Corporate Governance

We have all dealt with businesses that seem to be run in an environment of confusion and chaos. It sometimes feels that nobody can, or indeed is able to, help their customers or colleagues by making decisions that resolve conflict and assist in moving things forward. Situations like this generally leave all of the participants in the interaction somewhat disenchanted and this is where good corporate governance principles can help clear matters up.

What is Corporate Governance?

There is often a misconception that corporate governance is the realm of big business only and that small businesses do not need to consider these principals. This could not be further from the truth. Corporate governance is all about the right people making the right decisions within a rigorous framework and can have many positive effects.

A governance structure is a set of written policies and procedures that are designed to create planned business outcomes. These policies clearly communicate the steps to be taken to achieve business goals and ensure that all staff can follow the same procedures thereby ensuring a consistent result is achieved. This also therefore, goes a long way towards reducing risk within your business. Policies should be written in a clear and concise language and should reflect your business culture and brand.

Some of the benefits include:

• Your business running efficiently and smoothly;
• An environment where there is no confusion about responsibilities;
• An environment where key decisions about the business are made by the right people in a timely manner.

Don’t make it a secret!

Remember, your governance policies are not a secret and should be shared with staff and indeed ideally staff should assist with the development of these policies as a way of ensuring that they buy into what is being put into place.

Also remember that your governance principles are a living document and should be constantly revisited to ensure that they continue to reflect the principals by which you wish the business to operate.

Altus can help

At Altus, we can help you establish the right structures with the right expertise that's right for your situation, so you can grow your business as you've pictured.

Taking the time to create a document such as this is one step towards ensuring your businesses success.