Working with Corporate Governance Consultant
Just as laws exist for how countries are governed so do laws exist for the governance of the activities of companies or organisations. This is referred to broadly as corporate governance. Directors on the board of companies who work with corporate governance consultant are to ensure that their conducts do not conflict with the objectives that the companies have set out to achieve. Board members are expected to be above the board in the discharge of their duties.
The board of the company is under the control of the chairman who presides over meetings of the board where policy decisions affecting the operations of the company are taken. It is expected that the chairman must be of exemplary character and should command the respect of other board members in the way he ensures that decisions are taken without offending ethical and moral values of the environment or country in which the business operates. A corporate governance consultant will assist the chairman in running his company both effectively and efficiently.
Corporate Governance Consultants run corporate governance through the whole of the operation of the company and specifies the ways and means that staff operates in relation to the company and in relation to customers or the public. It is expected that every member of staff of the company should perform their duties without expecting any incentive from customers as they are remunerated by the company for services rendered. The policy in most organisations will specify that employees must not hold any other full time job concurrently while working in the company as this amount to dual loyalty.
Secondly, the type and value of gifts that staff can accept from clients or customers are specified to ensure that they are not compromised in the discharge of their duties. Corporate governance is very key in that it ensures that the organisation and its employees, managers and directors keep within acceptable norms of ethics, moral and legal limits. The due observance of corporate governance principles ensures that the organisation does not infringe the laws and keeps the organisation alive for healthy growth and for successive handover to generations.
In many organisations the corporate governance consultants may preclude the corporate governance employment of direct family members in the organisation this is to prevent a situation where domestic relationship such as exist between husband and wife would be transferred to the office. This may lead to a situation where negative acts are planned and executed by such related persons leading to fraud or destruction in the operations of the company. It is very important that for the culture of corporate governance to take root within an organisation the company or organisation must start from the staff selection stage. Include this in the orientation program of new employees and include same in the company handbook which would be made available to every employee within the organisation. It would be helpful if on periodical basis a session is held to refresh staff about the importance of this concept and practice.