BEC阅读真题详解：Evaluating the performance of the board

Evaluating the performance of the board

Few employees escape the annual or twice-yearlyperformance review. (0) .....G......The answer is not a greatnumber. And the smaller the company, the fewer checks thereare on how well the directors are doing. Some of the largestcompanies formally assess the performance of their board, butvery few new or growing companies have managed to getround to establishing any such procedure.

Many business experts believe, however, that it is important for all companies to review theperformance of the board. (8) .............Another reason is that the board itself needs information onhow well it is doing, just as much as other employees do. For the chief executive, appraisal of somesort is absolutely essential for his or her own sake and for the good of the company. Indeed, manyof those who have reached this level remark on how lonely the job of chief executive is and howfew opportunities they get to discuss issues relating to it.

There is some evidence to show that once smaller companies put a board appraisal process inplace, they find this process relatively easy to operate. (9) .............Their counterparts in largerorganisations, however, are often afraid that appraisals could be a challenge to their status.

So, how should companies assess their board? (10) .............At a very basic level,this couldsimply mean getting all the directors to write down what they have achieved and how they canimprove on it. At the other end of the scale is the full ‘360-degree’ appraisal. Here, each director isappraised in a systematic manner by a combination of the chairman and fellow directors.

In the largest companies there are many methods for assessing the board. A

number of suchcompanies have self-assessment schemes. The chairman may meet each board memberindividually to ask how things are going, in a fairly informal way. The whole board might also meetto talk about its progress in open session. (11).............These mi

ight ask for people’s opinions onthe board’s main tasks or on how well the committees are working.

Research indicates there has been some improvement in the way the appraisal of boardmembers is conducted. (12) .............The chairman will have been involved directly or indirectly inthe appraisal of all members of the board. Whose job is it, then, to appraise the chairman?

A It is often the case that the directors of such companies are even happy to receive criticism,as this can prevent them from making basic mistakes.

B The rest of the workforce sees it as unfair if the directors are the only members of thecompany to escape appraisal.

C These are encouraging as they put a limit on the power of the chairman to assess fellowdirectors.

D Alternatively, questionnaires might be distributed to directors, forming the basis for futurediscussion.

E One issue remains, however, when all the others have been dealt with. F It is generally agreed that it is the chairman’s responsibility to ensure the regular appraisal ofeach member of the board.

G However, one wonders how many companies have in place a formal appraisal process fortheir board of directors.