Some trends come to a sudden halt in times like these. But others experience the opposite. Governance, an integral part of organisational success, is one of those.
A crisis usually requires people to make radical changes in order to survive. But those changes aren’t always a complete U-turn. Instead, it’s more common for crises to accelerate existing trends.
Changes that were in the pipeline, but would have taken a business a year or more to get started, can get actioned over a single video conference. How many companies that had wanted to allow for more workplace flexibility found themselves asking their whole workforce to operate from home?
Paying more attention to organisational governance is a trend that is accelerating. Whether as a reaction to the wage underpayment scandal or the findings of the royal banking commission, prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic more and more organisations were rethinking the frameworks of their risk management, business administration and leadership.
And the pandemic has only made those considerations more important.
Organisations that already had firm governance were better able to weather the effects of the pandemic, including the massive move to remote work and all the risks that entailed. Even if they weren’t entirely prepared, they knew who their key decision-makers were, had compliance champions ready to carry out risk assessments (from WHS concerns through to online data security) and had the systems in place to communicate all need-to-know information to key stakeholders.
They knew all this because good governance isn’t about overcoming a single event; it’s about having the structures in place to navigate through any and all eventualities.
Not too late
Governance is complicated enough that some organisations might be worried it is something they can’t address in this moment. But, depending on business circumstances, now might be the perfect time.
The fact of the matter is that no one knows what the immediate future holds. Will people come out of lockdown and immediately re-engage with your organisation, or will the financial situations of your normal client and customer base prevent such a thing? It is dangerous to bet everything on a forecast. But regardless of your organisation, designing its systems and structures to be agile enough to handle circumstances at either extreme will help.
And if your concern is that you cannot get the training you need to begin upskilling staff in the principles of good governance, that can be overcome.
The Governance Institute is the only fully independent professional association with a sole focus on governance excellence. Guiding organisations so that they achieve that excellence is a mission we hold dear. That’s why our training has been specifically designed to meet this current moment. You can see our latest COVID-19 news here, or check out the pandemic resources in our online hub.
Every organisation is unique
The differences between a not-for-profit charity and a retail empire are profound. So it is no use pretending that each can be served by the same approach to governance.
Governance Institute matches our highly acclaimed intellectual property with the internal documentation of your organisation to ensure our training is practical and aligned to your organisational needs. Because a change to your governance that requires you to change your organisational identity just won’t be effective.
If you’d like to trial the quality and practicality of the Governance Institute’s content, download one of our free Good Governance Guide starter packs.
Governance Institute is also offering cost-effective, convenient and flexible training. It can be conducted online or in-house. You choose the time and we will tailor the program to meet your people and their experience levels, with all training led by leading industry practitioners.
Find out more about our online in-house training here. We look forward to helping you.