The Conference Board of Canada/ Spencer Stuart 2010 National Awards in Governance
What's New
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Toronto Marriott Downtown Eaton Centre
Toronto, ON
Make governance headlines for all the right reasons
The Awards recognize governance achievements of private, public, and non-profit organizations of all types. Apply for an Award and be recognized for your superior governance leadership.
Why apply for an Award?
Award winners receive national recognition of their achievements, which serve as a model for how other organizations can meet their challenges through superior governance. In this way, the Awards benefit the economy, investors, and all stakeholders by contributing to the long-term success of public, private, and not-for-profit organizations.
The scale and complexity of governance challenges are greater than ever
Today’s boards must deal with globalization, domestic and international mergers, environmental issues, changing workforce demographics, and executive and board selection and compensation issues. And now they must also confront the challenges arising from the crisis in the financial markets and the global economy. For corporations, as well as public sector and not-for-profit organizations, the governance challenge has become much greater.
It is critical that boards meet the requirements of regulators, governments, and the other bodies to which they are accountable—and doing so is both costly and time consuming. However, boards must also provide value by effectively dealing with many types of challenges. Simply put, boards must work "smarter," not simply "harder."
Achievement
The criteria for evaluating entries focus on “boards which have achieved something important.” The following examples illustrate just some of the many types of achievements that the Awards are intended to recognize.
- The board operated in an “anticipatory mode” and was able to take advantage of opportunities or mitigate risks (e.g., in attending to potential takeovers, mergers, changing marketplaces or economic circumstances, or other challenges).
- It provided leadership that enabled the organization to be effective in a global business context (e.g., in dealing with a rising Canadian dollar, market dependency, regulatory constraints, global business challenges, and related political risk assessment and mitigation).
- It created organizational strength to meet stakeholder expectations on tough issues (e.g., executive succession or compensation).
- It effectively managed a crisis (e.g., knew when and how a board should move into crisis mode and take a more active management role) and ensured a smooth return to normal operation once the issue had been resolved.
- It provided leadership to enhance or change the business model, leading to improved competitiveness and results.
- It provided leadership on critical customer or labour issues, leading to actions or policies that increased the organization’s competitive edge and enhanced return.
- It played a transformative role in building or rebuilding shareholder and/or stakeholder confidence and trust.
The achievement of something important is one criterion for selecting top contenders and winners. Another is the connection between the achievement and how the board does business—the sum of its practices, ethos, innovative approaches, and composition. The following list illustrates a few key aspects of how boards do business that may be important connection points to the achievement itself. Again, these examples are only some of the many factors that may be central to a board’s important achievements. They include:
- the human dynamics of board management, leadership, and focus
- executive or board composition, recruitment, and compensation
- the board’s approach to guiding strategy, sustaining management capacity, and identifying and mitigating risk
- the relationship between the board and management (includes issues of trust, accountability, control, and ethics)
- communication between the board and the stakeholders and shareholders (includes issues of accountability and trust)
- the board’s measurement and enhancement of organizational effectiveness and performance
- the board’s management of key issues (e.g., leadership on environmental sustainability, research and development, or labour related issues)
- innovative governance structures in not-for-profit organizations, including federated organizations
- the development and engagement of board members
- the board’s establishment of cultural principles at the core of an organization’s mission and policies
A further key criterion has to do with the inherent connection between achievement and excellence—overall governance must be of a high order to qualify for an Award.
About our partner
Spencer Stuart is a leading global executive search consulting firm, helping clients transform their organizations with visionary leadership that translates into performance and growth. Spencer Stuart has more than 300 consultants in 52 offices worldwide and is organized into practice groups covering a broad range of business sectors and functional areas.
The firm’s Board Services practice is a world leader in board recruitment, conducting more than half of all board member placements at large companies, which are handled through executive search.
Spencer Stuart is the first international search firm to establish a Canadian presence, now over 30 years ago. With offices in Toronto, Montreal and Calgary it has helped many of Canada’s most successful organizations recruit outstanding executives and board members. Beyond director and executive recruitment activities, Spencer Stuart has long played an active role in contributing to effective corporate governance.
Spencer Stuart is proud to be a founder and partner in the National Awards in Governance. Visit Spencer Stuart on the Web
"These Awards distinguish themselves by recognizing board achievement in all three sectors—private, public, and not-for-profit— that make up the Canadian economy and which so heavily impact every aspect of Canadian life."
Andrew MacDougall
President, Spencer Stuart
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