Board Director - role and responsibilities
Taken from the Board Handbook and Co-ops UK resources
The Role of the Board
In general, the Board's role is:
To set the values, ethics and culture of the organisation
To set the strategy and direction
To provide accountable leadership
To oversee business performance
To determine and direct the organisation’s risk
To oversee the management team
To ensure compliance with rules and statutory requirements
To set policies and procedures and oversee their implementation
To be accountable to members
To vet new board members
The Committee is not there to:
To become involved in day-to-day management
To represent other roles ie personal business, job role, interest group etc. People are there to represent interests of the coop alone
The Role of a Board member
There is no formal job description for a Board member, but it includes:
Providing your attention and commitment
Challenging other board members and staff
Being able to represent the membership – as a whole
Having a basic standard of financial literacy
Having good people skills – being part of a team
Being able to listen, reflect and when required make difficult decisions
Valuing different types and levels of commitment
Being honest and open
Showing accountability and transparency
Accepting majority board decisions – even when disagreeing
Bringing life experience and skills from outside
Being patient and persistent
The Signalise Co-op Board welcomes people with all kinds of skills, experiences and backgrounds.
Board member responsibilities
Signalise Co-op will provide training on Board on legal responsibilities.
The legal responsibilities of a Board member are laid down in Society Law and Company Director Law also applies to Board members.
Society law on directors
Obey the law
Duty of good faith
Duty to take care
Company duties – in Company Law
Duty to act within powers
To promote the success of company
Duty to exercise independent judgment
Duty to exhibit reasonable skill, care and intelligence
Duty to avoid conflicts of interest
Do not accept benefits from third parties
Duty to declare interest in proposed transactions with company
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