Post COVID-19 the role of the Board needs to be a more pro-active, contributory role.
So much has already been written about the challenges Boards and organisations have faced during COVID-19. Even more has been written about how Boards can interact in the virtual environment. Indeed some writing has occurred with regards the ‘new world’ Boards will be challenged by post COVID-19. Yet little seems to be written regarding the new role and requirements of the Board given the intense social fracture that COVID-19 has created, or possibly compounded, both nationally and internationally.
Boards have historically focused their role as one of governance and accountability. While central to the needs and expectations of the shareholders and stakeholders of the organisation, they have tended to be process and systems focused often with variable results. Recognising the comfort zone that is governance and accountability, I propose that post COVID-19 the role of the Board needs to be a more pro-active, contributory role. The Board has always seen itself in service of its shareholders. I propose that the Board needs to move to SERVE its society, which in turn will be in service of its shareholders. Boards can be aligned and better attuned to handle the post-pandemic recovery, regardless of geography, sector or structure by playing the following 5 roles, easily remembered by the mnemonic SERVE:
If Directors and Boards apply these five roles in an integrated way, they will better work to SERVE their shareholders in a modern and meaningful manner. COVID-19 is not only about the pragmatics and tactics of how people operate in a workplace in a socially distanced way. COVID-19 is not only about how organisations recover their economic position after facing a revenue cliff. COVID-19 is an opportunity, from the Board down to challenge the fundamentals of how we lead and organise in order to respond to both the new needs and psychological scars of our society. If Boards don’t seek to truly SERVE their shareholders, then their organisations might recover but are unlikely to reinvent and ultimately others will supersede them.