How exceptional boards accelerate the contributions of new directors.

• Author: Hall, Jan
• Position: HEIDRICK & STRUCGLES GOVERNANCE LETTER

Forgo leisurely onboarding processes. These best practices will instead help new directors become substantive contributors from day one.

In today's hypercompetitive world, organizations must be able to accelerate performance--to build and change momentum to get results more quickly than competitors. That ability can be the difference between thriving and merely surviving. In a recent research project encompassing 250 of the world's largest companies across geographies and industries, we measured the ability of enterprises to achieve performance outcomes more quickly than others. Among those 250 companies, we identified a small group that we call "superaccelerators." What differentiates superaccelerators from the also-rans is the ability to mobilize, execute, and transform with agility--not simply to do everything faster, but to have the capacity to pivot and focus only where it is important and adds value.

With entire industries being disrupted at a faster pace than ever, boards too are feeling the pressures of acceleration. In practice, that often means developing new competencies, for example by bringing in board members with digital skills or cybersecurity expertise, rapidly evolving areas that hardly existed a decade ago. At the same time, it means maintaining and augmenting the operational expertise typically acquired in general management roles like CEO, COO, and division head. In addition, boards need diversity of all kinds--of gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, and experience --to bring added dimensions of agility that impart distinct competitive advantage over less diverse boards. And when activist investors come calling, a board's level of industry expertise may suddenly be at a premium.

In this environment, boards increasingly forgo leisurely onboarding or induction processes for new directors, seeking instead to help them make substantive contributions right away. In our experience working with these boards, we have found that onboarding designed to accelerate the contribution of new directors encompasses three broad areas:

* The strategy and business of the company

* Board structure, processes, and role

* Nuances of board culture

Though these categories are in one sense obvious, the devil is in the details. The "onboarding leader" must think carefully about the particulars of each category and make sure the board and management embark on the specific activities that will most effectively accelerate the ability of the...