I see that, following on from his research about governance in New Zealand, Jens Mueller and his team have set up a website as a tool for both prospective independent directors, and entities needing the same, to meet.
Now in all my writing I have pressed for more governance in New Zealand, so don’t get me wrong, I’m in firm favour of anything that might lead to more higher calibre people being directors for more businesses. My concerns however lie in a couple of areas.
I do have some residual concerns about the “old boys, shoulder tap” state of governance in New Zealand, with a very small band of accountants and lawyers filling the majority of the directorial positions available. These individuals are not necessarily the right directors for young, new vibrant businesses. In fact sometimes these individuals are exactly the wrong person this sort of entity needs. Given that you’d think I’d be shouting about the new service from the rooftops.
My concern lies in the fact that, as the website is an entirely open platform, it may become a de facto place for unhappy middle management to sell themselves into another role. As such it may be providing a service to the individuals but it is also doing a disservice to the businesses using the site to find new independent directors.
I guess we just have to hope that the businesses selecting new directors have excellent assessment tools in place to ensure the right candidates are always chosen.
In any case we’ll watch developments and see how successful the site proves.
