The experience conundrum is two-fold.  The first relates to the desire of boards to have non-executive directors with experience. Understandably, companies want their boards to function well and the directors need to know that each of them sitting around the table understands what their role is in terms of governance, oversight and decision-making. However, boards need to continually refresh and the wider community want to improve diversity.  How do you find new directors if they need to have experience?  Did the first ever director have experience?  It’s a little like the sign in the window of one of my local cafés: “Junior waitress wanted. Experience required”!!

Governance experience can be gained from working with not-for-profit organisations such as charities, school boards and sporting organisations. An understanding of governance and the decision-making process can also be gained by executives who report to boards or attend board meetings or board sub-committee meetings.  The AICD runs an excellent course that all aspiring non-executive directors are encouraged to attend. If the knowledge gained there is not considered sufficient, then what does that say about the value of the course?  And if all of that isn’t enough for a new director, couldn’t a chairman or existing experienced NED take the new NED “under their wing” for a while and mentor and them and pass on their wisdom and learnings from their own experiences?

The other experience conundrum is in relation to industry experience.  A chairman putting a new board together told me that I wasn’t appropriate because I didn’t have experience in the particular industry that group operated within. Diversity doesn’t just come from a mix of genders. It comes from a mix of perspectives, which may derive from different genders, different ages and different industries.  Very few businesses could say that their industry is so specific that they could not benefit from experience gained in a different industry, tackling similar issues. There are a huge range of industries where focusing on customer/client needs is critical, including retail, manufacturing, services etc. Similarly, there are a range of businesses where understanding capital-intensive assets is vital  – it’s not just in mining and resources.  Bringing a perspective from a different industry and from different experience will help reduce the risk of “group think” and sometimes lead to thinking about a mature business in a fresh way.

Coffee count: 141