Feedback on the BDA Board Equality and

Diversity Survey 2014 and how to use this for effective succession planning

What role can mentoring play?.

Clifton Robinson and Yvonne Atkinson

Who we are!

• Yvonne and BDA

• Clifton and HDN

• Introduce yourself and what outcomes you would like from the workshop

Case for Board diversity – why?

• Legislation (BDA or HDN delighted to provide training on this if needed

so see us after as no time in this session to run through legislative aspects! Board membership is only one aspect of diversity)

• Regulation

• Ethics

• Effectiveness- the Business case

Regulation

• The Homes and Communities Agency Regulatory Framework requires English HAs to adopt and comply with a code of governance (2012, p.11). The National Housing Federation Code of Governance (2012) for HAs, that many have chosen to follow, includes the expectation that organisations should have a policy for equality, diversity and inclusion in relation to board membership (p.34).

Ethics

• Moral case for

• 50/50 for gender balance and

• Boards should be representative of the population at large in the communities in which they serve

Effectiveness

Business Case

• How effective are all male boards?

• Need to understand tenant

• Dangers of Group Think

• Better decision making

• Better team work

• Risk management

BDA Survey

• Did you participate in the survey?

• Did you pick up on high profile coverage of survey from Inside Housing?

• Aims for the survey : looked at two aspects, observable and non-observable characteristics.

Some key questions and issues

–What is the gender balance on the boards?

–To what extent do boards include members from minority ethnic backgrounds?

–Do boards include disabled members?

–What is the typical age of a board member and what is the range of ages represented on the boards?

More questions/issues

–What are the characteristics of the chairs?

–What proportion of board members had previous board-level experience before joining the board?

–What proportion of board members had previous sector experience before joining the board?

Key Questions

Between variables

–Is there any relationship between size of organisation and board diversity?

–Is there a relationship between the characteristics of the chair and board diversity?

–Does the board diversity reflect the diversity of the resident population of the organisation?

How diverse are our boards? • From BDA Survey Women comprise 36% of the

members of housing association boards • The average age of board members is 57 years. • Members from black and minority ethnic

backgrounds comprise 11% of the members of housing association boards.

• 48% of boards include at least one disabled member. • The typical housing association chair is a white

British male aged 50 – 59. • Male board members are more likely than their

female colleagues to have had board-level experience and/or sector experience before joining a housing association board.

How diverse are our boards?

How diverse are our boards?

How diverse are our boards?

How diverse are our boards?

How diverse are our boards?

How diverse are our boards?

• 83% have one or more tenant members. Boards which include tenant members have higher proportions of female members, BME members and disabled members than those that do not.

• 44% have one or more executives. These boards have fewer disabled members and slightly fewer BME members but the same proportion of women as boards without executives.

How diverse are our boards?

What about the chairs?

What about the chairs?

• Diversity characteristics of the chair and rest of the board.

• Boards with female chairs have more female members.

• Boards with disabled chairs have more disabled members and

• Boards with BME chairs have more BME members.

What about the chairs?

Other findings

Other findings

• High levels of previous board and sector experience

• Most organisations report difficulties recruiting to one or more of the under-represented groups

• Most organisations have at least one tenant on the board

• Approximately half the organisations have at least one executive on the board

Other Surveys

• Inside Housing Survey 2011 of largest 67 UK social housing landlords (35% of board member posts filled by women)

• Inside Housing Survey 2014 of largest 100 UK social housing landlords (35% of board member posts filled by women)

• Has equality slipped down the agenda? • How do HAs compare to the corporate

sector from Lord Davis findings and reviews?

Succession planning

The surveys shows us

• Under-representation of women

• Under-representation of disabled

• Under-representation of younger people

• Boards not reflective of BAME communities

• Possible recruitment bias?

• Why else is this the case and how can we address it?

Improving Diversity -what can you do?

• Monitor board diversity

- skills

- protected characteristics

• Maximum terms of office

• Recruitment policy – open and transparent

• Targeted action

• More board discussion

Improving diversity

• Reserved places?

• Open advertisement

• Recruitment agencies

• Mentoring

• Approaches to specific organisations

Danger!

• Tokenism

• Failure to get voice heard – so window dressing

• Constituency representation

• May not be the best person may lead to factions

• Excuses : we need the right skills other aspects of diversity don’t matter

Mentoring -a practical solution?

• We’ve now heard the issues around board diversity

• Lets quickly look at the response of what is becoming a significant number of organisations across the country

Starting Point – HDN’s Staff Mentoring Programme

• National Programme running for over 12 years provided as part of HDN membership and is free for up to 6 members of staff to access

• For 2013/14 some 180 mentees across the country were supported by 180 mentors to get through this 9 month programme

• Mixture of 1 to 1 sessions and group classes on themed subjects

• Programme culminates with massive end of year conference with high profile keynote speakers

HDN Staff Programme Aims

Supports organisations to:

• Increase diversity at different levels of their workforce

• Increase motivation and confidence of the staff

• Confirms positive commitment to equality and diversity in a practical and meaningful way

That fateful call!

• In 2012, received call from CEO staff programme mentor wanting similar programme for her board

• She could not see why the same programme aims outlined for staff mentoring could not be applied for boards…and that’s when our journey around board mentoring started!

Board Mentoring Pilot Programme 2013 Key Elements

• Individual mentee needs analysis, including 360 degree feedback, values questionnaire and 1:1 coaching session

• Mentor and mentee matching, briefing and support • Four one to one meetings with mentor • Four workshop/facilitated sessions -Values based leadership -Finance and value for money – understanding the challenges for Board members -New business case for diversity and its importance for Board members -Boards perspective on the management of risk • Review and celebration of learning

Did we Succeed?

Mentees

Finance isn’t as difficult as I thought – you have to look at the big picture The challenge of being a new Board member has become increasingly more achievable with each month I have much more confidence to ask the questions and understand how to approach staff

Did we Succeed?

Mentors

I have learned that mentoring is about unblocking blockages You can never learn enough as an executive about how to be useful to Board members We have seen real improvement and development as result of the programme, both individually and as a cohort of mentees

Did we succeed? What others have said

:

The programme is visionary and

mentoring should become part of the

basic support for all Board members

Overall Review

• Pilot programme achieved an ambitious set of objectives and indicators set at the start of the programme, including:

– A clear vision

– A working model in place

– Partnership working is the strength of the programme. Regional steering group with HDN as delivery partner. This is what makes programme replicable

– Endorsement of NHF and HCA. The programme is in the spirit of co-regulation. It is adaptable to the future and to the needs of different regions and individuals

Progress since pilot and what next

• NHF Board members conference

• Briefing events in NW and Yorkshire

• National sponsor – Circle Housing

• 6 Regional sponsors – NW, Yorkshire; Home Counties

• National launch at NHF Conference 17th September 2014

• Regional Steering Groups x3 set up for October

Nuts & Bolts –Taking the Programme Forward in 3 Regions

Timetable and Content Sept-Nov Dec 2014 Jan 2015 Feb/

March

2015

April/ May

2015

June/ July

2015

August/Sept

2015

October/ Nov

2015

National and

regional

promotion and

planning,

including

Regional

meetings and

first National

Advisory

Group

Launch of

National

programme,

NHF

conference

17th September

Mentee and

Mentor

applications

open

(closing date

17th

November)

Confirmation of

regional

programmes

-participants,

approx. dates

and locations

Initial mentee

briefing

360 degree

Feedback

initiated

Initial Mentor

mentee/matchi

ng

360 feedback

Regional

dates and

venues

confirmed

1:1

feedback

priorities

identified

Mentors

and

mentees

matched

Regional

mentee and

mentor briefing

and first group

workshop:

1st mentoring

session

2nd Group

workshop:

2nd mentoring

Session

3rd group

workshop

3rd mentoring

Session

Applications

process

commences for

2016

programme

4th Mentoring

session

Final group

workshop

including:

Reviewing and

celebrating

success

Regional and

national

evaluation

What might a board mentoring programme in your region look like?

• Regional programme design and liaison, project management,

administration and feedback

• Individual mentee needs analysis, 1:1 360 debrief

• Mentor and mentee matching, briefing and support

• Workshop design, speaker liaison and facilitation

• Programme materials and 360 hosting/ reports

• Four workshop/facilitated sessions and four one to one

meetings with mentor

• Ongoing review, feedback and end of programme evaluation

Costs

• The pilot program cost approx. £20,000

For a Regional Programme

Based on a cohort of 12-15 participants

• Cost per mentee = £1500 (£1350 for HDN members)

• Potential discounted places for small organisations based on numbers of full paid places and sponsorship

• Regional Sponsor organisations (more needed please!)

• Sponsorship includes 2 free places and other benefits

Time for reflection

• What is your priority need for your Board members to be effective? What’s the gap? What key support is needed?

• Any additional thoughts re content, in particular

topics for group sessions? • Could such a Programme work in your Region? Over to you…

Inspirational quote to end!

“Board members play a key role in housing associations, as they own the “mission” of their organisation. It’s one of the most exciting jobs in the country! This programme has been inspiring and mentoring should be used as a basis of support for all board members”

David Orr at end of pilot programme –Jan 2013

For more information on board mentoring:

Clifton Robinson HDN

Tel: 07985 486633 clifton@housingdiversitynetwork.co.uk

Juliet Hancock HDN

Tel: 07768 567548

boardmentoring@housingdiversitynetwork.co.uk

Geoffrey Sproson HDN

Tel: 0870 143 2732

boardmentoring@housingdiversitynetwork.co.uk

Outcomes

Current Structure

• What actions will you want to take after today?