Governance and management policies and procedures

Do you have governance and management policies? They are a must for good governance. They are essential for any organisation that is a Trust or corporate body wanting to survive and succeed.

If you’re a member of a board or Trust that is too often lost in operational details, or a manager of a social or health agency struggling with too much reporting and not enough clarity in your role, keep reading. We aim to help.

The gains of governance management policies

Governance and management policies and procedures can make a big difference. They provide many benefits if done correctly. The challenge for organisations is to achieve policies and procedures in this area that get the balance just right:

• help the Governance to govern
• support management to manage.

Policies about the role and responsiblities of governance and the parameters of management are particularly important if you want:

• more capacity by the board to focus on strategy and stewardship of the organisation
• feeling empowered as a manager and staff in the organisation
• greater accountability within and external to the organisation.

Not to mention funding.

If you’re government funded you have to have good governance and management policies to show you are a viable agency able to handle the responsibilities of working with often vulnerable people and handling taxpayer monies.

Governance and management policies and procedures are therefore  required for accreditaton and quality assurance purposes for funded agencies in the social sector, health and tertiary education areas.

The risks

As a board member or manager, you may well be living day-to-day with the risks that go with poor governance management policies. The risks are considerable and include:

• fraud
• poor and damaged reputation associated with lack of transparency and accountability
• inefficiency associated with confused decision-making processes
• duplication across tasks and areas of responsibility
• a disinclination to act by staff for fear they lack authority
• high staff and board member turnover because of workload, high levels of dissatisfaction.

Online governance and management policies

At the Policy Place, we’re reviewing governance and management policies each time we bring an organisation into the online policy service.

We see a huge array of policies and procedures. A common problem is a lack of clarity around the role of governance versus management with too many  responsibilities given to the board and not enough clarity around the management role.

When organisations are often struggling to get people on to their boards, we want to help.

Our online policies and procedures support a divide between governance and management roles to help the board focus on stewardship and management, on managing.  Our online policies and procedures  address areas like:

• roles and responsibilities of governance
• management delegation
• conflict of interest
• financial and organisational reporting
• risk management
• membership and recruitment of the board
• other areas

Our policies support organisations to comply with governance and workforce criteria in the Social Sector Accreditation Standards and Ngā Paerewa Health and Disability Standard.

Options

Good news – there’s options!  

If you’re a board member struggling with too much or with the mahi of having to review policies, or if you’re a manager, who feels like the relationship between management and the board could be improved, you can:

• stick with the status quo
• give the Policy Place free trial a go
• take the leap and join up to the online policy service
• DIY – re-draft your policies to achieve more clarity and accountability
• check out 3 policy and procedure tips for effective financial governance for advice
• contact us to find out more about how the Policy Place can support you with your governance/management policies and procedures.