Objective: Establish strong and effective governance that ensures transparent, accountable, and member-focused decision-making.
Current Issues:
- Dysfunctional Board of Directors with internal tensions and power struggles.
- Lack of clarity in the roles and responsibilities of Board members.
- Lack of expertise among newly elected members in leadership positions, exposing the organization to legal risks.
- Misalignment between the personal vision of Board members, their allegiance to their region, their groups, and the organization as a whole.
- Outdated meeting decorum, leading to inconclusive or unsatisfactory decision-making by participants.
Proposed Solutions:
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Intensive Training Program for Leaders:
- Develop a comprehensive training program for new Board members, covering their responsibilities, applicable laws, bylaws, policies, best governance practices, the history of the union movement, negotiation, strategic planning, corporate restructuring, finance, management, leadership, federal politics, lobbying, and conflict management. This program should begin within the first month of newly elected members taking office.
- Organize team-building workshops to strengthen team cohesion and foster a mature and responsible team dynamic.
- Encourage continuous learning for leaders through self-study methods such as reading and classroom or virtual training, separate from official meetings. Ensure follow-up and publish a record of learnings.
- Develop a mentorship program with former Board members and external leaders.
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Concrete Examples:
- Create a detailed governance manual and online training modules for new Board members. Make these programs available to future candidates.
- Conduct one or two weeks of intensive training within the first month following the election. Hold the training in a location without tourist attractions or distractions, without phones, and without alcohol. The training schedule should include full-day sessions with evening team projects and mandatory readings.
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Realignment of the Institute's Leadership:
- Reinforce the notion that the Board of Directors must act strategically and focus on big-picture issues, long-term vision, and learn to delegate day-to-day work.
- Quickly conduct surveys among various union leaders to identify different orientations, visions, or organizational concerns. Analyze, group, categorize, and explore how to integrate them into the organization’s overall direction. Examine divergent elements and develop an action plan for all raised issues.
- Involve former Board members and non-elected candidates in a process to align the different visions of the organization.
- Identify vision elements that fall under regional jurisdiction versus those that are national. Use the Regional Directors' Committee to address regional issues.
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Union Operations Review:
- Based on previously conducted surveys, review the Institute's bylaws and policies in light of the issues raised. Develop options, revise bylaws while clarifying roles, responsibilities, and governance procedures.
- Review internal processes to identify and eliminate ineffective and abusive practices.
- Implement regular performance evaluation mechanisms for services provided to members through feedback, performance metrics, and service objectives. Review and make necessary adjustments to ensure continuous improvement.
- Establish regular performance evaluation mechanisms for the Board of Directors to ensure continuous improvement.
- Review the structure and mandates of committees to ensure they meet current needs and are composed of competent and engaged members.
- Implement regular internal audits to ensure compliance and operational efficiency.
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Concrete Examples:
- Implement a performance dashboard accessible to all members to track the progress and results of governance initiatives. This dashboard should include all levels of the organization, including employees and constituent bodies.
- Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to evaluate the effectiveness of the Board of Directors and committees. For example, KPIs could include response times to members, conflict resolution rates, or overall member satisfaction.
- Establish peer review of the quality of interactions during meetings. A member could be designated at each meeting to take notes and share observations at the end, which would be compiled in the minutes.
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Member Participation:
- Encourage active member participation through discussion forums, regular surveys, and general information assemblies open to all.
- Create advisory committees composed of members and former leaders to advise the Board on concerns and priorities.
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Concrete Examples:
- Implement an online platform where members can submit proposals and vote on important issues concerning the union.
- Create micro-committees to prepare recommendations for the Board of Directors. Different Board members could be responsible for overseeing the work of these micro-committees and helping prepare these recommendations.
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Integration of Advisory Committees to the Board of Directors:
- Review the Board's needs for analysis and advice. Determine which topics require the use of a committee or working group. Determine whether these committees should be permanent, static, or variable as needed.
- Define the mandate and expected deliverables of advisory committees, as well as their composition and selection terms. Ensure the integration of new members' learning into such committees, along with knowledge transfer.
- Review the Bylaws and policies if necessary, to include or remove committees or working groups (Bylaws Art 17). Consider whether committees are operational and should be identified in the Institute's Bylaws, or simply advisory and only identified in policies.
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Examples:
- The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) implemented a governance model focused on transparency and accountability, which strengthened member trust.
- Consider organizational models for delegation of power, such as Holacracy or CODM.
(Translated from the French version)
