Games, rules, women (on boards)

Rules for the game

Now comes the hard part...setting the rules for the game.

Objects of the game

The object of the game is to become a director before the other players. The player succeeds by achieving:

• notoriety
• authority
• power. 

These are achieved withies described in various stages as described in various posts:

• pre career
• early career
• mid career
• senior. 

This may be doe in various careers:

• law
• science
• financial services
• mining
• agriculture, fishing, forestry
• IT
• media
• politics
• pubic service

Each player chooses a career path, which I often fraught with barriers and challenges as well as offering unique opportunities. The success formula is left to the discretion of each player. So, there is an element of strategy and an understanding of risk. 

Equipment

The equipment for the game consists of a folding board, a pack of opportunity cards, a pack of barrier cards, 6 playing pieces, 2 dice, and a box of Kleenex (just joking). 

Paths

On the playing board there are paths to success based o one's education, the opportunities presented by a career, whether they get a mentor or later a sponsor. As in life, players will be diverted ono side loops sometimes as a consequence of their own poor strategic choices and sometimes for reasons out of their control. Some careers have more opportunities for earning notoriety, authority and power than others. 

Next: success formula. 

Older and better

Governance, Women and Leadership

The estimated time it ought to take to reach any kind of a senior level both with a national non profit and within a sector should be between 10 and 15 years, The game will give points to achieve this next step in 10 years although it will likely take 15 years, given the barriers thrown up as a woman tries to advance her goal to be a corporate director.

1. What opportunities have been realized over the length of the game, so far. Have mentors helped? Did sponsors come through? Did the player find either? Without one or the other, the player will stay stuck in a mid level loop. With both, the player will advance quickly through the 1st 2 levels.  
2. At this level within the sector (not quite C-suite ) the player will have developed a profile as a senior volunteer realized by being elevated to the position of chair of a national non profit. At the same time , she will be at least a senior VP within her sector. If she has advanced within the public service, she will be an ADM or a DM off either a Federal Ministry or within a large province (Quebec, Ontario, BC, Alta.) She may well consider herself mired in a  mid level position if she has a similar position in open of Canada's smaller provinces. 
3. She will have moved on from the ICSA Acc Dir program to being a mentor in that program. She will also have achieved the C.Dir.  designation through the Conference Board of Canada. If she does not get this designation, she may be able to get a position on a junior company within the TSX . Enough to be successful in this game but not successful enough to win the game. 
4. Professional achievement is important and she should be designated a Fellow, if she has a professional designation. If not, she may be awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree. If she has pursued a career in the media, she will have won several awards (Genie etc).
5. She will also be asked to advise a Senate Standing Committee on some topic. 
6. She will be asked at the early part of this stage to be on an evergreen list from one or another of the major executive search firms. 

So, we have moved the 5 levels for the game. The next step is to lay out the rules, then describe each step at each stage, then describe loops within each stage. This is the hard part!

Mid level: Women on Board

Mid-level: Women on Board

We continue with the game design for the Board Game: Women on Board.

What does "mid career " look like for those women who aspire to a corporate directorship? 

1. Leadership is the by-word at this level, especially as a volunteer on a non profit board. Remember, it is important to secure a board position either at a local or, preferably at a regional level. At this stage, the player should be positioned to have a position on the Executive Committee or at the least, on the Audit Committee. Year 1 at this level should position the player to be vice chair in year 2 and Chairman in years 4&5. 
2. As an entry level candidate, it is important to get known in one's professional association. Doing committee work, having a profile in educational events, taking part in the design of policy papers all enhance profile. With those successes in hand, the player is now ready to do a number of things with one's professional association. These include: chairing a key committee (policy would be nice); executive (would be better). These two leadership positions enhances the player's profile with the national association. Accomplish these in years 1,2&3 and then move onto the national scene for years 4&5.
3. Maintaining contact with the player's mentor is important. At this point, the player is positioned to recruit a sponsor the better to move her into sector activities. 
4. Now begins the broader approach of networking at national association events and perhaps connecting with the international scene. One's sponsor helps with this. The acquaintance established with key director search consultants will prove helpful at this level. 
5. To further enhance one's profile, the player actively solicits opportunities to represent the non profit at a national level, gives presentations on the national stage, writes articles for national newspapers, takes part in association webcasts. 
6. This is the time to begin to nurture political connections initially through representations at Senate select committees on behalf of the national branch of the non profit and with the national professional association. 

Tomorrow, we will take a look at the next phase... being the senior level. 

Entry level-women on boards

Entry level: Women on Boards

My Apologies

For those of you who have been following this blog, please accept my apologies for going dark for the last 2 weeks. A combination of problems struck including ice and snow...and problems getting another blog up and going. It was to have focused on pension governance. I failed for some reason to engage the platform properly. So, I will continue using this blog until I get the other one fixed. 

NBPSPP and Pension Governance

Some of you may have been reading about my views about the NBPSPP, its governance and their performance. After several weeks about writing about it, and having done my research, I have now reached out to them for an explanation about certain elements of their governance approach.

Three (3) days ago, I asked 4 questions:

1. How does the board define director/ trustee independence?
2. How does the board evaluate its performance? 
3. How does the board recruit new members?
4. How many independent trustees are? 

I expect that there will be an answer in a couple of days (this being Sunday in this part of the world). 

Saint John, smart cities and open data portals

I had also asked our city councillor about whether Saint John had considered developing itself as a smart city. IN previous blogs, I had reviewed both what a smart city was and how Saint John's open data portal might help inform that effort. My councillor had no idea how to respond to the question about smart cities and rather though that it had to do with a continuous improvement program. (well...it does, in a way...just not his). He let me know that the open data portal was being looked after by the IT department of the city.  Bad idea. Very bad idea. I got back to him with one definition of a smart city and a suggestion that many more people than the IT department needed to be involved in the development of an open data portal. 
I can see another blog developing here, linked to the show
#whatmattersmost . 

Anyway, lets get on with the main show. 

Entry level: women on boards

An entry level position places the player in the first 3-5 years of a career, the sights of which are focused on getting a place onto a corporate board. The goal of this stage of the game is to acquire: authority, skills, and a network. 

• The first step is to get a position on a volunteer board in the first year of a career, if she hasn't done so already.
• begin to attend the relevant regional and provincial conferences 
• in the second year on that board, start taking courses through an operation like Charity Village through its webinar series. 
• begin to attend the national conferences. 
• in the third year, enroll in the ICSA Acc. Dir course (3 days) plus exams in either Toronto or Vancouver. 
• attend ICSA annual conference
• find  mentor within the governance structures of either the volunteer agency association (at a national level) or the corporate secretarial association. 
• through your mentor, meet board search/recruitment consultants. Meet with them to determine what qualifications corporations may be seeking. The search consultants should be nationally recognized. 
• in year 4 begin to publish articles in Trustee magazine and in a professional governance journal like Governance (the ICSA journal) or Corporate Secretary,  (the US journal). Ask to make a presentation about governance at these conferences (ICSA, volunteer agency)
• in year 5, continue with the above strategies and start to look for a more responsible career position, one which will enhance your profile with the boards of the companies in your chosen industry. 
• At year 5, the player will also have wanted to upgrade her professional education. If, for example, she starts the game with an undergrad degree, she should have entered this phase with a post grad degree. In this phase of the game, she should have upgraded her qualifications by completing a certificate in risk management (distance ed'n through the U of T as an example). Taking a certificate through the National Quality Institute will give her extra points. Both will jump her ahead in the game. 

The next phase/stage of the game is mid career, which I will cover tomorrow.

Pre-professional

Pre-professional activities

The first phase of the board game Women on Board deals with the pre-professional phase of the player's career. It assumes zero career experience. The player might draw any one of 6 player cards which consigns her to those first steps in the board game. So, what might she do, besides finalizing her education and beginning to secure those necessary qualifications to enter the job market.

• attend informal gatherings of like minded early stage professionals interested in securing a directorship. Such gatherings might include alumnus functions, professional association functions, board of trade "meet and greets".
• link with the chapter of a governance association. Such groups as ICSA might be one such group with 40 chapters across Canada, ICS chapters (mostly in western Canada;
• attend conferences sponsored by these associations, sector specific conferences; 
• take on a volunteer experience as an entry level board member. 

Each of these can lead to continuous learning certificate level educational sessions. These would be identified in a side loop for the entry level candidate and although this might seem to slow the player's progress in advancing to the corporate directorship levels, they might lead to using opportunity cards which can advance them faster later in the game. 

Career Life Stages for Women

Career Life Stages

This is not going to be a blog with any deep meaning. The idea is to construct a board game wherein the issues women face in trying to become directors and senior board members. As noted in previous blogs, there are a few Board games which will inform this one. 

• Careers Board Game by Parker Brothers
• The Game of Networking
• The Game of Life

What do we learn from each of these games?

One's career is divided into 5 distinct, but in some cases , overlapping areas including:

1. Pre-professional
2. Entry level
3. Mid level
4. Senior level
5. Leadership

The goal of the game is to develop awareness of:

1. the importance of establishing clear career goals and staying focused on those goals;
2. establishing first contacts;
3.  career options as a director, and what careers might be best to enable you, the player to get a leadership position on a corporate board;
4. the best strategies to employ to help the player advance;
5. how to negotiate through certain steps when the player is presented not only with opportunities but also with barriers;
6. the best outcome for,  or solution to,  each challenge. 

This game would move the player through a number of different processes vital to career networking with other players. 

Think of Maslow's hierarchy of needs and put one's career in a similar pyramid. 

1.  Operational. So, the earliest step possible within a career trajectory.
2. Functional
3. From here a careerist might move in one of 2 directions depending on her qualifications, interests, experiences and expertise. She might choose a professional career path or a management career path.
4. If she chooses a professional career path, she might consider serving as an "expert" consultant in a particular sector or industry. This provides considerable career flexibility allowing her to move between sectors, including working at senior levels in the public service. 
5. If she chooses a management career path and depending on her interests, she may choose to be a manager (or at least go the supervisory route in her career). In which case she moves to a 1st line supervisor, mid manager, senior manager and then into the C-suite. Typically, this would keep her in one sector, one industry but not necessarily in one company. 

It is important to recognize that there are victory points along the way including:

• money;
• recognition within an industry, within a sector, within a company, within a profession;
• authority. In this latter, one may also get points for how she helps colleagues, mentors and , in some cases, sponsors (at later stages in the game. 

I'm stuck..help

Rate this NBPSPP

Why do I doubt that how the Board of NBPSPP evaluates itself is subject to any logical approach? I guess that it is because I haven't been told!?

So, a few questions which might fit into a self appraisal.

1. Do board members have job descriptions?
2. Were you given a job description when you applied and when you joined?
3. Which of these best describes a board meeting?

•  fun
• interesting
• boring
• too long
• too short
• about right
• move briskly
• move slowly
• most board members participate in discussions
• a few members tend to dominate
• members feel free to express ideas and opinions
• members are reluctant to speak up

    4. At either of the last 2 board meetings, did someone raise the question about the relevance of an issue to the Plan's mission?

    5. if a member of the staff (such as it is at Vestcorp) comes to you with a complaint, what do you do?

    6. Which of the following statements best describes the communications that the board receives from Vestcorp?

• too much info
• just about right
• too little info
• sometimes irrelevant
• unclear
• mixed
• we get info prefaced by a statement of purpose

    7. Which of these characteristics apply to a majority of board members?

• zealously committed to the Plan's mission
• loyal to the Plan and its best operation
• strong interest inboard activities
• probably concerned about the Plan and its mission but not overly expressed
• uneven display of interest

     8. The board has an annual work plan about what it intends to accomplish over the next year.

      9. Are minutes of the last meeting and an agenda for up coming meetings sent out in advance.

     10. Are board members generally knowledgeable about the issues confronting retirees and particularly about the changes in the social, economic and political environment in which they live?

      11. Which of the following best describes the climate of the board?

• cool
• stormy
• foggy
• cloudy with occasional showers
• clear and bright
• fresh breezes
• hot

This might be an interesting self appraisal for the board members, as a start...which is pretty much where this board is in its journey to effective governance evaluation. 

Next, a rating scale for board performance. 

What matters most to a Saint John citizen??(#whatmattersmost)

 Looking at the City of Saint John open data portal will emphatically not tell you who or what a local citizen is..or does. 

Compare this to , for example, Calgary or Toronto or Ottawa or Winnipeg 

• Calgary is (or was) oil hosting 63% of all petroleum engineers and 40%of geologists in N. Am.
• Toronto is home 38% of financial and investment analysts, 35% of securities brokers, 32% of actors and comedians, 30% of theatre workers, 31% of IT analysts in Canada.
• Ottawa is home to 30% of economists and 20% of policy researchers.
• Winnipeg is home to 12% of Canada's musicians and singers (although it has 2.25% of Canada's population. 

An open data portal might present what clusters persist or exist in Saint John encouraging birds of a feather to flock together. To encourage one group to cluster who might the city recruit to help?

• The university,
• the community college,
• the board of trade
• the provincial government??
• the feds???

How creative is Saint John society? What venues might the city foster to build this creativity? How do city leaders define creativity? 

Through:

• restaurants up town?
• performance venues
• clubs
• art studios
• music studios
• impact hubs
• sports clubs (amateur, semi pro, pro)
• Yoga coops, kickboxing clubs, bicycle clubs, canoeing/kayaking clubs.
• Political clubs (Politics is said to be a blood sport in the Maritimes. You could fool me with the really poor voter engagement at all levels , here).  

These are not easy questions to answer. But, questions are the first step to building an open data portal. 

#whatmattersmost is a creative environment. The nest post will start to focus how one might begin to build a creative hub.

Demography is destiny

Who is Saint John?

The title of this blog entry is taken directly from Richard Florida's book Who's your city?, page 242. One need look no further to find out how an open data portal ought to introduce itself...and how a city might define itself. 

Florida notes that:

• 39% of Canadian households are married couples. What is the make up of Saint John?
• 22% of Canadians live in a classic nuclear family. What does Saint John look like?
• 5% of Canadian families are single parent led with children. How many such families are there here? How many are led by women? Men? What is their economic status?
• 10% of Canadians live alone. How many live alone here?
• 1.5% of all Canadian households are gay or lesbian. What is the %'age here?
• How many people speak French as a first language in the home? English? other?
• How many people were born here and how many are "from away"?
• How many people move to the city? How many people stay? How many people move away? (and what are their age groups?)

Answers to these very basic questions will give a prospective migrant an idea of how varied the population is and how he or she might be accepted in the community. 

Times change and Canada is changing. An open data portal with even this minimal data will inform the community , and those who might consider moving here, how and if, Saint John is changing with Canada, how inclusive it is and by extension, how creative it is. But most importantly, even this baseline data will inform a person about his/her "fit" and with the city's "personality". 

How might Saint John determine "what matters most" when describing its character??

NBPSPP Board Evaluation

The purpose of evaluation is to examine how well the Board implement's the organization's strategic plan, attends to issues of quality and manages risk. There is no point in performing an evaluation unless its results are reported. 

Such a report alerts the stakeholders (us as retirees, in this case) about the level of skill of the members and the degree to which they are able to diligently perform their duties, on our behalf. 

The benefits of a Board evaluation include:

• it informs us how well the board is serving our interests;
• it ensures that there is a role differentiation between Board and management;
• it assures us that there is collegiality and teamwork in governance;
• it measures the degree to which the mechanics of accountability are achieved;
• it assures us that the board it engaged in ethical decision making;
• it assures retirees that decisions are transparent;
• it leads to better board functioning. 

Typically, the board evaluation process is led by the governance or the nominating committee. For NBPSPP, it is led by the governance committee. At the last annual meeting, the Board Chair reported that there was a skills matrix self evaluation. This is certainly one approach. This informs the individual board member that they ought to be skilled in a number of different areas. However.....this is not the whole story.

There is much, much more to this than just that.

1. The results ought to be presented to the Board, and discussed with regards to the Plan's strategy.  Do trustees have the skills to fulfill the strategy? (don't know)
2. How will the individual and the Board, generally, address deficiencies? (don't know) 
3. Should the Plan members be told about these deficiencies? 
4. Perhaps members are being too hard on themselves..or perhaps they lack insight. Is a self evaluation followed by a peer evaluation? Does the Board Chairman conduct individual interviews with these results in hand? The trustees, after all report to the Board Chairman.(no, no)
5. How does the evaluation process affect the Board continuing education program for the year? (doesn't appear, so)
6. How does the Board evaluation process affect member recruitment? (nope)
7. Is there a more detailed evaluation of Board leadership? By whom is that done ?  And are the results reported to the membership? (no, and no)

It is all well and good to find fault but what might be some (relatively) quick fixes to this problem?

1. Under take a quick and dirty peer assessment. This will introduce the concept of a dedicated and accountable review process.
2. A self review process can include an assessment of where you and a  comparison to where the Board, generally,  thinks of its performance as a team. 
3. A peer review process of board functioning can additionally, point to areas where the board might perform better.
4. Follow this with a peer assessment of Board leadership, generally, and at the committee level. 
5. Where there are new Board members, under take an evaluation through the Chair , of the new members' performance. 

Such an approach will:

• help new members get a feel for their own performance and where it might improve;
• help leaders serve their members better;
• help the Board function better as a team;
• help member: member relationships

by touching on:

• policy adherence;
• strategy implementation;
• stakeholder connection

Tomorrow, I will cover a few topics specific to this kind of performance appraisal. 

selling Saint John through open data

Open Data and an Hierarchy of Needs

This sounds like a lecture about Maslow.
Its not but...
                     .....there is something to learn from his hierarchy of needs if a City like Saint John is going to design an open data portal which will be of some use to its citizens

• What are the opportunities here?
• What are the basic services...and are they any good?
• What is the leadership like and do people care to select good leaders? Is the leadership stable or is it changed as often as one would a pair of socks?
• Does the community value diversity? Is it clean? What are crime rates like?
• Does the community value aesthetics?

Each of these may be quantified.

opportunities 

• How good is the local economy? A scan of a few editions of the Telegraph Journal might help. An open data portal might describe how people are employed, what sorts of skills stay and what skills move on ( say from university).
• What job opportunities are there?
• What are the median salaries?
• What is the cost of living and how does that compare to comparable cities in Canada?  
• What are the opportunities for continuous learning?
• Is there a robust social enterprise movement?
• Is there an impact hub? How many businesses spin off from it?
• How many start ups are there each year and in what sector?

Opportunity extends beyond the economy. What are the chances that you will be able to build social as well as economic networks in this community? In other words, is Saint John a place you can easily plug into?

basic services

What are these?

Easy.

Education, health care, housing, safety, public health

• What is the range of educational programs available in Saint John? The quality and proliferation of such services is clearly an indication of the quality and proliferation of other amenities...not to mention how creative the community is. 
• How active is the Brilliant Labs project? 
• How many start ups from this project start up each year and in what sector?
• How easy is it to get a family physician? a dentist? a physio?
• How good is the hospital? In some provinces, hospitals publish a report card, comparing themselves to hospitals in other communities. These report cards cover pretty much anything you might want to know including the range of services, infection rates, wait times, ALS. In the US, they also publish mortality data.
• Public health will present overall morbidity rates. How healthy is the community?
• What is the housing market like? Costs, commute times, sale and re-sale rates.
• How well are children treated? What are poverty rates?
• Public transportation may also be a factor. How easy is it to move around the city? Are there bike lanes. How many people use public transit to get to work? How many people drive? 

leadership

• What does the local media say about the leadership of the City.
• What are the voting patterns at the local, provincial and national levels?
• Is the local DEC (Board of Education) active?

aesthetics

• Is there local theatre, an arts community, a school of performing arts and how well are these attended?
• How many local restaurants are there? How long do they last?
• Is there a local culinary school?
• How active is local amateur sport? How many players move onto senior levels? How well attended are local sporting events? How many fitness programs are there? 

These are a few questions which might be answered through an open data portal. A more robust portal could focus its data on the degree of creativity exists within the City. More on this later.

Why bother evaluating??

If they bothered to ask....

Who?
A challenge in building an open data portal is trying to determine what data to use. Otherwise, as we have with the Saint John open data portal, citizens are left with a mess of data which is meaningless. The best feature of building a portal is that citizens from all walks of life are asked for their views. 

What citizens?

• Young Singles. 
• Mid Career
• Families with children
• Empty nesters
• Retirees
• Professionals
• Gay/lesbians

What kinds of questions might city planners ask during a citizen engagement forum?

1. What do you like least and most about Saint John?
2. Where else would you prefer to live and , why?
3. What kind of work do you do, and would you prefer to do? Can you do it here?
4. What is most important to you, now? Work, dating, a mate, a house..?
5. How important are cultural activities? Museum, cinema, film, art, music?
6. What are the characteristics of city living which attract you? 

This data, when developed can point to the best city for the people interviewed, by group, using any one of a number of tools including:

• www.creativeclass.com/_v3/whos_your_city/overview/

• www.moneysense.ca/canadas-best-places-to-live-create-your-own-ranking

Saint John ranks 375/431 cities in Canada, on the Moneysense list. Moncton ranks 155 and Fredericton ranks 149. Why? What might we do about that?

The categories in the Moneysense survey include:

• low unemployment
• high incomes
• affordable housing
• affordable rent
• access to healthcare
• healthy population growth
• low taxes
• low crime
• easy to walk, bike, take transit
• strong arts/sports community

None of these categories is listed in the Open Data Portal. Nor does the City's strategic plan address how the City might improve its standing in any of these categories. Yet, this data could prove effective in quantifying any of the concerns or points raised by a citizen engagement focus.

To be sure, there are a few categories missing..such as school performance, attendance rates, school ranking, access to community college , access to and affordability of,  university (across all age groups), ranking of the community college and the university , opportunity for professional development through post secondary institutions. 

Learning more from history

What might the Board of NBPSPP learn from:

Dey (2000)
A walk through the history of good governance development brings us to the Dey Report, circa 2000, in Canada. In the post of a couple of days ago, this report was referenced as a follow-up to Cadbury. However. there are a few specifics which more progressive organizations add to their good governance guidelines. 

• Stewardship policies or how the Board recognizes that they manage our money for our best interests. OMERs, for example has such a statement.
• A hallmark of good stewardship is the existence of a strategic plan , outlining the social, technological, economic and especially political changes which may affect the pension landscape. Transparency is critical. Do the retirees know what the Board knows. Might the retirees be able to comment on the issues raised in such a plan. What evidence is there that certain key stakeholders have been consulted? (those key stakeholders are likely the principle unions represented on the Board. ) Do the other non represented retirees see the world the same way that the unions de?
• A topic raised throughout these blogs has been risk management. Dey encouraged Boards to take a specific look at risk. He came up short on suggesting s risk committee. None the less, there is a specific requirement that the Auditor comment on any risk provisions that the Board has taken and what material impacts these might have. Dey did recommend that these risks be reviewed with the retirees at least at the annual meeting. Later reports suggest that as a part of the preparation for the annual meeting, Independent Board members review these in "tours" or special meetings with key stakeholders up to 9 months before the annual meeting. 
• Dey recommended effective succession planning for the Board. This pre-supposes that there is a nominating process and that this process is linked to the strategic planning process. Further, as a part of this process, there is a skills matrix which guides director recruitment. 
• Dey focused on transparency in communication with stakeholders. The Board of NBPSPP actually works at this, and to an extent is quite good. The annual meeting is streamed live and a video is left up for retirees to watch. Questions are taken from the floor. There are quarterly newsletters to the retirees. And, in 2018, there will be a web site. The next step is to have a clear social (and other) media policy. 
• The integrity of internal controls at critical. Dey's report came before the Enron fiasco but after the Anderson debacle. None the less, Pension plans cannot be too careful. CAPSA has excellent guidance on this. A segment of the Auditor's report should focus on this..but doesn't. 

If we were to grade the NBPSPP Board on the Dey recommendations, it would receive 1/7. So, based on these two reports, both really at the cusp of good governance accountability, the NBPSPP Board has work to do...as do we , the retirees. 

Bio's, what matters most and what we learn

What do we learn from....

1992.
What do we learn from the Cadbury Report (gotta read the last post) about good governance and the importance of transparent evaluation. The Cadbury report made recommendations designed to improve board member conduct. The idea was to professionalize the conduct of directors which had, after the fiascos and naked corruption of the '80's, deteriorated badly. There were a few strategies proposed.

• Board members were to be independent in mind and in fact. So, no more choosing from a shallow pool composed of old boys. Nominating Committees had to move well beyond the usual suspects. So, not only should members be recruited based on diversity of background but also based on education and experience. While the NBPSPP Board reports that it has nominating guidelines, none of us mere retirees know what that is. 
• Transparency was important. The Board members should not be accountable to themselves with an Audit Committee composed of senior board members, an Auditor with a permanent sinecure, and a limited audit report based on GAAP. Instead , it was expected that the Board report to the shareholders. One might wonder how the NBPSPP fits this recommendation? Well, the Audit committee is composed of senior board members, chaired by the Board chair. So, in effect, the Board audits itself and controls what is reported to the retirees. 
• Cadbury recommended that the Board not be dominated by a single person or group. In the NBPSPP situation, the Board is Chaired by a union rep. And the majority of the Board is made up of representatives form the various union. 
• Cadbury recommended that there be regular (board and committee meetings).. which NBPSPP has.
• He recommended that there be a fixed agenda. We don't know that there is.
• He recommended that the Board and committees from time to time use professional, independent advice. NBPSPP Board does not, nor is there any move to do so. A question one might have is what their risk priorities are. Is it wise to be paying out more than we are taking in from retirees, depending exclusively on the revenues from investment to pay the shortfall? Was investment revenue of 6.75% in 2016 a satisfactory return?
• NED's ought to dominate the board. NBPSPP has 2/8 members who might qualify as this.
• Cadbury recommended that the term of office be limited. It is for NBPSPP.
• There ought to remuneration disclosure. There is for the board and management. However, having disclosed remuneration, is management worth what they receive? Should board members be paid more than the $250.meeting remuneration, when they are overseeing a plan with $420+m in the pot?

If there was a report card for NBPSPP performance based on Cadbury, the Board would receive 2.5/8 . 

What matters most...in Saint John

The folks designing the City of Saint John Open Data portal might want to consider why they are creating a portal, in the first place. If it is to acquaint people interested in coming to the City, there are some pretty basic questions which ought to be asked.

1. Is there physical and economic security? There is a portal for community safety but it misses the point. People are looking for a degree of security. Police and Fire services fit in there but are not the significant concern. The primary concern is the overall direction of the economy and the availability of jobs.
2. Do the basic services exist? These include schools , health care, affordable housing, decent roads, and public transportation. Are the schools competitive nationally? Is there school choice? This being Canada, what are the opportunities to get educated in one's language of choice? Can you get a family physician?
3. What is the quality of local and provincial leadership both elected and within the business community. Are there opportunities for public and local engagement...and does the population currently take advantage of these. As noted in my last blog this goes to voting patterns, how robust the volunteer community is, and how active and innovative the business community is.
4. How open is Saint John? Are diverse demographic groups including families with children, ethnic and racial minorities, senior citizens, immigrants , and gays and lesbians welcome here?
5. Saint John has a truly beautiful up town core. The province has draw dropping beauty. What opportunities exist to sample and live these amenities? What are its cultural offerings and how diverse are these? 

What, then are the things which matter most, which define Saint John? Can these be quantified and presented on the Open Data portal? Which ones ought the team start with first? One might find that aesthetics (#5) and basic services factor high on the list. But consider this, as well. People want to come to a place where there is a chance to earn a good income, to be with people who have a high educational attainment, are involved in a creative enterprise and where there is a high degree of tolerance for diversity. 

With what cities are we competing?

                                        ....In other words, who might we copy?

My top 8 in Canada...the one's I have visited/lived in ...would include:

• Ottawa/Gatineau
• Whitehorse
• Fredericton
• Charlottetown
• Sherbrooke
• Canmore
• Yellowknife
• Kingston/Thousand Islands Region

More on this tomorrow. If you want to comment, what are your favourite spots and why?

#whatmattersmost

What matters most in our open data project?

John Case and Heather Acker co-host an interesting  cable news show about the City of Saint John every Wednesday evening. Generally, it is informative and at times, depending on the interviewee, pointed. 

The show is often over-looked for other news shows including Jake Tapper and Wolf Blitzer (CNN) or the local news on Global or CBC. More's the pity because what John and Heather have is much more enlightening than listening to the jibber jabber about #trumpsanass or about some one's lost cat, or the latest flood on a flood plain.

What does matter most?

The City of Saint John, throwing money at the development of an open data portal, might like to spend an hour, at no cost to themselves, to learn what portals might help the City move out of its economic, social and, political doldrums. 
John and Heather explore the extent of community engagement, in the City. This is actually important because 2/8 city councillors were acclaimed and the Mayor was elected with 22% of the eligible vote. Many of the members of the local District Education Committee (DEC) were elected by acclamation. 
How much confidence might a business looking to re-locate have that the city and educational system is well managed when the citizens take so little interest in how the locale is managed? 

0 interest

Will a start up entrepreneur choose Saint John to begin her/his business? 

Unlikely.

In fact, this City needs the kind of boosterism that John and Heather show. And the portal might help. Take a look at yesterday's post regarding John Putnam's book Bowling Alone.

John and Heather identify those metrics described by Putnam in a practical way and by doing so, they provide the template for a decent community engagement portal.

• voting patterns at the local, provincial and national levels. In fact, their show interviews local and newly elected reps. A portal could/should identify citizen engagement demographics by neighbourhood and ward. It might also identify what matters most to these communities. 
• how well is education in this City governed? what data exists about educational attainment in the City, by ward and by neighbourhood? How does UNB and NBCC contribute to the welfare of the City? What spin off businesses are attributed to the Brilliant Labs project? How many girls go onto higher education and then start up their own businesses? How does our educational system compare to others world wide? How many h/s grads go into maths and sciences at advanced levels? What is school attendance like?  
• volunteer activity by non profit, service club, sports associations. In fact, a board member from the local volunteer bureau spoke briefly about that. The problem she had was that she was unable to provide any analytics about activity. An open data portal would help the Volunteer Bureau and non profits, etc, to be more targeted in recruiting volunteers. And, communication is a two way street. Data about what these non profits and other associations do would therefore inform participants (and would be participants) about what matters most. They could then more effectively find volunteer activities which would use their skills and interests. 
• community issues. The HRDC (Human Resources Council) was interviewed about the range of social issues confronting the City. Why bother with the interference of government when communities have the where with all to do for themselves? Data would help non profits and others better target programs and potential funding and funders to address what matters most in the community. 
• the creative class. The City Council never asks the arts and culture community to speak to, or evaluate, their contribution to the economy. More to the point, how large is the creative class in Saint John?  What are its characteristics? Can it be expanded? How? By reading Richard Florida's work  about the contribution of the creative class to the development of a local economy is especially instructive. www.creativeclass.com/richard_florida                                      If we don't pay attention to this demographic, the City does not have a hope in hell of progressing. 
• women's engagement. Got a problem with your enterprise? Recruit women. To what degree are women engaged in the life of the community?? Don't believe me? Read my gamer blog about the contribution women make to the economic health status of the community. Recruiting women to serve at senior levels of troubled or under performing operations improves effectiveness by over 55%. 

This is only a sampling of how this one cable TV program could contribute to the design of one open data portal for the City of saint John. 

But there is more...a lot more which would lead to the creation of a Canadian jewel. 

#trumpsanass

Trump's an ass

One wonders what the US expected from a man who has made his bones being a racist. he introduced his candidacy as a racist and as a bigot. Then, of course, he has serially made racist remarks. Now he has called countries in Africa as shit holes.

Barely 53% of eligible voters showed up to vote in 2016. 23% of eligible voters voted for Herr Trump. He secured 3m fewer votes than did Sect'y Clinton. Such was the lack of interest in that election.

PM Trudeau has been asked for his observations about Trump's latest foolishness. He was diplomatic. At first he suggested that it was a little like living beside an unruly neighbour. 

Yes, that is what it is like. 

It is said that citizens get the government they deserve. 

In a recent article, the Guardian asked who would speak for liberal democracies.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jan/10/west-cold-war-capitalism-eastern-bloc-populism

Who indeed!

Putnam's book Bowling Alone provides many of the answers.

bowlingalone.com

Its not rocket science ..........

                                        ..........unless  you really don't care.

• Vote. Its a democracy, stupid. To make it work, you need to go out and exercise your franchise. Use it or lose it. 
• Don't like the politicians? Run for office yourself. That's right, pay your $30 and file papers. Put yourself out there with opinions and positions. Get your family, friends and neighbours to rally around you. 
• Like a politician? Volunteer for her campaign. Stuff envelopes, make telephone calls, help design her 'net presence. What ever.
• Buy you local newspaper. Have an opinion? Write a letter to the editor.
• Listen to your local radio and TV station. Volunteer to do a show on your local cable station. Donate to PBS.
• Volunteer for your local Lions Club, Kiwanis, Masonic Lodge, Knights of Columbus, Optimists. 
• Volunteer with the local sports association or with your local school board. 
• Get involved with your local Board of Trade. Encourage your daughters to get involved and start small business enterprises. 

To that I would add, encourage women to run for office. Don't believe that this would do any good??? Well, as I have written before, women are more likely to turn a troubled enterprise around than men are. 

And, believe me. 

The USA now qualifies as a troubled enterprise.

Profiles, say on pay and what matters most

Profiles for Women on Boards

What profiles might be best when populating a board game?

1. The characters should be realistic.
2. Therefore, each character in the game is "flawed' . To overcome the hazards in career progression, she will need to solicit the assistance of other participants. 
3. The characters will interact, either as competitors or as cooperators.
4. Each character will have one unique element in her make up. 
5. Some characters may know each other either as school mates, neighbours.
6. Choices a player makes during the game may have an impact on other players.
7. While the player may make a choice about how to proceed during the game, the choice may also be imposed at random during the game.

There are 4-6 players in a game which lasts up to 2 hours. The winner becomes the Chairman of the Board of a corporation. Players move through life events and career paths. Participants choose from a deck of cards who their character will be. There will be 18 cards to choose from.

1. Sarah is the daughter of upper middle class parents in Calgary. She has 2 sisters. All 3 went to a private girls school. All 3 graduated with an undergraduate degree from a top tier Canadian university. Sarah is the smartest of the 3 and went on to law school. Her area of expertise is in corporate social responsibility and environmental law. However, Sarah has never shown any interest in community affairs and has devoted herself exclusively to the law. She speaks only English. She is 32
2. Jill is the only child of wealthy parents from Halifax. She went to a local university, took an Arts degree majoring in economic history. She has been active in university politics serving 3 years in an elected position as VP of Student Affairs. She has also been active with the local NDP and volunteered at the local food bank and soup kitchen. She is 26
3. Claire is the daughter of a single mother with a limited education who has struggled to provide for Claire and her 2 younger bothers in the east end of Montreal. Life was challenging as the only Anglophone family in a large French Canadian working class neighbourhood. None the less, the blended in well, learning French fluently, going to a francophone school. She took mechanical engineering at the University of Montreal. Jill held down 2 part time jobs to pay her way and developed, along the way admirers and sponsors as she sought out her first jobs. She is 24.
4. Giselle is the daughter of  well connected parents, active in central Canadian politics, both lawyers working for big pharma in Ottawa. She speaks 3 languages including French, English and German. none the less, she went to public schools, worked summers in a variety of positions including: a paper mill, a retail outlet, as a political intern for a local MP, and on a farm. She secured all these positions despite her parent's best efforts to undermine her desire to explore the diversity of Canada's workforce. She graduated from an Ottawa university with a degree in media and computer science at the age of 22
5. Blaire had a quiet upbringing in western Canada on a ranch, with her sister and 3 brothers. She is very athletic, enjoys horseback riding and the great out doors. She learned how to fix farm equipment, re-build cars and ride horses, competitively. She went to a western Canadian university and graduated with degrees in business admin and agricultural science. She found time to excel in the local 4H club and the junior board of trade. At 25, she is anxious to get back to the ranch but to also represent her local community in provincial politics. 
6. Hillary comes from Vancouver, the only daughter of a doting father. Her mother died of cancer when she was 15. Her academic career was in remarkable except when her mother died. She struggled at school for several years and at 20 entered university in a science program. She has since excelled as a scientist , earning her PhD in genetics at the age of 32.
7. Carole, a Metis from Winnipeg, did well in school, volunteered with the local Boys and Girls Club and was appointed as a youth board member to that organization when she was 18. At the same time, she enrolled in a BBA course at the local university, with a goal to enter manufacturing and take over the family junior mining business with her brother, a geologist. At 22, she now Chairs the Club's Nominating Committee. Carole speaks French, English, Cree, Ojibway. 
8. Crystal is a widow with 3 children, working as a supervisor in an insurance brokerage in Brantford. Her husband, a police officer , was killed in the line of duty. She is currently working to complete a diploma in business admin (focus insurance) in the evenings at the local community college. This will supplement her other diploma in media from another community college. Despite her busy schedule, she is interested in local politics and has helped her friend, Bea, to run for office as a city councillor. 
9. Bea is a friend of Crystal. She is unmarried, a relatively successful real estate agent and broker and a Brantford city councillor. Bea is active in provincial politics , as well and has ambitions to run for MPP.  Bea has been active in the community in the local Lions Club, as  Rotarian and on the Board of the YMCA, serving as its Chairman during its building project. 
10. Monique is the mother of 2 boys, a supervisor in the purchasing department of a large building company and whose husband works for the same company but in a different division in Thunder Bay. She has a community college diploma in materials management, volunteers locally with the Franco Ontarian Centre, and with the local Liberal Party of Canada. Now that the boys have grown, she is interested in running in the next provincial election. 

8 more characters will be presented tomorrow for comment. The nature of the characters will, it seems , dictate what the game will look like. For example, an "early career phase" for the game will mean different things for different players..although I suspect the hazards each player faces will be universal across life stages and preparedness. 

What matters most....for open data

There is a good show on our local Rogers cable station (10, if you want to know). It is entitled "What Matters Most". (go to @SaintJohnCase to follow the host of the show) I have been watching this show for about the last 4 years. It is produced on a shoe string, as are most community cable shows. But it is very interesting and ought to be mandatory viewing for those who are trying to design Saint John's open data portal.

The premise of the show is to boost Saint John by focusing on interesting people, events, businesses and advocacy issues. The people interviewed are as varied as the city itself from the Board Chair of the local volunteer bureau, which is valiantly tying to operate on line and with out financing to 2 international sculptors showing their work about the effect of landmines on humans to the owner of the local (very good) junior hockey team. In between there have been interviews with volunteers from the women's shelter, the Chamber of Commerce and buy local agricultural produce advocates. 

Its pretty much what one expect, if that was all that one was looking for. 

Look deeper. 
Look deeper especially if you are interested in open data for the city. The show asks a series of deeper questions about the nature of this city. 

• How do you like the City where you live and , perhaps, work?
• Is it somewhere you really want to be?
• Does it fill you with inspiration... or stress, to get out?
• Does Saint John allow you to be the person you want to be? Does it do the same things for your family and friends?
• Would you recommend Saint John to others?

Open Data development ought to help you, a citizen of this city, answer these questions. While "What Matters Most" provides anecdotal information, the Open data portal ought to provide concrete data that you can cite (or send) to family, friends, co-workers and businesses looking to re-locate to someplace where the water is clean, the air is clean and a SWAT team is not going to shoot you in your bed. 

But the show also provides an anecdotal baseline which you may use to compare Saint John to other communities.

• Have you thought of moving?
• What are the top 3 places and how do these compare to Saint John?
• What do they offer that Saint John might not?
• How would your life be different there?

An Open Data portal ought to help you/us compare and therefore ought to present comparable data to other locales in Canada. 

• What might your career and income prospects be elsewhere and how might this compare to here? 
• If you are single, how might your dating life change, elsewhere? 
• If you are mid life with young children, what comparators are you looking at?
• If you are retired? In other words, how does your life circumstances here measure up to elsewhere? 

These aren't the only questions an Open Data portal might strive to address, but it is a start and it is directed...unlike what we have now, which is so much mud thrown at the wall. 

Profiles in change, citizen rights

Retiree right to information

There are a few questions retirees and the NBPSPP should be asking about the Board's narrative.

General questions

1. How relevant is the information to the current and future needs of the retirees? 
2. has management (in this case Vestcorp) assessed the scope of the information available for decision making?
3. Who owns our data? Is the use of our data subject to internal audit to insure that it is being properly used?
4. Does the data used by management and reported to the board present a coherent picture of the businesses and the markets in which the Plan invests?

Annual meeting questions

1. Is the annual meeting preceded by a retiree relations roadshow? Are the needs of certain groups of retirees being addressed consistent with the current composition of the board?
2. How is attendance at the annual meeting encouraged? 
3. Are retirees given an opportunity to ask questions? In this case, they are. 
4. Are there votes on pay, on nominations, on the choice of Auditor? 
5. Is there proxy voting and will this optimize retiree participation in the annual meeting...and at other events?
6. 6 Is there timely and detailed information? Yes and no. Yes, the information is timely. NBPSPP makes an effort to send out both by snail mail and e-mail information about the plan's status with additional information which may be of interest to retirees. The Plan is currently designing a website which, I presume, will facilitate outreach. However, it remains to be seen if it facilitates in-reach and dialogue between the Board and the retirees. 
7. Do the retirees also receive reports from the Nominating, Compensation and Audit Committees. In the latter, only at the annual meeting. There are some real communication opportunities missed by a) not having these committees and not encouraging a conversation about: performance evaluation and recruitment activity, continuous earning activities (some of which might be of interest to retirees and to those of us who might be interested in applying to the Board), say on pay.

Investment strategies

Being an institutional investor comes with it a degree of power and considerable responsibility. How ethical are the companies in whom we invest?

1. Do these have an HSE focus with attention to : employee welfare, accident rates, volumes of waste, pollution emissions, spills? What are the actions of the companies to reduce incidents, if these are an issue?
2. Is there CSR reporting on : social matters, ethical labour practices, training and education not only of workers but also of the markets in which they operate,  workforce diversity and/or philanthropic initiatives(one question: is there pay equity? What proportion of leadership positions are held by women?)
3. How sustainable are the companies in which we invest?

In short, do the companies have a triple bottom line of financial performance, impacts on the environment and natural resources, social benefits and costs. 

In effect, as an Institutional Investor, NBPSPP has an opportunity to encourage business to profit by focussing on community, environment, marketplace and workplace.

Sustainability reporting

How sustainable are the companies in which we invest as a plan? 

Sustainability at be defined as the ability of the company to achieve sustainable development and continue to operate without wasting or losing natural resources, (skilled) people or (developing)markets. 

Several topics have been identified for follow up: say on pay, ethical investing, director performance evaluation. 

NBPSPP, retiree rights and the Board

What rights do retirees have?

Really...what rights do we have??
One goes to the annual meeting of the plan. Not many people attend and few ask questions. An educational session which the Board might consider is one about the rights of pensioner in guiding their own Plan. 

Our rights

So, what are our rights?

1. We have the right to receive the Annual Report...and we do receive that. Together with that, we have the right to attend the annual meeting either in person or when it is streamed. So, in real time.
2. We have the right to take legal action if we think that the directors have acted illegally. Fortunately, in looking at the bio's of the current board, I rather doubt tat this right will need to acted upon any time soon. It would appear any issues are more the sin of omission rather than commission.
3. We ought to have the right to elect and re-elect directors. The problems of having an opaque nominations and selection process (opaque to the pensioners) is compounded by the fact that the directors are named rather than elected. 
4. We ought to be allowed to elect the Auditors. And , the Audit firm should be subjected to a time limit. I have written about the weakness of the current audit process and have noted that the process is replete with conflict of interest. This does need to be cleaned up.
5. We ought to have a say on pay based on performance. I have written about this. Assuring us that Vestcorp's pay is somewhat below the mean for similar plans elsewhere is Canada is not a way to compensate. It only means we get  a management group who comes cheaper than others. Therefore, say on pay should be based on demonstrable performance metrics.
6. A say in strategic planning...and at the very least we ought to know what that plan is. 
7. Rather than entertaining a report from the Board and its committees, there ought to be an opportunity for dialogue. And , ordinarily, this would be facilitated by the Board Chair. 

Improved communication is never bad

What might be the basis of this dialogue? 

Answer: the Plan's goals, its strategy, and its governance performance. 

Why bother?

Answer:

• to enhance transparency in decision making;
• improve the long term value of the Plan;
• to reduce the risk that poor strategic decisions will lead to "catastrophic outcomes"
• aid improved governance practices

Are these radical?

Not at all. In fact, these are tepid recommendations. Try reading Senator Chuck Schumer's [proposed shareholder rights. He recommends aggressive regulator oversight, mandatory say on pay (no advisories), directors to receive more than 50% vote in uncontested elections; annual re-elections; mandatory risk management committees.

Further, stakeholder democracy has been a cornerstone of all governance reports since Cadbury.

The |Board announced in one of its missives to us that it was going to unveil a website in 2018 to enhance communication. Here are a few items for them to consider:

1. will there be a coincident policy regarding social networking?
2. will on line postings be secure?
3. who will police on line activity. A few risk issues to consider include: reputational damage; disclosure breaches, data leaks (retirees personal information) potential for brand damage.

Avoiding Disruption

So, what might the Board expect if they were to implement any or even all of these recommendations?

• reduces the risk of (embarrassing) activism either at the annual meeting or on the website
• participation in activities making the plan better is up
• reduces the reliance on consultants and advisory financial reports to assuage the fears of jittery (or pain in the ass) retirees
• retirees are assured that the Board's priority is on transparency and disclosure.

Next are questions you, as the retiree, should ask of the board about the operations. 

Industries for women to avoid

What to avoid...perhaps!

There are a few industries women may want to avoid, if they are looking to become corporate directors. Its something of a chicken or an egg. Are women not chosen to be on the boards of corporations in these sectors because there are no qualified women to choose from? Or, do women not go into these sectors because there are no women who might be mentors or sponsors who will help them advance? Or, do women not get the opportunity because, proportionately, there are too few women in the pipeline?
What are these sectors, typically?

• Construction. Women comprise less that 10% of the workforce.
• Fishing, hunting, trapping. About the same as construction.
• Forestry and logging. ditto
• Mining, oil, gas. Women comprise about 20% of the workforce.
• Transportation. Women comprise about 22% of the workforce.
• Utilities. ditto
• Manufacturing. ditto
• Wholesale trade.Women comprise about 30% of the workforce.
• Agriculture. ditto. 

When designing a board game,  players may be asked to draw a profile card at the beginning of the game. Such a card may define one of the limitations that she will face as a consequence of a particular career choice. 

On the other hand, as noted in a previous post, she may draw a card where the pipeline to the board is rich (er) with opportunity. So, a career in health care, education, finance/insurance, accommodation/food service, retail trade, public service (administration) where the pipeline is richer, the chances of finding a sponsor or mentor greater, and a chance to compete on a level playing field (or even one tilted in her favour) will make the rise to the top easier. 

The final complicating factor for the game is choosing a company that is listed on either the S&P 500 (where women are more likely to get a seat on the board) or the S&P/TSX where women are less likely to get a seat on the board. This will be a factor on the profile card that the player will choose during the game. 

Building the Game

Games are easier to start than to finish. With this caveat, I am beginning the (long) process of building  board game.

Background

Over the last 2 months, I have presented: 

• Issues and challenge women face when they strive to secure a position as corporate director;
• Those criteria for success/victory have been outlined;
• The key characteristics of companies and sectors which aid  a woman's successful appointment as a director or, conversely, will contribute to her likelihood of failure in her quest for a directorship;
• Components of (N. Am.) society which have been set forth and which contribute to, or which may limit a woman's successful achievement as a board member;
• Networks which will help women succeed;
• Career steps which women might take to realize their corporate successes;
• Academic strategies which women might employ to better improve the chances of success. 

Game objectives

This game should be designed to be educational. So, it would be about:

• those gender biased impediments confronting women in their quest for a corporate directorship;
• how to cooperate with like minded women to succeed;
• what strategies a woman might employ to succeed even despite considerable gender biased challenges; the potential consequences of certain life, academic and career paths, chosen or imposed. 

The game should promote a conversation about issues and options when the players are not playing the game. 

Advancement in the game is achieved by:

• mastering each of 4 levels including academic, early career, mid career and C-suite levels;
• creating strategies and relationships to advance through each level;
• outsmarting other players as needed;
• cooperating with other players o advance your own objectives or their, when feasible;
• overcoming certain gender biased issues. 

"Group" is an important feature of this game, as is "healthy" relationship building. So, 4, but preferably 6 players are best for this game. 

Each player will draw a "profile" card to begin the game. This card will describe academic credentials, economic status, and ...?. The goal of the profile card will be to establish early, that the competition is played on an uneven playing field. So, some players will appear to be "handicapped" at the beginning...although the "handicaps" can be turned to advantage during the game.

Narrative Reporting and NBPSPP 

The Board of the NBPSPP currently sends out quarterly newsletters to retirees, holds an annual meeting open to retirees and conduct it on line, so that those who cannot attend in person, can participate. For each of its last 3 annual meetings, there has been an element of education for the retirees about some element of pension rights or governance. Questions may be, and are , posed by the audience. 

However, it is important to consider what the backdrop to these open meetings are, or ought to be. In effect, the retirees ought to hear from the board about the conduct of business from the perspective of the code of conduct and ethical practice. 

• a comment about the conflict of interest policy, published in the annual report and in one of the newsletters, needs to be made. Were there any conflict of interest issues? Wee these addressed? How? Did the Auditor identify any?;
• an assurance of that the assets of the Plan were properly used, following the Plan's principles of social responsibility and ethical investing;
• an assurance that our confidential information was protected and that there are IT guidelines and practices which continue to be evaluated;
• fair dealing is a practice;
• there is compliance with not only regulations governing pension plan management but also governance . Further, an assurance ought to be provided that there is a continuous effort to use governance best practices;
• there is whistleblowing protection.

In the narrative and ongoing communication with retirees, typically there is an expectation that emerging trends are reviewed, together with a conversation about how the Plan is responding to these. A few of these trends include:

• increased government scrutiny of (pension) board functioning;
• greater stakeholder activism;
• more innovation in reaching out to stakeholders
• more communication between independent directors and stakeholders;
• an expectation that retirees will monitor board as well as plan and management performance;
• compensation will be based on performance

What are our expectations???

Indeed...what are they as far as fair dealing and openness are concerned?
We have a right to expect:

• accountability from the Board of Directors;
• openness in communication from the Board;
• enhancement of the plan's value and its benefits;
• protection of the plan's assets;
• having assay in the governance of the plan;
• mitigating risk;
• being treated fairly

What further expectations do we have?

As retirees we have certain expectations of our Board which they would need to report, either through the annual report, the annual meeting, a quarterly newsletter, periodic meetings between independent board members and retirees, a web site. These accountabilities include:

Board oversight of management in :

• strategy development-what is it?
• risk definition and management
• Performance appraisal of management and the board
• compensation based on performance

Board reporting through such independent committees as Audit, Compensation, Nominating. Further, in addition to financial reporting, there should also be reporting regarding social responsibility and ethical investing. 

So, what are our legal rights and how do we get the Board to respect these??