How to get in, get on and make a difference
Simon Laffin has devised and presents the course himself.
He has over 30 years of board experience, including;
His board experience includes; acquiring companies, failed bids, private equity bids, both successful and failed acquisition integrations, being acquired, shareholder revolts, equity raises, being nationalised, turnarounds, regulatory inquiries, boardroom fights, performance issues, liquidity crises, inappropriate boardroom behaviour, discrimination, resignations, recruitments and dismissals.
By the end of the course participants will;
1. Getting into the boardroom
Choosing a board and company to join; How to be successful in a board interview; What nomination committees look for in a candidate; What to research; What not to do; What to do when you join a board; How execs and non-execs work together; and What your role might be on a new board.
2. The secret of taking risks
Why risk matters and creates value; Why it shouldn’t be left to the risk committee; Managing risks; non-financial risks; Using financial risk to evaluate decisions; Understanding and calculating risk measures (including WACC); and Reviewing business cases for risk.
3. Finance can be fun
Why finance is too important to be left to accountants; Using finance to understand the business; Financial numbers that matter the most; Cash versus profit; The importance of the balance sheet; Why trends are so interesting and important; and Why the phasing of profit is more than just numbers.
4. The Audit Committee counts
Why the Audit committee is so important (and you might want to be on it); How to stop the accountants confusing you; Accounting gotchas to watch; What are accounting estimates and judgements; Understanding materiality; Internal controls and new requirements for board assurance.
5. The Remuneration Committee is rewarding
What is the market rate for a job, and should you pay it; Are executives paid too much; What metrics matter; Should you listen to remuneration advisers; Short-term vs long-term bonuses; Should you pay for ESG; and How not to be embarrassed.
6. The Nominations Committee is about people
The growing responsibilities of this committee; Succession planning and developing talent; Promoting diversity; Using head-hunters; Recruiting new directors; and How board evaluations can turn nasty.
7. Shareholders – vital or just annoying?
Are public and private shareholders different; Institutional versus oligarch shareholders; What shareholders really want; Dividends versus share buy-backs; Pre-emption; and Raising equity.
8. Corporate buying & selling – be prepared!
Are corporate acquisitions good; What to watch on acquisition proposals; Selling yourself to the highest bidder; Defending a bid; and When to listen to advisers.
8. Reflections & course summary
How to improve board performance; How do we improve ourselves; Readying yourself a board role (If not, why not?); and Where do we go from here?
Week 1: Read specially written course notes, questions and practical scenarios, plus relevant chapters of the course book online
Week 2: Peer-to-Peer discussion about issues raised, their own experience and the various scenarios
Week 3: Discussion with, and input from, both participants and Simon Laffin
When booking through the Good Governance Academy, all attendees will receive certificates of attendance.
Our certificates of attendance are used by most professional associations for continuing professional development purposes.
The course costs £550 per participant
Download the course prospectus here.
+27 11 717 3300
info@goodgovernance.academy
Wits Business School, 2 St Davids Pl, St Andrew Rd, Parktown,
Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa
Simon Laffin is an experienced chairman, non-executive director, mentor and author. He has served on both public and private boards, as well as having worked in private equity and been a FTSE-100 CFO.
Simon is currently a non-executive director at Watkin Jones plc (a listed UK property company). Previously, he has chaired Assura plc, Flybe Group plc and Hozelock Group, and served as a non-executive on Quintain Estates & Development plc, Aegis Group plc, Mitchells & Butlers plc, Dentsu Group Inc and Northern Rock plc (as part of the rescue team). Simon’s early career stretched from being a milkman, working in a post-room, to being a store manager and CFO at Safeway plc.
Simon is passionate about making boards work better, for directors to learn from their own and others’ mistakes, for greater diversity at all layers of management, but especially in the boardroom, and for regulators to participate in helping boards make better decisions (instead of taking pot shots from the sidelines). He is an author and mentor to senior business leaders.
Link to the policy: GGA Privacy Policy 2021
The Good Governance Academy (“GGA”) strives for transparency and trust when it comes to protecting your privacy and we aim to clearly explain how we collect and process your information.
It’s important to us that you should enjoy using our products, services and website(s) without compromising your privacy in any way. The policy outlines how we collect and use different types of personal and behavioural information, and the reasons for doing so. You have the right to access, change or delete your personal information at any time and you can find out more about this and your rights by contacting the GGA, clicking on the “CONTACT” menu item or using the details at the bottom of the page.
The policy applies to “users” (or “you”) of the GGA website(s) or any GGA product or service; that is anyone attending, registering or interacting with any product or service from the GGA. This includes event attendees, participants, registrants, website users, app users and the like.
Our policies are updated from time-to-time. Please refer back regularly to keep yourself updated.