Amsterdam Panel Discussion – From Executive to Supervisory Board Member

From Executive to Supervisory Board Member

Amsterdam Panel Discussion Synopsis

One of the biggest trends in corporate affairs and IR in recent years has been that of senior practitioners taking up non-executive board positions in addition to their “day jobs,” to broaden their horizons and strengthen their leadership skills.

It not only reflects the growing confidence and sophistication of our industries, but the surge of ambition that has accompanied the greater responsibilities being heaped on our functions. It also indicates, perhaps, a desire to find a smarter track for capitalising on that growth in stature. For even as the remits of corporate affairs and IR have ballooned well beyond “pure comms” in recent years – often now encompassing strategy, reputation, sustainability and other stakeholder concerns – it has still sometimes been difficult for senior practitioners to translate that into executive roles outside communications.

For many, non-executive directorships (NEDs) or supervisory board memberships (SBMs) have offered that proving ground, providing experience across different industries, a detailed understanding of an organisation’s operations from top to bottom, evidence that you can read a balance sheet and audit performance, and a fresh perspective on issues like trust, reputation and value when you have to consider a different set of stakeholders.

But how do you land a non-executive board role? As a corporate affairs or IR professional, what skills will “sell” you in? Do boards even want comms professionals? And what is it really like to be on a board when you get there? What will you be expected to know and do, and how much of your time will it take up?

Following the success of our London roundtable last year on securing NEDs in the UK, we recently held a 90-minute panel discussion in Amsterdam on following the non-executive pathway, in association with FGS Global and NEVIR, the Netherlands Association for Investor Relations. In the Netherlands, the equivalent of a NED is membership of an organisation’s “supervisory board” (which performs the same governance and oversight role as a board of directors, but is non-executive-only and fully independent from management, whereas boards in the UK and US will typically comprise both executives and non-executives). But it became quickly clear that the themes, opportunities and challenges for communications professionals remain very much the same.

Our panel comprised four corporate affairs and IR executives who had taken on SBM roles in Dutch organisations or NED roles in the UK/US. We were also privileged to get an “outside in” perspective from Hélène Vletter-van Dort, a highly experienced executive and board chair for countless major organisations, who is now a vocal advocate for getting greater communications representation on supervisory boards.

Panel Members

Dorothy Burwell, NED, Pennon Group, Board Director, Post Holdings

Charlotte Lambkin, Board Director, CSC Holdings & Vice Chair, RVS

Bartho Boer, Supervisory Board Member, Port of Amsterdam & Delft Support

Anne Louse Metz, Supervisory Board Member, NPEX & Midlin

Hélène Vletter-van Dort, Supervisory Board Chair & Board Director

 

Below are some of the highlights of the discussion:

Getting on a Supervisory Board

Q: How did you first get involved in non-executive roles?

DOROTHY BURWELL: I decided I wanted to do this about 10 years ago, and started preparing myself. I was already a trustee of a very small charity, so when I thought I really wanted to kick it up a notch and learn properly about governance, I continued via that non-profit route. I got onto the board of a larger charity, and that gave me that experience to be able to say, actually, I could do this on a corporate level.

Dorothy Burwell, Non-Executive Director, Pennon Group, Board Director, Post Holdings & Partner, FGS Global

BARTHO BOER: I thought it was something I’d maybe do when I retire. But then I got fascinated about how a supervisory board works, especially in the Dutch context, when I worked at Dutch Railways. I had a lot of encounters with our supervisory board and was curious what it would be like “up there” with them. That’s what it felt like working inside the organisation: like there was this mysterious ship hovering over us, out of sight, that you forgot about most of the time, and then suddenly there’d be this beam of light from them, and you’d remember they were up there – and that somehow they were shaping things. I thought, well, maybe I can do it and started in a not-for-profit role, and then secured the Port of Amsterdam SBM five years later.

ANNE LOUISE METZ: Yes, I’m the same, I didn’t really aspire to become an SBM until I was really working with supervisory board members as an executive and then, at a certain point, thought, “Actually, I do get how this works. I think I could do a pretty good job at this myself.” How did I position myself for it? I didn’t really go looking for Board roles. I was approached by my network. I think to some extent, when you perform your work well and people see that, stuff starts to happen by itself.

CHARLOTTE LAMBKIN: Yes, and I do think the need is there for corporate affairs and IR people on boards, and the understanding of that relevance is growing, albeit depending on risk appetite. Headhunters for SBM roles, in particular, can still be very traditional in their thinking. So that’s a lesson: Don’t make those non-exec headhunters your only network in. And in fact, look at the organisations you want to work for, and write to the Chair or the RemCo chair and be brazen, frankly – sell yourselves.

Bartho Boer, Supervisory Board Member, Port of Amsterdam and Delft Support, Chief Brand, Communications & CSR Officer, KPN

Q: How do you know which kind of company board you want to be on?

DOROTHY: Think about: What is the actual issue this business has, and how am I going to be able contribute to it? Being able to pick those things out and link it back to our core skillsets in communications – especially around stakeholder engagement – I think is really important. I’ve got two Boards, for example. Both are very, very different – one is an FMCG, one is a utility – but the commonality is that both have very consumer-focused issues, and both need to get their narrative right to keep their customer bases onside, because that hits the bottom line. So it’s about: How do you pitch yourself as the person to deal with that organisation’s fundamental issue? And if a certain stakeholder group is at the centre of that, that’s the best place for a comms professional to aim.

Q: Do we see genuine diversity on Boards now, and/or greater appetite for diversity?

HÉLÈNE VLETTER VAN DORT: It depends a little bit. What has made a difference are all of the corporate governance regulations now in place, plus initiatives such as the 30% club – the rules in the Netherlands mandating 30% women on Boards (and also 30% men; so an all-female board is not allowed either). It’s taken so much time but, with the change in gender balance, what you now see is that there is also active awareness that you need to have different profiles – different sounds in the room – and so people tend to value the debate more.

DOROTHY: Most of them will say that they’re “looking for diversity of thought” on the board. That’s the standard phrase. The boards I sit on are very diverse. Pennon is actually a majority female board (which I did not expect), and we have 40% women on the other board that I’m on too. So I do think that the stats are starting to move, at least more towards gender balance at a minimum (and at least in the UK and the US).

Communications Skills & Experience vs. Board Requirements

Q: Is there a need for corporate affairs and IR professionals on Boards?

HÉLÈNE: Speaking as a Chair from outside your industry: Yes, absolutely – or at least I’m looking for it. But I’ve been on a journey. I was chairing a company that had a difficult reputation in the Netherlands. It was about to be listed and then, of course, you’re in the public eye and what became quite clear quite quickly – and which everyone, myself included, underestimated – is how much reputation influences your stock price, because it’s an influence on you being attractive to new employees, on your corporate culture, and so on. And we realised: this is a proper job. And we don’t just need someone from IR here, we need to understand it ourselves. It’s part of our role. Especially mine, as Chair, and I was not experienced in communications, so it was something I felt I needed to learn as well; to get coaching from a colleague on how to do this.

Hélène Vletter-van Dort, Supervisory Board Chair and Board Director

Q: How do we increase that participation of IR/Comms in these roles?

HÉLÈNE: I think one of the missing links is that a lot of supervisory boards don’t really understand the skillset that someone from corporate affairs or IR has. So often, they’re surprised by your depth of knowledge. So I think the easier angle in for your professions is not just selling your “communications” experience but emphasising one of the more easily understandable areas of responsibility. ESG is a good example: You’re probably very used to telling that story, but people on supervisory boards just listen in to the investor calls and hear the CEO or the CFO speak about it. They’re not really aware of all the preparation that goes into that call, and how important a role you’re playing in briefing the CEO and creating the ESG positioning. So you need to show the breadth and depth of your knowledge.

DOROTHY: I think it’s about making sure people understand the connection between reputation and value. The reason why other disciplines do so well is that they’re very easily measured, and that’s the nut we’ve been trying to crack in comms for decades: How do we actually measure the impact of reputation on the ultimate value of a business? And the more that we’re able to show that, the more we’re conversant in that, the more people will say: Okay, we need to have that expertise in the room.

 Q: What skills do corporate affairs and IR professionals naturally bring to non-exec roles?

CHARLOTTE: I think what we offer most is (a) bringing the outside in and (b) being able to connect the cultural engagement of employees to what the organisation is doing externally. I noted around the board how few people were thinking about the internal cultural engagement, and how that played out externally. Your employees are your brand ambassadors, and I think that is too easily forgotten.

BARTHO: And we’re great storytellers, and Boards often struggle with being able to communicate the strategy internally and externally in a way that builds reputation and trust. A lot of C-level directors see reputation and trust the same way Dutch people look at the weather: Today it rains, and tomorrow it’s sunshine, and that’s just the natural flow, up and down. Well, that’s not the case. Reputation is something you can structure, organize and build. So I think what we bring to supervisory board roles is, first of all, the belief that reputation can be managed and then, secondly, the capability to do something about it.

CHARLOTTE: Yes, exactly right. And not just building reputation and managing it, we also have a core crisis comms skillset for when things go wrong. I’ve had several things happen over the years where having the cool, calm head of a corporate affairs professional on the board has been incredibly useful – to make sure that people don’t run off down the wrong avenue and that everyone tackled the situation calmly.

Q: Do you require in-depth financial skills to be an SBM?

BARTHO: I think, of course, that you should be financially literate. But at the same time, I think most comms and IR professionals on boards won’t get asked to be the Chair of the audit committee. But that’s ok – you don’t want to be, because you bring something different.

CHARLOTTE: Agreed, but I think you do need to be financially savvy, and you do need to be able to persuade whoever you’re going on a board with that you can speak reasonably financially literately.

DOROTHY: Speaking personally, when I’ve been approached, I do think the fact that I have a banking background plus the stakeholder engagement background is actually something that helped them make the decision. Because they can just say, okay, I know she understands the financial statements, we don’t have to worry about that, but she’s going to bring something extra – an additive on top of what a banker or a lawyer would bring.

Board Committees

Q: What committees should corporate affairs and IR professionals aspire to be on?

CHARLOTTE: I went on the remuneration committee (RemCo) and eventually ended up as Chair. I think we’re just very well placed on RemCo as comms professionals – I was already advising the NED and senior independent directors (SIDS) about CEO remuneration as part of my executive role anyway. So it was quite a natural fit. And when our shareholders got a little bit excitable around our share price once, and Hélène and I were helicoptered in to speak to them about remuneration at the AGM, that’s also our skillset. Fielding the questions from the retail investor base focuses your mind – boy, do you have to get the narrative right so that you can articulate it – but that’s what we do, and where we bring value.

DOROTHY: Agree on RemCo, and for most Boards, I’d add ESG to that. When I got pulled onto Pennon’s board, those were the first two I went on. For RemCo, I actually put my hand up and said, “I think we’re missing a trick if we don’t put me on RemCo,” and it’s turned out to be the key issue that we’ve dealt with around the board table. So those two areas are important, and definitely right in your wheelhouse.

ANNE LOUISE: And with ESG, it’s because it’s an area where Boards need help – and it’s help you can provide. I think at Board level (and even at CEO/CFO level), people are still grappling with where ESG fits in, how to accommodate the legislation – and it’s actually super-specialised knowledge too – so it’s slightly annoying to most Boards; “We have to do this too?!” They have trouble getting their heads around it. So it’s a very natural place for people with our background.

Anne Louise Metz, Supervisory Board Member, NPEX & Midlin & Director of Investor Relations, Renewi

Life on the Board

Q: How do you juggle an executive role with supervisory board membership (SBM)?

ANNE LOUISE:  It’s super busy – certainly having a full-time executive role, which is very demanding, and two boards (for some very small companies, but somehow the small companies take up just as much time as the big company, maybe even more!)

BARTHO: It is busier than I had expected, to be honest. That’s especially true in specific periods – when you have, for example, an M&A transition, or an emerging crisis. In those moments, you do need to be disciplined, because you’ll need to work around the clock to get things done. There are a lot of perks to being a NED or SBM, it’s fun and you learn a lot – but don’t think it’s a cake walk.

DOROTHY: Yes, I think the skill that I honed the most when I took on NED/SBM roles was speed reading – because you’re given 800 pages to read in three days, and you’re expected to be able to ask questions on anything out of all 800 pages! But I fully agree, it’s worth it. It makes me better at my job because I now actually understand the pressure my CEO is under, since I’m now one of the people putting pressure on someone else’s CEO! So, in the round, it makes all of us better at our jobs, because we’re more able to educate and advise. But I also count myself lucky, because my organisation supports it. So I do think that you have to be part of an organisation that values you having that experience.

ANNE LOUISE: I’ve had different reactions on that front. I’ve been approached to be a NED or SBM at different stages and, earlier in my career, I’ve had CEOs who said, “I really don’t want you to be on a board right now. Sorry. Not possible.” And I’ve had to consider that, and in those instances, just let it go. But more recently, I’ve had management teams who are fully supportive. But that’s also because I walked in saying, “I already have two supervisory board positions and that’s part of the package with me. So if you don’t want that, then find another IR Director.”

Oskar Yasar, Managing Partner, Broome Yasar Partnership

Q: What’s the piece of the SBM role that we don’t see on the executive side? What surprised you most?

DOROTHY: I think one thing you learn is: the dynamic between the individuals in the room is way more important than anything that was on those 800 pages.

BARTHO: Yes, it’s the conversations. When you interact with a supervisory board from your executive role, what you don’t see is what happens before and after the meeting, and that’s really the key part of how the Board works.

ANNE LOUISE: The beforehand is a lot of informal communication: discussing stuff in a one-on-one setting; previewing and road-testing scenarios; “What do you think about this?” “Are you going to support this or not?” So in many cases, the meeting really just formalises a lot of what went on informally beforehand. And then there are the conversations after presentations are over – so when the CEO or CFO leave the room, and you talk as a board about what you think of that CEO’s functioning, whether it’s going the way you want it to, or if that the CEO’s on yellow alert now, and considering what to do. Those are very tough conversations, very sensitive. So it’s also part of the art of this to be very cognizant of the ramifications of decisions that you’re making at that level. You’re sometimes pulling a trigger, basically, so you have to be very slow-moving, very thoughtful, understand what’s realistic, and what’s genuinely in the interests of the company. It’s a different, more considered pace.

Q: What are the differences in skills or approaches between exec and non-exec roles? Where do you consciously have switch to a different “mode”?

BARTHO:. When I’m in my executive capacity, there’s always a piece of my mind thinking, “How am I going to run this? How am I going to execute on what we’re talking about?” And I think the good thing about being part of a supervisory board is that you can leave that part out, but at the same time you do get to feel part of the organisation.

ANNE LOUISE: Actually, Bartho, I sometimes find it the most frustrating thing in my supervisory role that I can’t just pick up what needs to be done and do it myself! “My palms are itching,” as the Dutch say. But that’s also part of your own growth – to learn that you don’t need to have control, or do every single thing yourself. You can just say to the management team, “This is what we want you to do, this is how we suggest you do it, come back next time and we’ll see where you got with it.” And that’s sort of a nice plateau to be on – where you just put your knowledge and wisdom out there, and hope that it’s helpful, and see if the CEO can execute.

BARTHO: And as well as the differences, I think it’s also important for us to remember the common denominators between exec and non-exec roles – and for us, the main one is influencing people. That’s typically something comms or IR professionals are really good at, right? Because in large corporations you never have the mandate yourself. You need to engage with people, make alliances, and generally get stuff done by getting other people to do it. And that’s what being on the Board is all about.

DOROTHY: That said,  the influencing skillset with the CEO is much harder as a non-exec than you’re used to. Because as an executive, your CEO has paid you to do this job and is relying on you; you’re there to help them. So most of the time, you know what they’re thinking: “I’m giving you a report, I expect an A* on this report, I don’t actually want constructive feedback”! So as a non-exec, it’s a new skill, learning how to give that constructive feedback to a CEO or some other executive, and to do it in a way that they’ll be able to accept it.

David Broome, Managing Partner, Broome Yasar Partnership

Advice

Q: What advice would you give to your younger self about nurturing and developing your career to become a supervisory board director?

DOROTHY: I would tell myself a little earlier that (a) I’m actually quite capable of doing any of these board roles, and (b) not to be intimidated by the fact I’m in a different role at that moment. So making a commitment to myself that I am going to do, for example, a supervisory board role in addition to my executive function, and if people don’t like that, that’s unfortunate for them. That’s a confidence I didn’t have earlier in my career but I certainly do now. It just makes a big difference in how you walk into opportunities – and how people view you (not just the people who are considering you for their board, but also the people around you in your day job). You’ve got to really stand your ground, and I would have done that sooner, if I could give myself some advice.

CHARLOTTE: Yes, I think it’s very similar for me. I think it’s knowing that you can do it. And of course, having been on a board, you really do understand the value you can bring. So I think that confidence piece is really important. And I think that as our functional value grows, that will become more natural. We won’t query it.

Charlotte Lambkin, Board Director, CSC Holdings & Vice Chair, Royal Voluntary Service

Conclusion and recommendations

Clearly, there are enormous benefits to your career – both future and current – by taking on non-executive roles. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t also challenges for corporate affairs and IR leaders following this path. The turnover on boards is low, the competition for places is fierce, and many chairs need convincing of the merits of bringing on communications expertise versus “classic” skillsets like finance. To make the transition successfully, our panels in London and Amsterdam consistently alighted on the same recommendations:

• Bring more than being a corporate affairs or IR leader: Although your first-line professional experience is a great start, leaning on it too heavily risks indicating a lack of broader perspective. Instead, emphasise the depth of your business expertise, and bring a worldview that hits the organisation’s key pressure points – trust, reputation, sustainability, investor confidence. Detail especially the breadth of your responsibilities in any areas where boards might typically be unaware you have responsibilities at all (e.g., ESG, strategy, labour disputes), and outline the work you do to help organisations turn the corner on these issues.

• Think broadly for your first role: Getting started on a board career is a catch-22, since everyone agrees the easiest way to land a new NED or SBM role is to already have one! So it was notable how many people on both panels had therefore decided to start their non-executive careers outside a corporate listed environment – to whet their appetites in a less pressured setting first, get a sense of what it required, and to assess whether they could do it or wanted to do it. Give thought to taking on non-executive advisory roles for start-ups or privately owned businesses, for example. Or – like Dorothy Burwell – seek work as a trustee of a charity or not-for-profit organisation. Chairing trade associations or working groups, or even sitting on subsidiary boards within your current business, are other ways to demonstrate your ability to operate outside the realm of corporate communications or IR.

• Build your network: Many board vacancies are filled on the basis of recommendations, so your network is crucial. The support of a good mentor who can promote your candidacy – especially a senior one – goes a long way towards reassuring a board to take a chance on you, as you’ve already been “vetted.” So be vocal about your ambition. Tell your peers, your CEO and fellow executives, the chair of the board for your existing employer, or contacts in the industry who have already landed NED and SBM roles (not least as they will know when a vacancy is imminent on their own boards).

• Have a clear personal brand: Bring something unique, focusing on what the board really needs. There are many corporate affairs and IR professionals, but perhaps only a few have experience in the key issues the hiring organisation faces. Understand who their stakeholders are – especially problematic ones – and lean into work you’ve done to solve those issues in your executive role. Understand the make-up of the board, and what skills they lack. Be aware that you bring natural confidence and ability on issues that boards often feel daunted by, or which they believe to be more about luck than planned execution – like reputation management, changing the organisational culture, or persuading CEOs to move in a different direction.

• Formal training and continual learning: Above all, you must understand the responsibilities attached to being an SBM or NED, and the skills that are non-negotiable – especially financial literacy. If you don’t have that experience from your day job, then formal training may have to be the answer, so that you can walk into an interview confident you can talk to the underlying balance-sheet reality of the business.

Finally, remember that none of these hurdles is insurmountable – as the current wave of board appointments from communications disciplines is proving. A decade ago, it would have been scarcely believable that corporate affairs and IR professionals were in demand as non-executives, but the unique exigencies of today’s business environment – in particular, the complex and interlaced demands of reputation, trust and brand – have created a market. Boards are now increasingly aware that the expertise you can offer would fill the biggest gap in their current capabilities. Go out and prove them right.

Broome Yasar Partnership