Article by Dr Chris Pierce

GCC BOARD DIRECTORS INSTITUTE

DIRECTOR DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

The World of Directorship – Certificate in Board Directorship

                                                                                              Register Now

GCC BDI has launched its new Director Certification Programme in partnership with The Financial Academy.

This flagship programme will be known as the World of Directorship – Certificate in Board Directorship.

The programme has been tailored for GCC BDI by Dr Chris Pierce, CEO of Global Governance Services and previously Director of Professional Standards and Professional Development at the Institute of Directors in the UK. Dr Pierce is also a Master Board Trainer for the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group, and a regular contributor to GCC BDI.

The new Certificate in Board Directorship programme is composed of four modules:

1. Corporate Governance Essentials
2. The Effective Director
3. The Effective Board
4. Board Finance, Accounting, and Corporate Reporting

The 4 modules are each 2 day workshops and are run as open enrolment workshops with certification as an option for those who wish to become Certified Directors.

WHAT IS A CERTIFIED DIRECTOR (CERT.DIR)

The Certified Director (Cert.Dir.) is a professional designation conferred by the GCC Board Directors Institute (GCC BDI) upon individuals who have successfully completed the 4 modules above and who have passed a multiple choice question based assessment test (MCQs).

WHY BECOME A CERTIFIED DIRECTOR

Achieving the award of the Certificate in Board Directorship means that a director has demonstrated an internationally accepted level of understanding of corporate governance, the role of the board and the director, strategy, risk, ethics, accounting, finance, control and corporate reporting. A director that has attained the award of the Certificate in Board Directorship is equipped to make a valuable contribution to any board based upon increased knowledge and confidence.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF BEING A CERTIFIED DIRECTOR

• Professionalism– it offers a clear course structure and development path leading ultimately to Chartered Director
• Validation – it validates that an individual has the core knowledge and awareness that is necessary to function effectively as a director. The regulators are increasingly requiring board directors to demonstrate they have undertaken professional development
• Competence– through attaining the designation, you signal to the market place that you are ready to serve as a director. Companies appointing directors on to subsidiary or joint venture boards are increasingly recognising the value that board directors can provide to their organisations and want to ensure their appointees have the right knowledge and skills
• Commitment – Certification enables directors to demonstrate their commitment to professional development and to benchmark their own knowledge and skills against clearly established standards of good governance practice.
• Assurance– being a Certified Director provides you with the confidence as an aspiring or a less experienced director, as well as providing the market place with assurance of your ability and competence
• Recognition– the professional designation raises your profile as an aspiring or less experienced director and sets you apart amongst your peers. We will publish the list of Certified Directors on our website. You are entitled to use the designation Cert.Dir. (GCCBDI) after your name
• Relevance– provides GCC-relevant content and details of local regulations and incorporates regional aspects in course content as well as using global case studies

WHO CAN APPLY TO BECOME A CERTIFIED DIRECTOR?

The Certificate in Board Directorship is a programme designed to meet the development needs of existing, new and aspiring members of boards of directors and board committees.

The programme is also designed to meet the development needs of advisors and senior managers who report to the board or board committees who are interested in expanding their knowledge of corporate governance. In addition, professional executives with an interest in corporate governance may find the course to be relevant and useful e.g. media, judiciary, legal, accounting, finance and banking.

 THE COURSE PROGRAMME

The Certificate in Board Directorship is based upon the GCC BDI Board Effectiveness Framework (see Figure 1 below) and the GCC BDI Board Director Skills and Competencies Framework.

  Figure 1: The 8 pillars of board effectiveness framework

The new modules will incorporate the latest frameworks, models, standards (e.g. Basel, COSO III, CoBIT 5, Sustainability standards etc.) and regional and national content that will include:  laws and regulations, exploration of regional governance practices, local case studies etc.

The Certificate in Board Directorship Programme will comprise four 2-day modules and an assessment (Figure 2).

Figure 2: The new World of Directorship Structure

The modules will build participant knowledge and understanding according to each of the Certificate’s four modules and Table 1 shows  indicative content for each module.

Table 1: Indicative content for each of the modules

Module 1: Corporate Governance Essentials

• Corporate governance definitions, principles, frameworks and standards
• The Corporate Governance System
• Identification of key stakeholders
• Corporate responsibility
• The Company Law, corporate governance codes and regulations in the GCC
• The business case for corporate governance 

 Module 2: The Effective Director

• Director role and responsibilities to include the role of the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and other Executive Directors, Non-Executive Directors (including Independent Directors and Nominated Directors).
• Director legal duties and the law and regulations impacting upon directors
• Managing versus directing
• The role and responsibilities of the Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Financial Officer, the Chief Risk Officer, Head of Internal Audit and the Board Secretary.
• Key dilemmas facing directors
• Director rights, duties, liabilities and roles
• Chairman, CEO role separation
• The attributes of an effective director
• Board diversity, structure and composition: the balanced board (including succession planning)
• Board processes and protocols
• Committees and committee oversight 

Module 3: The Effective Board

Strategy

• The board’s role in the governance of a company’s strategy
• Strategy formulation, development and decision making to include: purpose, vision, values and culture, business environment and strategic analysis, strategic decision making
• The board’s role in the governance of a company’s strategy
• Evaluating strategy delivery to include: key performance indicators and organizational performance benchmarking

Risk

• The nature of risk and the board’s role in risk management
• Risk appetite, risk tolerance and Key Risk Indicators
• Identification of risks to include IT security
• Risk assessment mapping and risk response and monitoring
• Disaster recovery and business continuity planning

Remuneration

• Remuneration policy
• Evaluating executive directors’ performance and determining executive directors’ remuneration
• Remuneration committee best practices
• Remuneration disclosure

Ethics

• The contents of a code of ethics
• Monitoring ethical practices 

Module 4: Board Finance, Accounting and Corporate reporting

Accounting

• Corporate stewardship
• Accounting and auditing standards, frameworks, policies and principles to include:  International Financial reporting Standards and Integrated Reporting
• The board’s key accounting information needs to include key financial performance metrics and ratios
• Measuring financial health and performance to include: price earnings (P/ E) ratios

Finance

• The role of the CFO
• Sources of finance and capital gearing / leverage
• Capital decision making to include the weighted average cost of capital
• Capital gearing / leverage
• Dividend policy
• Valuation of an organisation
• Effective shareholder communications and investor relations
• The consequences of inadequate financial information
• Financial oversight and financial crisis indicators

Control Environment

• Board responsibilities and the control environment
• Internal controls
• The role of the internal audit
• The role of the audit committee,
• The role of the external auditor
• Whistleblowing procedures

Corporate Reporting

• The regulator’s role in enforcing reporting obligations and the forms of enforcement of reporting obligations
• The benefits of Financial and non-financial information disclosures and transparency

Programme Entry Requisites

The Certificate in Board Directorship programme will require all participants to currently hold or recently (within the preceding year) have held either a director seat, or a senior management position within an organisation that involves direct interface with the board of directors or board committees, and have English literacy.

Assessment

The award of a Certificate in Board Directorship will be dependent upon:

• The attendance of all 4 modules
• The successful completion of a Multiple-Choice Question (MCQ) Examination that evaluates the participant’s learning of all topics covered in the four modules.

Achieving the award of the Certificate in Board Directorship means that a director has demonstrated an internationally accepted level of understanding of corporate governance, the role of the board and the director, strategy, risk, ethics, accounting, finance, control and corporate reporting. A director that has attained the award of the Certificate in Board Directorship is equipped to make a valuable contribution to any board based upon increased knowledge and confidence.

The programme will be based upon best practice adult learning methods, and contain a variety of training activities that will include: briefings, discussions, case studies, exercises, videos, etc.

The Certificate in Board Directorship started with Module 1 on 29-30 April 2019. However participants can join the programme at any point, as long as all four modules are completed by the time of taking the assessment. Please see here for the calendar:

The GCC BDI programme will have 3 levels of qualification:

1. The World of Directorship – Certificate in Board Directorship
2. Mastering the Boardroom – Diploma in Board Directorship
3. Chartered Director

The Diploma and Chartered level will be launched in 2020 and 2021 respectively.