Training of company directors is now best practice

Gone are the days when being a director was considered to be a cushy job carrying prestige, power and perks with few responsibilities. Nowadays, directors take on considerable legal and non-legal responsibilities on appointment. Training is essential for new directors, and is a valuable refresher for more experienced directors. Many executives have a wealth of experience in management, but it does not follow that they know how to direct. There are few formal processes to ensure that directors are trained to competence for their direction-giving role. In fact, it is likely that employees in organisations receive more training than those with arguably the most important job in organisations – board directors. In The Fish Rots from the Head, Bob Garrett observes that the structure of most boards is not conducive to debate, learning, adaptation and continuous improvement. He goes on to say that most boards are structured in a legally-orientated, administrative and developmentally-blocking manner.