Are you involved in board performance reviews for charities, educational bodies, or sports organisations? Perhaps you are a provider of reviews, and are looking for a way to differentiate your offering? Perhaps you are involved in governance at a multi-academy trust and want to understand what to look for when appointing an external reviewer?
Board performance reviews – also known as board evaluations or external reviews of governance – are a key means of understanding how a board is working well, and where it can work even better. CGI offers guidance, training and accreditation to help you to get the most out of them.
For providers of board reviews, we have developed a Code of Practice to support you in building effective client relationships. For organisations undergoing reviews, we have published Principles of Good Practice, which covers the end-to-end process of both internal and external reviews.
In addition to this guidance, we offer accreditation for review providers, a directory of accredited providers, and training for those both procuring and providing reviews.
Not-for-profit organisations can spend significant amounts of valuable, and sometimes scarce, resource on board performance reviews. Organisations, reviewers, regulators and industry bodies expressed a need to CGI for additional support and guidance to ensure that these reviews are effective – both in terms of providing value for money and for delivering real outcomes for boards. For providers of reviews, it is equally important that their clients engage transparently and consistently to get the best results.
CGI consulted with a wide range of representatives to develop the Code of Practice and Principles of Good Practice, including regulators, providers of board reviews, and governance professionals working in charities, educational and sports organisations. The resulting guidance is based on good practice as set out in sector-specific governance codes and regulatory guidance and informed by the real-world experience of those working in these sectors. It is specifically designed to be proportionate and relevant to the needs of not-for-profits and their stakeholders.
Board performance reviews are an integral part of a board’s development and ensuring that it is prepared for the challenges and opportunities its organisation faces. When done well, reviews support boards to become more strategic, enabling better decision-making at board-level to ensure long-term success.
