NACD BoardTalk’s “Are Your Board’s Onboarding Practices Effective and Inclusive?” soundly suggests boards review their new director onboarding process through a different lens than was likely the case historically when board members were often recruited by existing directors or management based on pre-existing relationships.
The post advises boards to first become aware of and address inevitable inherent biases in their practices before tackling process changes, which may include identifying and eliminating inadvertent non-inclusive language, perspectives, and documentation; including more members of management in the director onboarding process; and actively practicing inclusiveness from the initial welcome and introductions through the regular boardroom discussions and dynamics. The post includes one example of a position description associated with an organization seeking diverse candidates that vividly illustrates a likely inadvertent disconnect between an organization’s intent/objectives and practices.
See our prior reports: “Nom/Gov Agenda & Director Onboarding Checklists,” “Director Onboarding COVID-19 Style,” and “Benchmarking: New Board Member Orientation & Onboarding Practices” and additional resources on our Director Orientation/Onboarding page.
This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!