Board of Directors plays a crucial role, helping co-create strategy, which decides the future of a company. The Board is responsible for guiding the company, and its management, and ensuring that the company is for the long run. It is also to ensure that the management plays its role well. Each Director is therefore tasked with a number of roles and responsibilities, and is required to stay updated on both the legal requirements as well as company specific aspects, including latest trends in the sector in which the company operates. To stay updated, familiarisation and training programmes for Board Directors has become a critical requirement for enhancing Board effectiveness, and ensuring strong corporate governance practices.

Why are Training Programmes for Directors Important?

The goal of training programmes is to enhance Board and committee effectiveness. There are multiple reasons why training programmes are important.

• Staying up to date with legal provisions: Directors need to stay updated with regulatory changes to ensure the company remains compliant and avoids any legal issues.
• Staying up to date with sectoral trends: Directors need to be aware of what is happening in the sector in which the company operates.
• Addressing Emerging Risks: Directors must stay informed about emerging issues like ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance), AI, cybersecurity, and digital transformation, and other risks to address newer risks and opportunities.
• Clearer Roles and Responsibilities: Director training programmes help in bringing clarity regarding the roles and responsibilities of Directors, to help them to perform their role better, and to not inadvertently step on the toes of management.
• Enhancing Governance and Communication: Training makes it easier for Directors to connect with stakeholders.

What do Director Training Programmes Consist of?

Some of the key areas/ themes on which Director Training Programmes are provided include-

• Role and responsibilities of Directors: A number of Directors suffer from lack of role clarity, because this is rarely included in induction programmes for Board members. Focussed programmes on role clarity help Board members to not step into the shoes of managements.
• Corporate Governance and Best Practices: Corporate governance means different things to different stakeholders. Sharing of best practices helps Boards and committees to be a better version of themselves, and improves Board-management interface.
• Understanding Financial Aspects: Role of Audit Committees is continuously expanding. Focused programmes on what is expected of committees helps give comfort to committee members that they are not on the wrong side of laws and regulations.
• Regulatory and Compliance Updates: Regulations keep evolving. It is important that Boards are kept informed and up to date.
• Emerging Topics like ESG, AI etc – Board members should know what is the role of Board vis-a-vis evolving subjects. 

How should Director Training Programmes be delivered?

While the content of the training programmes is important, its delivery is also important. A typical classroom setup, with lectures, may not be a good idea when it comes to such programmes as the audience comprises very senior persons, who are very experienced in their respective fields. The ideal pedagogy would be to have conversations, which blend both theory and practical aspects of the topic being discussed.

How often should the training programmes be conducted?

At least annually, one such programme should be conducted.

Who should conduct such programmes?

Senior persons, who themselves have been Board members, are best equipped to conduct such programmes because

1. They will not give bookish replies, but will speak from experience.
2. They will blend theory and practical experience of what Boards need to know. The roles of Boards and managements are different. A person conducting such a programme should not give a long laundry list of what managements ought to do, but focus on what Boards need to do.
3. A Board level person will understand the softer aspects of boardroom functioning, and this will greatly help in delivering a productive session.

Investing in training programmes for Board Directors is not just about compliance, but also about building a flexible and farsighted Board. Learning should never stop. Corporate Governance is not about being compliant and ticking boxes, it is about using best practices to add value. Training programmes for Boards are required to identify challenges, grab opportunities, and take the organization towards long lasting success.