Boardroom Leadership Advice, Tools & Resources
Board Assessment Tools and Bests Practices
While many tools exist for "evaluating" boards, most of them simply evaluate whether the organization meets basic fiduciary or regulatory requirements. Compliance with legal regulations is a must, but boards wishing to make a real difference need to set the bar even higher.
Candela Solutions offers a suite of board-evaluation tools ranging from self-administered questionnaires to anonymous surveys and facilitated sessions. Our tools assess entire boards, both statutory or advisory, individual directors, or specific committees such as audit, compensation and nominating. Our evaluations address critical success factors such as:
- Culture
- Independence
- Accountability
- Stakeholder relationships
- Director expertise
- Risk awareness
- Code of conduct
- Orientation and training
- Management oversight
- Information dependency
A Top Down, Risk Based Approach
To direct your business successfully, you must ensure that risk is managed appropriately. Identifying, assessing and addressing risks are critical success factors for all types of organizations.
Risks can take on many forms including:
- Financing, investing, and financial-reporting risks
- Legal and regulatory risks
- Information-technology and systems risks
- Operational, supply-chain and process risks
- Strategic, market and industry risks
- Integrity, reputation, and political risks
Knowledgeable boards regarding risks are critical to any company's survival. Candela Solutions has the insight and expertise to assist you with:
- Educating and training regarding top-down and risk-based audit approaches for both internal and external auditors
- Conducting independent risk assessments
- Applying COSO's Enterprise Risk Management framework (ERM)
A top-down approach evaluates controls in a sequential manner, starting with company-level controls and significant activities, and then working down to relevant individual controls at the process, transaction and application levels. A risk-based approach simply focuses resources in the highest risk areas. These approaches are interrelated and when appropriately used can be a powerful tool in managing risks.
Statistical Risk Assessments
Candela Solutions works closely with our strategic partner, GovernanceMetrics International, to assess an entity's risk profile. The statistically driven approach in identifying risks allows our team to move past traditional consulting recommendations by providing insights and improvements to your business model. In conjunction with GovernanceMetrics, Candela Solutions provides statistically compelling evidence identifying risk areas in an entity's business model or on their publicly reported financial statements and disclosures.
Boards must know the top level risks to the entity's business model and need to "check the pulse" of their organization; the C-Suite needs to know what risks may be hidden from view today that can cause problems tomorrow. All people with governance, risk and compliance responsibilities need to make sure their governance structures and relating controls are well established and operating as designed. We pride ourselves on working with boards and management teams in providing effective solutions based in statistical facts. Contact us to discuss preliminary diagnostics on your company. We can show you hidden risks today and help you design governance structures and controls to avoid problems tomorrow.
