Is there a Chief Governance Officer in your future?
An internet search on “Chief Governance Officer” using your favourite search engine will turn up almost 10,000 hits, including recent appointments, policy documents, and articles. Included among them is a recent survey of 400 U.S. companies, 16% of which have appointed a Chief Governance Officer, and over 50% a chief compliance officer.
This emerging trend is of interest not only to corporate secretaries, but is significant for other professionals also. Bill Swirsky, Vice President for Knowledge Development of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants notes that “there are many Chief Financial Officers in smaller companies who also have responsibility for corporate governance. Formalizing the CGO role could help these individuals, and the Boards and other professionals they work with, have a better understanding of expectations and the competencies required to meet them.”
These and similar developments are the inspiration for the proposed CGO Focus Group of the newly formed GovernanceExcellence Network (http://GovernanceExcellence.net). The Network was formally launched in September with the support of ICSA, the CICA, and a number of other organizations involved in corporate governance. The purpose of the Network is to support a multi-disciplinary, cross-functional online community of individuals and organizations wishing to collaborate in defining the future of corporate governance, supported by “best practice” resources and tools.
While the mandate and work program of the CGO Focus Group will ultimately be defined by its members, initial plans include work to address questions such as the following:
1. Why should organizations consider formalizing a CGO role? What difference does it make to the governance of an organization? What benefits were sought by organizations that have already created a CGO role? To what extent have those benefits been achieved?
2. How do the role and competencies of a CGO compare with the traditional role and competencies of a Corporate Secretary, now and in the future?
3. What are the implications for governance practices of appointing a CGO? What information is needed by Board members, managers, and other governance professionals to adapt constructively?
4. Are there typical stages of evolution that organizations go through in implementing new governance practices associated with carving out a CGO role? How different are the CGO roles in organizations where governance operates in a traditional “meeting-centric” mode, versus those where governance operates as activity-centric processes interacting in a complex system?
5. Just as other C-suite executives are supported by various information and operational systems, what systems and tools does the CGO need to assess, manage and coordinate the governance processes of the organization? To what extent do those systems and tools exist now, and what has to be invented?
The work of the CGO Focus Group will have implications not only for CGOs and corporate secretaries, but will undoubtedly identify issues that need to be addressed by ICSA, CICA, and other professional organizations whose members are involved in corporate governance.
In addition, interested participants will be offered the opportunity to test an initial set of support systems designed to help CGOs assess the governance practices and the business processes of the organization, and manage the interfaces between them.
If you are interested in participating in the CGO Focus Group or wish to be kept informed of its activities, please refer to: http://GovernanceExcellence.net
(Reprinted from Corporate Governance Quarterly / Fall 2006)