Board Education: Raising the Bar
By Pamela R. Knecht
In some boardrooms, the topic of education for trustees elicits yawns, groans or even downright resistance. This may explain why findings from the AHA’s Center for Healthcare Governance 2014 National Health Care Governance Survey indicate a decline in every type of board education since the last survey (see Figure 1).
Given today’s complex, rapidly changing environment, this situation is untenable. All board members must become and stay educated about myriad issues to govern their organizations effectively. Great boards, therefore, are “raising the bar” on board education. They are making time to determine exactly why their members are not sufficiently educated; they are taking responsibility for their own education; and they are holding their members accountable for being educated about the issues that matter.