BOARD ADVISORY SERVICES

WHO WE ARE?

At Business Cardinal we take particular pride in our deep experience helping boards of directors’ source and develop leadership talent, both on the board and in CEO succession projects. With over 7 local offices Nigeria, we are able to identify, assess, and develop director candidates all over the world. The collective expertise of our consultants all of whom had significant careers in business before coming to our firm allows us to better understand and anticipate your talent requirements in this area. Our wide reach also enables us to be creative when it comes to talent solutions; you can expect to meet candidates who don’t show up in traditional databases and who bring diversity of all kinds.

Shareholders and society as a whole now expect much more from boards of directors, as part of increased scrutiny of our institutions. In addition, there is a growing demand from senior executives for their boards to provide judgment and wisdom on how to “do things better,” taking advantage of global and technological opportunities while avoiding traps and ensuring growth and sustainability.

At Business Cardinal, we welcome this higher level of scrutiny and stand ready to work with you as partners in building the best boards of directors possible. Through more than 3,600 international board-consulting assignments in the past five years, we have accumulated insight on a broad range of topics that boards will encounter. Our experience goes well beyond executive search to build on nearly 20 years of learning how board directors can have the greatest impact, both individually and collectively.

We leverage our unique global reach and equal partnership compensation model to make sure that everything we do has a singular focus: bringing better leadership to the boardroom. We invite you to experience true partnership as you build a more effective board

WHAT WE DO

At Business Cardinal, we offer up the following board advisory services at our disposal:

• Chairman, Non-Executive Director & CEO Search / Appointments

We assist our clients with their key Board appointments. We review and assess the skills our client Boards’ possess, relative to the skills they need (against an evolving Board Skills Matrix). We then align this to the Company, its strategy, operating market(s), and Company and Board culture, to develop a tailored brief and targeted search process focused on delivering outcomes.

• Board Performance Reviews

Conducting annual / biennial Board Performance Reviews to assess the performance of a Board, including reviewing the performance of individual Directors and the Chairman. We identify and address matters of key importance to the Company and Board over the short, medium and long term. Among other things, we develop an action plan for the Chairman and Board to implement.

• Board Succession Planning

We provide practical and commercial recommendations and guidance to our clients on their Board composition.

• CEO Succession & Assessment

The appointment of a CEO is the most important matter a Board presides over. We help our client Boards to proactively engage in an ongoing program of CEO succession planning.

• Chairman, Non-Executive Director & CEO Coaching

We coach and mentor Chairs and Directors on an individual basis on matters of practical corporate governance, and in relation to company strategy.

• Governance Consulting to Chairman / Board

We consult in relation to how a Board ought to respond to the most important and complex matters it confronts.

• Independent advice to Boards involved in significant transactions

Advising Boards in relation to high level people, practical governance, and strategy issues arising from acquisition or divestment.

Board Advisory Services

Other board advisory services we offer:

Our board advisory team is made up of governance, risk and strategy experts who can assist your board with:

• Outside Director Search and recruitment
• Board Assessment (Individual and/or Group Assessment)
• Board Training & Development
• Board HRIS (Litigation Mitigation)
• Strategic & Succession Planning
• Reference Checking & Board Compensation
• Merger & Acquisition Consulting
• Change Management & Outplacement
• Leadership Audits & Evaluations
• Board Evaluation
• Board Induction
• Facilitation of Strategy or Retreat Sessions for Boards and Top Management of organizations and agencies
• Corporate Governance Assessment
• Development of Internal policies for Corporate Governance Implementation
• Development of Code of Ethics
• Conduct of Training Needs Assessment for Boards
• Design, Development and Deployment of Learning & Development Programs for Boards within and outside the country
• Turnaround Management
• Benchmarking and improving current governance frameworks against better practice
• Undertaking tailored board training around risk, strategy and governance to assist boards to meet their fiduciary responsibilities.
• Undertaking board and board committee evaluations that identify areas of strength and weakness in skills, behaviors, board meeting effectiveness, board reporting, board composition, stakeholder engagement, risk and strategy
• Assisting with development of board support tools including board documents, policies and processes that underpin a robust governance framework of risk management, strategy formulation, monitoring and assurance

 

EXAMPLES OF BOARD ADVISORY SERVICES WE HAVE DONE

• Reshaping Board Composition

We conducted annual board assessments four years in a row for the Nigeria subsidiary of one of the largest global banks during a period of intense scrutiny by government regulators. Our recommendations, which initially focused on reshaping the board’s composition to meet the bank’s dramatically altered business strategy, led to an 80% change in the board’s composition over four years, changes in board leadership, more aggressive oversight of management, and major improvements in board work processes.

• Identifying Board Shortcomings

We assessed the full board and individual directors for a Lagos regional bank bogged down in dysfunctional conflict between legacy, private equity, and hedge fund directors. Our extensive recommendations were credited with significantly improving board performance, resulting in our being asked to provide further board consultation when the bank merged several years later with a regional rival.

• Repairing Board Dysfunction

We were asked by a venture capital-owned software company to assess the effectiveness of their CEO and senior team. We reported back that some of management’s very real problems could be traced directly to directors. Board meetings were few and far between, and sparsely attended by directors who often seemed ill-prepared and inattentive. Outside of meetings, individual directors provided conflicting guidance to members of the management team. And perhaps most troubling, our work surfaced a distinct but never discussed lack of alignment among directors about the company’s ultimate strategic goals.

• Clarifying the Board’s Role

We provided consultation and workshop facilitation for the board of a global, not-for-profit professional association to help identify strategic priorities. Our work ended up serving the larger purpose of enabling the board to clarify and agree on its overall role and its appropriate level of engagement in strategic and operational matters.

 

OUR APPROACH

Our approach to Board advisory services oversight is holistic and encompasses the following areas:

1. Executive Pay Alignment

An effective executive compensation program relies on sound governance and compensation practices closely aligned with an organization’s short- and long-term strategic plans and objectives. We provide expert independent analytical reviews and assessments of executive compensation programs and work collaboratively with the BOD, compensation committee, CEO, and other C-suite members to align executive compensation plans with business strategy and objectives.

 

2. Total Compensation Reviews

Our total compensation reviews include extensive analysis of competitive data and client program features using published surveys and customized studies. Our reviews typically cover the following areas:

• Base salary
• Bonus opportunities
• Long-term incentives
• Benefits and perquisites, including nonqualified retirement plans
• Severance benefits, including excise tax gross-ups
• Internal equity analysis
• Aggregate equity grant utilization and dilution
• Stock ownership guidelines
• Grant types and mix
• Development of pay philosophy and guiding principles
• Identification and selection of peer groups and data sources
• BOD and executive wealth creation analyses
• Employment and severance agreements

3. Incentive Compensation Design

We work jointly with clients to custom-design annual bonus plans, profit-sharing plans, long-term performance plans, and transaction-related incentives. This process involves in-depth assessment of corporate, business, and functional-level strategies and performance metrics, and typically includes the following components:

• Benchmarking of competitive incentive design
• Performance metric selection, design, and goal-setting
• Modeling of payout and performance scenarios under alternative business scenarios
• Accounting and economic cost analysis
• Comprehensive industry and comparable industry and business situation analysis
• Detailed absolute and relative performance assessments against business performance
• Customized business performance measure modeling
• Assessment of future expected growth value
• Probability analysis for target setting and calibration
• Strategic plan and execution alignment

4. Compensation Committee Advisory Services

We offer a suite of services for compensation committees seeking to retain an independent advisor, including:

• Planning process assistance
• Management proposal reviews
• Program audits
• Compensation risk assessments
• In-depth review of technical issues associated with accounting, tax and securities regulation
• Review of Compensation Discussion and Analysis (CD&A) and other US Securities and Exchange Commission disclosure filings
• Guidance on institutional investor policies and inquiries

 

WHY YOU SHOULD HIRE US?

You should hire us for your board advisory services because:

• We are Connected & Trusted

Operating in the boardrooms of Nigeria’s leading companies, and with clients across the African region, we are trusted advisors on Board & CEO Succession Planning, Search and Appointments; Board Composition and Structure; and, Board & Company Performance. Our key clients include many of Australasia’s most prominent Chairs, Non-Executive Directors and Chief Executive Officers.

• We are Experienced & Specialized

We possess extensive working knowledge of corporate governance and the Australian corporate landscape, and spend our days in the boardrooms of Australia’s leading companies. We know what good looks like. And we are passionate about the work we do.

Our detailed understanding of our clients and their operating environment is used to develop and apply rigorous and comprehensive processes to ensure our insights and recommendations are relevant and focused. We understand the rapid evolution of corporate governance; and, the resultant pressure, increased complexity and demands placed upon public company Boards and their Directors. We work with our clients to address these challenges proactively and pragmatically.

• We are Client Focused

Taking our instructions directly from the Chair / Board, we help our clients navigate their most significant and complex high-level governance challenges.  We focus on assisting our clients to enhance their organizational and Board performance, to drive a sustainable future for the benefit of all stakeholders.

• We are Dynamic

We assist our client Boards to proactively transition their governance practices, to best position the companies they govern on a journey of sustainable growth. We are alive to the issues of today, and maintain a clear focus on identifying those of tomorrow. We have a genuine commitment to enhancing corporate Australia’s business and governance culture, for the benefit of our client companies, their shareholders and stakeholders.

CLIENTS SERVED

We have provided the best practices to the following clients

• Start-ups
• Non-profit organizations
• Family owned businesses
• Public/government organizations
• Private businesses

 

INDUSTRY SERVED

• Manufacturers
• Service Providers
• ICT
• Mining
• Oil & Gas
• Government agencies
• Health Care
• Finance & Insurance
• Real Estate
• Professional & Technical Services
• Utilities
• Entertainment
• Market
• Construction
• Power
• Agriculture
• Transport
• Trade: Import & Exports

In today’s business environment, corporate boards and individual company director are facing many challenges and often struggle with their multiple responsibilities in order to guide organizations to achieve higher levels of performance and sustainability for long periods of time, taking into consideration upcoming disruptive forces like competition, technological change, legal and financial trends or economic turbulence that may affect them and the organization.

Business Cardinal  offer board advisory services to help a business owner regarding any business issue or circumstances, including financing, marketing, sales, expansion and so on; a body that advises the board of directors and management of a organization on a range of key matters including executives need to gain insights and evaluate business operation to grow the knowledge base of team members so that executives may be informed and govern with confidence.

When clients engage in Board Advisory Services, they receive the active participation of the Consultants and the right level of expertise. We work alongside board, helping directors seeking a more strategic approach to fulfilling their duties or an alignment of governance and corporate performance including clients that need to know that critical information is reaching the boardroom with quality in a timely manner.

We have a unique view into what matters and works identifying weaknesses and opportunities for improvement that helps us focus the project on the issues of highest interest to the board and management. We enhance the board’s business insight, improve returns by more effectively optimizing investments, create new sources of efficiency by reducing risk, clarifying the quality of earnings and financial position and enabling and accelerating growth.

Business Cardinal with decades of experience in business management and professional business consulting provide value added services uniquely designed and precisely tailored to meet the needs of an individual board and/or its committees to leverage performance.

If you would love to engage us for this service, please call us on 08023200801 or request us to send you a proposal by email to hello@businesscardinal.com or complete our customer enquiry form for more details.