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SKILLS
Working in harmony Learning how to work well with non-executive directors could help to improve the performance of the business and provide valuable career lessons to aspiring risk managers BY LOUIS COOPER
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he role of the non-executive director (NED) is well defined by the Financial Reporting Council as part of one of the essential principles in the UK Corporate Governance Code: “Nonexecutive directors should scrutinise the performance of management in meeting agreed goals and objectives and monitor the reporting of performance. They should satisfy themselves on the integrity of financial information and that financial controls and systems of risk management are robust and defensible.” The NED role is therefore typically defined by the key pillars of governance, strategy, finance and risk. Risk management should be one of a NED’s specialist subjects and one that they are comfortable in providing insight into and direction on. In reality, this is not always the case, and some boards of directors may be organised on the basis of individual NEDs having responsibility for certain areas of corporate activity, rather than being an expert in all of the key areas.
NEDs can work with risk professionals to help shape their organisation’s approach to managing risk
NEDs in action The day-to-day role of the NED is both challenging and critical. But only being part-time in the business, it can
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Enterprise Risk
