Established in 1995, Effective Governance is Australia’s largest and most experienced independent corporate governance consulting firm. It’s a team of 20 consultants which deliver measurable value to their clients by assisting them for governance, strategy and risk needs. Their experience is second to none, having established many of the governance processes that are taken as good practice by many companies, such as Board, Director and CEO evaluations to name a few.
They provide tailored solutions to meet the client’s individual needs with their following services: Reviewing the performance of the board, chair, directors and committees, Identifying current and required skills for directors and boards, Developing tailored policies and charters, Assisting with the CEO remuneration and evaluation process, Professional development tailored for your organization’s needs, Facilitating the development of strategy, Establishing effective risk governance processes, Working with organizations to establish boards to enhance the organizational performance.
In addition, they provide boards and senior executives with governance advice to improve their overall effectiveness – especially IT Governance and attaining the requirements of ISO 38500.
Reaching Ownership with Influential Supplements
In 2006, James Beck took over ownership of Effective Governance, which sought to commercialize the ground breaking research of Professor Kiel, who in 1995 was among the earliest Australian advocates of many of the corporate governance practices now seen as standard, such as board charters and board reviews. James brought over 20 years of experience as a consultant and partner at PWC, where he had run a number of Australian business units, encompassing ERP, Human Capital and the University sector. James saw the potential of the Kiel Intellectual Property to be deployed in a practical, systemized manner for the benefit of Australian Boards. Over the last 10 years, James has enjoyed building a team of highly qualified governance professionals who are focused upon delivering value adding outcomes for the Firm’s clients.
Overcame Complications with Astuteness James benefited from the ground breaking research of Professor Kiel, which he expanded upon, systemized and provided to clients as service based products. Effective “Governance has built and provide a number of online surveys for each of their product offerings. Then they use near-automated techniques which generate the diagnostic reports for the Boards. These techniques, as unlike large sample base surveys, is feedback from Boards of generally 8 respondees which has to be reviewed. When the responses considered fit for the purpose, then written in a manner that the identity of the author is not portrayed.
The biggest challenge has been attaining the trust of the Board that they are not only competent to add value, but ensure the confidentiality of individual directors. Many of their clients are proactive advocates for their services, which keeps the demand for what they provide at very high levels.
Delivering Practical Results by Guiding Clients In and Out
Externally, Effective Governance can add up to 10% to the bottom line of the business by ensuring optimum governance processes through providing innovative, research based solutions that are practical.
They believe that in order to keep governance effective, outcomes or recommendations from them must be specifically tailored to the type of organization, taking account of its industry dynamics.
Having undertaken over 500 board reviews in the last ten years, they have built a reputation for delivering practical results in ways that promote unity and alignment amongst all stakeholders and key outcomes to assist the corporate vision to become a reality by achieving a High Performance Board.
Internally, they drive value through enhanced decision making processes. Effective Governance’s diagnostics allow them easily to pin-point areas where decision making can be enhanced across the roles and functions of the Board and throughout the organization.
Critical Scenario of Governance Industry
The Governance “industry” is still embryonic. Many companies who offer governance service believe it is just another consulting assignment. Working with the Board requires a deeper understanding of their roles and responsibilities and how they are going to interact with management. Boards do not manage the organization but govern – “see that the business is run properly” which is the fundamental remit of the Board.
Effective Governance understands the remit of the Board, and as such is able to assist the Board improve its performance, and help management to more effectively interact and service the needs of the Board.
Highly Valuable Assistance with Overseas
Expansion Effective Governance is currently servicing the governance requirements of their overseas clients with their Australian team. With regular request from overseas clients, they are selecting providers to whom they could license IP too, to better serve their local markets in the UK, Asia and USA. This will be a great opportunity to drive value through governance globally.
James addresses the importance of governance by saying, “While many readers aspiring to be on a Board in the near future may consider that they will not need our services until then. They could actually attain benefit from our assistance now in their role reporting to a Board. Our proven experience can assist the executive team in obtaining Board approval of the budget through to the approval for a large project – and sometimes it can be as simple as re-structuring your paper to the Board. Effective Governance is a highly valuable asset in your executive toolkit.”
