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Tuesday, 18 February 2014 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
LID) Chairman Pravir Samarasinghe says good corporate governance is beneficial for firms and actually pays back for investing time and effort.
To add further value to its members and corporates alike, SLID has kicked off its latest initiative Board Leadership Training Program.
The top training for the senior management of the corporate world will take place on t27 February 2014. The two day program which aims at covering an array of topics has been endorsed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and has been built up on the material developed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Global Corporate Governance Forum, customised to suit the Sri Lankan business environment.
While the training will focus on the duties and responsibilities of a director, board composition, contemporary board challenges, board dynamics and director behavioural issues, the ‘Board Leadership Training Program’ aims at improving the effectiveness and enhancing the performance of directors which in turn will benefit their respective companies.
To share further insights on this program, SLID Chairman Pravir Samarasinghe shared with the Daily FT details on the training and the need for such in the Sri Lankan context.
Following are excerpts:
By Shabiya Ali Ahlam
Q: What is the necessity for such a program in Sri Lanka?
A: The Sri Lanka Institute of Directors (SLID) is the primary forum for Company Directors and is dedicated to serving the professional needs of Directors in Sri Lanka, and in the region, by promoting excellence in the board room through awareness of best practices, learning and development, regular literature, interactive sessions and workshops.
The key rationale for setting up the Sri Lanka Institute of Directors was to provide practicing Directors, and aspiring Directors, a vehicle to cater to their professional needs just like the other associations and institutes serving many other professions. Directors, similar to other professionals, are expected to serve the interest of their shareholders and other stakeholders. While we recognise that the bedrock of professionalism is the fiduciary relationship between a Director and his client, it is the actual behaviour of the Director which results in outcomes. In the last decade, there have been many instances where actual Director Behaviour fell short of the expected behaviour. The Institute is keen to close this “expectation gap” as effectively as possible by making Directors aware of their duties, role, responsibilities and accountabilities. SLID, no doubt, is best placed to enhance this awareness through this training.
Q: What is the Board Leadership training about? What is its objective?
A: The SLID Board Leadership Training Program is all about promoting good corporate governance practices in Sri Lankan entities.
This bespoke Training Program will familiarise, and gird, the participants with what we believe is “Best Practice” irrespective of whether the organisation is a Listed Company, a Private Company or a State Owned Enterprise. We are confident that they will become more effective through a greater understanding of their roles, duties and responsibilities as Directors.
An organisation with a good governance track record is able to attract capital at favoured rates. This aspect is often lost in the minds of corporate leaders. Good governance, inter-alia, includes the display of honesty, integrity, transparency and ethical values in addition to operational excellence and entrepreneurship. This Training Program will accentuate the importance of these characteristics.
The training also aims to improve the participant’s ability to engage in more effective board discussions and to display positive, value adding behaviour to the organisation’s performance. It also gives the participants an opportunity to develop networks and discuss common issues with peers and find solutions to the often confronted director dilemmas.
Q: Whom are you targeting?
A: The target audience is current practicing directors, newly appointed directors, potential directors and aspiring directors.
Q: What will they learn?
A: The two day training covering four modules will handle the Board’s Role including Directors duties and responsibilities, The Effective Board: the composition and structure, the Board in practice and the Board in action. The first two modules will handle the theoretical introduction to the Board’s role, etc., and on the second day, they will gain an insight in to the practical aspect of the behavioural facets of a Board and Board dynamics. In addition, they will take away key insights, valuable tools and frameworks that can be immediately applied to improve board performance and decision making in creating sustainable value to the organisations they serve.
Q: What makes it unique?
A: We believe that this two-day program for Directors is unique in that globally proven training content developed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Global Corporate Governance Forum has been tailored to fit the prevailing, and emerging, Sri Lankan corporate and regulatory environment. The program consists of interactive work sessions, the use of relevant case studies and most importantly the employment of trained trainers backed by well exposed practicing Directors. The case studies will, in particular, give the participants every opportunity to reflect on, and discuss, their own experiences. This formal training will be followed by an open discussion with a very senior panel of practicing Directors, Board Chairmen and subject experts, who will share their views and answer questions. This training has been endorsed by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka.
Participants will also receive a Certificate from the Sri Lanka Institute of Directors and this certificate will be recognised as an accomplishment towards a professional qualification hierarchy that the Institute is currently pursuing.
Q: Who are the resource persons facilitating the training session?
A: The panel of lecturers and resource persons comprise senior practicing Chairmen and Directors including professional Trainers.
The Board’s Role: Director’s Duties and Responsibilities will be handled by Sudarshan Senaratne who is a trained “Trainer” on Board Leadership Training developed by the International Finance Corporation, and has held several board positions in the public and private sector. He will be supported by Rasakantha Rasiah who is currently the Chairman of Atlas Pencils and a Director on many boards and a Lecturer at the Post Graduate Institute of Management (PIM).
The Module in Effective Board: the Composition and Structure will be handled by Anthony Jayaranjan who is a Consultant in training and development, and was a Lecturer and Examiner at the University of Colombo and has served on many Boards. I will support him as well.
The Board in Practice will be conducted by Lasantha Salgado an Attorney at Law, Fellow of the Institute of Training and Development and a Fellow Member of the Association of HR Professionals having years of experience Consultancy and professional training. He has served on many Boards and will be ably supported by the SLID Council Member Mss Nilanthi Sivapragasam who is presently the Group CFO at Aitken Spence PLC and is also a Director of several subsidiary companies in the Group.
The Board in Action will be handled by Ronnie Peiris who is currently an Executive Director and the Group Director Finance of John Keells Holdings PLC. He is the former Chairman of Nations Trust Bank PLC, and is a Director in several other companies. He has over 40 years of Finance and General Management experience both in Sri Lanka and abroad and is the immediate past Chairman of The Sri Lanka Institute of Directors. He will be supported by another senior practicing Director.
In addition to the persons mentioned above, the 2-day training program will end with a panel discussion among four senior Directors, being Dr. Harsha Cabral, Reyaz Mihular, Ranjith Fernando and Ronnie Peiris.
Q: How many participants will be accommodated?
A: We wish to limit the numbers to a maximum of 40 to enable the delivery of a closer personalised service and the facilitation of interaction and discussion.
Q: When is the closing date for applications?
A: Although the training program is scheduled for 27/28 February, we wish to close registration by 21 February to enable us to give the participants the course material and case studies upfront. We believe that this would significantly improve the quality of their participation and interaction. This will no doubt, result in improved learning.
Q: What are SLID’s plans for the future?
A: Similar to other International Institutes’ of Directors, SLID plans to introduce a curriculum and qualification leading to a hierarchical professional membership; Fellow, Associate and Affiliate of the Sri Lanka Institute of Directors. These qualifications with related level of skills will be granted based on examinations and practical experience. The Institute is currently developing such curricula.
In terms of our special activities, SLID will continue with its crusade of taking the message of good corporate governance and stewardship to the provinces in the country. It is noteworthy that we have already covered Kandy, Ratnapura, Trinco, Hambantota, Gampaha and Kilinochchi. We will be covering Jaffna next week.
Yes we do have many other plans in the pipeline. They are at a nascent stage and discussions on them and/or disclosure are too premature.
