concept of work, customer loyalty, mistrust between management and staff, to name but a few.

The organisational leadership capability model of the last decade is no longer effective.

Leaders of organisations need to continually adapt and, possess capabilities critical to their organisation’s success.

An important question, therefore, is: do you know how capable are your staff in their role as leaders of your organisation?

• Are the actions of your organisation’s leaders consistent?
• Do your leaders welcome both formal and informal feedback?
• Are your leaders genuinely transparent, honest and trustworthy?
• Is the purpose, strategic direction, and goals of your organisation clear to staff?

The only way to find out is to ask the people in your organisation. Use this Pulse Audit to assess the effectiveness of your whole of organisation leadership capability.

The Audit is easy to use. It not only delivers a report which provides clear insight into the organisation’s leadership capability, but it also pinpoints key areas for consideration and improvement.

Act now, use this Pulse Audit regularly to ensure your leaders are well-equipped for the changing demands on them, leading to greater organisational success.

Everyone agrees that innovation is critical to organisational sustainability.

It is an important process through which organisations overcome challenges and achieve success.

But innovation is not simply the generation of “new” ideas. To start with, not all new ideas add value.

We also need to evaluate the ideas in light of organisation strategy and objectives.

In addition, the structure and policies of an organisation must also support the execution and implementation of those ideas.

Actions always speak louder than words.  If the CEO says “we must innovate” but the culture does not protect and nurture creative ideas, “innovation” will just remain a buzzword.

Is your current organisation climate conducive to innovation?

How would your staff respond to the following statements?

• Our leaders openly support new ideas, initiatives and methods
• We have a good understanding of customers’ behaviours and what motivates them
• We reward staff for innovative thinking
• Our organisation has a focus on change

If you want your organisation to be truly innovative, use this Pulse Audit regularly to gain insight of the factors critical for innovation to succeed in your organisation.

Then act on the issues identified in the Audit Report to keep moving forward, overcome challenges, and achieve long-term success.

Organisational Capability – The ability and capacity of an organisation to utilise its resources to achieve business objectives

As such, organisational capability “goes hand in hand” with performance and sustainability.

Moreover, in today’s dynamic environment, organisations need to continually enhance their capabilities. They must strive to have the competitive edge, to do better than their competitors.

“Organizational capabilities, as we call them, are key intangible assets. You can’t see or touch them, yet they can make all the difference in the world when it comes to market value.” (Harvard Business Review)

So, how can you enhance your organisation’s capabilities?

Firstly, senior management must lead the way. They need to give it high priority.

Then, take action – undertake our Organisational Capability Pulse Audit.

The ensuing Pulse Audit Report gives you clear insights into your organisation’s capabilities, for example:

• Is your business planning process effective?
• Does leadership encourage innovation?
• Are stakeholders regularly involved in shaping strategy?
• Do staff have a clear understanding of their roles and accountabilities?
• How well do daily activities reflect the approved strategic intent?

You can then focus on the areas that need work, while continuing to build on your strengths.

Act now, use this Pulse Audit regularly to improve your organisational capabilities, increase performance and achieve your business objectives.

Do you have “disengaged” staff?

Disengaged staff, according to recent research, account for more than 60% of staff in today’s organisations. Further, there is a positive correlation between staff engagement and profitability.

Therefore the answer is simple. By increasing the level of your staff engagement, there is a direct increase in your organisation’s productivity, higher customer ratings, and lower staff turnover.

All of this leads to increased profitability.

So why is this not a high priority issue for organisations?

“Our staff are different, they are engaged”.  This is to often the assumption made my many Managers.

If this is true for your organisation then the following questions can be answered accurately and with confidence:

1. Do our staff feel empowered and valued, positive about coming to work every day?

2. Do our staff have a clear understanding of the purpose and objectives of our organisation?

3. Do different functional teams work together as one to solve business challenges?

If any of these questions cannot be confidently answered, then it is timely to undertake the Governance Intelligence® Staff Engagement Pulse Audit.

As staff are individuals motivated by different drivers at different times, then it is important to tailor your organisation’s strategy to ensure an ongoing successful staff engagement program.

The Governance Intelligence® Staff Engagement Pulse Audit provides timely insights to enable better understanding of your staff’s needs, and formulate an effective strategy to enable them to become more committed and motivated.

Invest in your people today. Use this Pulse Audit to increase your staff engagement and achieve greater profitability.

Effective management of whistleblowing should now be non-negotiable. Laws have expanded whistleblowing protections, as well as sizable penalties for any failures to look after whistleblowing.

Boards and leadership teams should acknowledge the important role that whistleblowing have in helping companies identify, detect and prevent unlawful or unethical activity. Authentic whistleblowing programs show the commitment to support a “speak up culture” which values employees’ opinions. It also sends a clear message that any illegal or questionable behaviour will not be tolerated. This creates a culture of trust and transparency.

Additionally, it serves as an early warning system for management to address issues before they become extensive and entrenched.

When employees are fearful or, do not have appropriate channels to report wrongdoing internally, some may resort to posting in social media. The potential is reputation and brand damage, as well as a loss of hard-earned community trust.

Whatever the laws, there are big gains in embracing an effective whistleblowing program as part of the organisations sound governance practices.

The time to act is now. Robust whistleblowing frameworks support good governance practices. All boards need to exhibit a strong interest in flagging corporate misconduct early. Once identified it can be addressed and hopefully prevented from recurring.

Does your organisation have:

• a whistleblower policy which has been fully communicated to all staff?
• a process for anonymous reporting?
• an adequate process for responding to any report received?
• adequate protection for whistleblowers?

If you do not have a program as yet, then contact us to make a start. If you do have a program then use our Governance Intelligence® Whistleblower Pulse Audit to measure the effectiveness of your whistleblowing program today.