Sam Allen Board Effectiveness Review

Our primary purpose in undertaking the Board Performance Review is to help the Board continuously improve both its own performance and the performance of the company. By doing so, the Board can provide reassurance to shareholders and other stakeholder groups that they operate and act in their best interests.

In our view Board Effectiveness Reviews should focus on two areas. Firstly, a review of structure and processes in line with the UK Corporate Governance Code. Secondly, and of significant importance, an assessment of behaviours, relationships and the performance of Board members. Our Board Effectiveness Reviews will address both of these factors then work in partnership with the Board to create a pragmatic and realistic action plan.

Our long-term relationships are built on mutual trust. We aim to become a valued partner to your business by telling you what the business needs to hear rather than what it wants to hear.


Process

Successfully run external Board Effectiveness Reviews can add huge value to a Board, providing all Board members participate with the best interest of the business, and shareholders, at the core. Our Board Effectiveness Review will give you a clear and concise understanding of the most pressing issues your Board is facing. We undertake the Board Effectiveness Reviews in line with the Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland’s Guiding Principles.

At Sam Allen Associates we have three Board Effectiveness Review offerings

Questionnaires only

  • Bespoke questionnaire with a combination of around 50 questions on a Linkert scale with space for additional comments.
  • Preparation of report and presentation of results to the Board.
  • Boards often use this option for years two and three of the cycle, in line with the UK Corporate Governance Code, with the Standard or Comprehensive Review used in year one.

Standard Review

  • Bespoke questionnaire with a combination of around 50 questions on a Linkert scale with space for additional comments.
  • One-to-one face to face (or virtual, if preferred) meetings to understand and examine key issues.
  • Preparation of report and presentation of results to the Board.

Comprehensive Review

  • Bespoke questionnaire with a combination of around 50 questions on a Linkert scale with space for additional comments.
  • One-to-one face to face (or virtual, if preferred) meetings to understand and examine key issues.
  • Observation of Board & Committee meetings.
  • Review of 12 months of Board and Committee Papers.
  • Preparation of report and presentation of results to the Board.

What our clients say

Sam Allen and the team at SAA recently completed an external board and governance evaluation for our Board. Sam’s warm and approachable manner means she is able to forge relationships with key stakeholders, enabling her to gain meaningful insight and feedback. The conclusions SAA formed during the process were perceptive and demonstrated a good understanding of our business. The outputs from the review were clearly designed to help us build on our best practice governance framework and included a package of pragmatic recommendations for other governance forums elsewhere in our group. Considering the breadth of the review, the quality of the outputs and Sam’s willingness to spend time with key stakeholders, SAA’s service provided value for money and we would feel very comfortable recommending SAA to others.
Lucinda Riches, Chair of Peel Hunt plc
SAA very quickly got up to speed with the business, and clearly focussed on gaining a deep understanding of the real issues rather than just completing a 'tick-box' governance exercise. Their approach was relaxed, friendly and thorough, and the questionnaire was tailored to encourage discussion in all the right areas. The final report was clear, informative and action-oriented. The recommendations were pertinent to our business and I am confident they will go on to have a tangible, positive impact on our effectiveness as a Board. Overall, an extremely well run and beneficial exercise.
Matt Davies, Chair of Auto Trader Group plc, Greggs plc and Former Chair of N Brown plc
For our most recent Board Review, we decided to make a change from our normal provider as we wanted a fresh and more critical look at how we could improve going forward – SAA absolutely delivered in this regard and their approach is refreshingly different from other reviews that I have experienced. SAA clearly demonstrated a real ability to grasp the underlying dynamics of our Board and the strategic ambitions of the business. Through building strong relationship with the Executive and Non-Executive Directors, SAA were able to extract the key factors that needed to be addressed in a straightforward and unbiased way, which was well received by the Board. Their data was presented well and provided a clear basis for the recommendations. The outcomes were highly tailored to ensuring that we genuinely operate more effectively going forwards and the recommendations they have made will have a significant positive impact on the business.
Paul Lester CBE, Chair of Essentra plc
SAA's focus in their evaluation of the Helical board was to gain a detailed appreciation and understanding of all these issues right from the commencement of the assignment. They supplemented this with intelligent use of questionnaires, interviews and observations to gain the in-depth understanding of the issues and challenges facing the board, so that they were able to produce a succinct report which clearly explained the Board’s strengths and weaknesses and set out a number of practical and intelligent suggestions for improvement. Overall a very beneficial involvement which was welcomed by all members of the board.
Richard Grant, Former Chair of Helical plc

Download some further information on our process and output.

If you would like to discuss partnering with Sam Allen Associates on your next Board Effectiveness Review

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