Five ways to improve your social housing board
Governance is changing in housing organisations. Rather than board members being gatekeepers who pick holes in reports, we need them to become sounding boards for staff, enabling them to test new ideas and get contributions from the board at an early stage. Many boards already have directors with social housing, council or customer perspectives so the challenge is to bring in people from outside the sector with a commercial perspective.
Recruiting a new chair or board member is a fantastic opportunity for improvement and to bring in new skills and experience. Here are five tips on creating a better board for your housing organisation:
1. Know what you need
Know what skills you want and why. Start with a review of the board team skills using tools like skills gap and SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis against your organisation’s strategic plan.
The essential skills for all boards are ensuring the organisation is viable; managing risk, and focusing on customers. But just as important as evaluating individual board members’ skills is assessing whether the board will work well together as a team. Consider a team analysis tool to give valuable insights into how your board members behave and communicate.
You will then have a clear idea of the profile of the board member or chair to search and select against.
2. Look for independent thinking
When recruiting to your board, make sure you look for a team player who will work with current members but is also independent. This is not just about having no conflicts of interest but also looking for someone who will exercise independent judgement – evidence-based, critical thinking – and not represent an industry perspective, personal or political agenda. Ensure the board as a whole has experience from outside the sector with not too many current or former social housing executives.
3. Sell yourself to candidates
How attractive is your organisation to high calibre board candidates?
Attracting the best possible members to your board means you need to highlight the advantages for board members, as well as for the organisation. This is a chance for them to improve themselves, too. Sell your value to prospective candidates so they understand what difference they can make and what they will get from their contribution.
Agree a recruitment and induction process that shows them the support and training they will get.
4. Cast your net as widely as possible
Make sure your board reflects the diversity of your community. Not only will this make your organisation better, but social housing regulators will downgrade your governance if your board is dominated by white middle-aged men.
Consider how you can attract candidates from underrepresented groups. There are many ways to do this, but they each have pros and cons. Here are some of the options:
Sector insiders
Pro: By definition, they will have sector knowledge and expertise.
Con: A board with too many insiders runs the risk of being siloed in its thinking. Members might be less willing to challenge the executive and may lack essential commercial experience. Consider the benefits of a fresh approach.
Headhunters
Con: This is an expensive option. It can lack transparency and fairness and there has been independent research suggesting a bias towards men. If you use a headhunter, make sure they have adopted a recommended code of conduct and that your brief is crystal clear.
Talent pipelines and networks
Pro: Sustainable succession planning can ensure a continuous supply of keen candidates. This is a pool of candidates developed and supported by the organisation to have the skills, experience and commitment to be put forward for selection when a board place becomes vacant. It helps you steer clear of the “great and good” and look for people on the way up who are hungry to learn and make a difference.
Advertisements
Pro: These can help widen the net, if you include industry and local publications as well as the Guardian and online sites such as Women on Boards.
Con: It will depend on your budget.
Social media
Pro: It has the potential to reach a wider audience and is mostly free. This may enable you to target new groups of potential applicants.
5. Don’t rush in
It’s easy to fall for a slick presentation, but shortlisted candidates should undertake further assessment before interview. There are some excellent psychometric tests on the market but be sure to use only those that are relevant, accurate and will provide valid evidence on which to make a judgment about the candidates.
There are also less formal assessments to consider. Map candidates against the team profile to ensure a good fit. Consider appointing someone as a co-optee to start until you are satisfied with their performance. Use the interview process as a test to ensure a fit on both sides.
And finally, once you’ve chosen your new board members, make sure they get a really good induction!
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