Highly effective boards of trustees and governing bodies are essential to the success of an enterprise. A good recruiting campaign doesn’t just bring new people to the board. It brings the right people to what your board needs.
What is a Board of Trustees?
The Board of Trustees implies an association of persons representing the interests of participants, investors. For a decision to be made, at least half of the votes in favor of a particular option are required. At the same time, Trustees do not receive payment for their work in this body.
Strategic recruiting will include a six-phase algorithm. Following the steps below will help you make sure you’re doing everything right and set the Board up for success.
Be Prepare for Trustee Recruitment
While preparing for recruiting, you should plan the whole process, namely:
- the schedule with a closing date for applications and interview date(s);
- the budget available to support the process;
- the list of people who will participate and their actions.
Creating Info Pack
As a rule, the creation of an information package for applicants implies the following points:
- the information on how to properly apply for this role and how the appointment process will work;
- a list of specific knowledge, skills, and experience you are searching for;
- the role summary;
- an enterprise overview and its priorities for the next several years.
Defining Necessary Experience and Skills
You should conduct a skills audit to identify specific skill and experience gaps in your council. At the same time, you need to pay attention to those abilities that you can lose if the trustee leaves. Think about the variety of your board. The thing is that the board will be more successful if it understands the needs and wishes of the board’s employees and the people who use its services.
What counts here is that having trustees with different backgrounds, approaches, and points of view has been proven to contribute to better decision-making.
Conclusive Check-Out
It is worth checking all legal restrictions just before the vacancy posting. Among the main restrictions, it is worth paying attention to:
- nomination process;
- the number of authorized persons;
- the office term.
More than that, make sure you have a process for responding to all applications and any inquiries from potential applicants. Without any doubt, a quick response will help you “sell” your vacancy.
After months of advertising, it’s high time to pause and think: does it work for your board? If none of the candidates fit the requirements, then it’s time to rethink. When it comes to hiring trustees, it’s essential to do it right every time!
Recruiting Trustees Stages
Experts distinguish the following steps to recruit trustees to the board:
- work on what you need on the board;
- work on what to include in the advertisement;
- create information package;
- target the advertising;
- convert interest into applications;
- interview and shortlist;
- get people onto the board.
Keep all your recruiting and induction resources in one place for easy access. Sounds obvious, but if you don’t have paid employees, you may not want to set up these systems. An introduction is vital for all trustees, especially if you have attracted good candidates through publicity who have less knowledge of the board or have never acted as a trustee for the board before.