Woodruff Sawyer’s “New Director Onboarding: A Roadmap for Boards” suggests companies assign a seasoned director as a board mentor to incoming directors, as well as schedule meetings with the general counsel/outside securities counsel, CEO, CFO, investor relations, and other members of management to review legal “guardrails” associated with director service, corporate strategy, financial statements/earnings releases, the company’s shareholder base, and other critical topics, respectively.
The firm notes that certain of these meetings, such as meetings with the general counsel/outside securities counsel, may serve as a beneficial refresher for other directors as well. Topics may include directors’ fiduciary duties, insider trading, Reg. FD, board/director communications, D&O insurance, and more.
The post also suggests resources to include in an orientation binder and other onboarding activities to help bring a new director up to speed such that they are equipped to meaningfully engage from the outset.
See also KPMG’s “Onboarding insights for new directors” and additional resources on our Director Orientation/Onboarding page.
This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!