Scheduling
Time & Attendance
Forecasting
HRIS
Payroll
Task Management
Performance Management
Employee Engagement
HR Administration
By Staff Report
Dec. 4, 2012
Dear Advisory Advice:
The key to creating and sustaining an effective advisory board: Be thoughtful and clear at the outset about your expectations and goals for the group. Those goals should drive your decisions about members, frequency of meetings, the time commitment you’re looking for and even compensation. These expectations will also be critical in your outreach to potential advisory board members: Each potential board member needs to clearly understand its role and the benefits (tangible and intangible) they may receive from serving.
For example, some companies have advisory boards designed primarily to keep the company on top of the latest thinking and innovations within its industry. Typically invited to serve are prominent thought leaders who gather regularly to consider the latest trends and developments, usually in a relaxed setting. Membership on this kind of board can be relatively fluid and the relationship between the company and the members should be symbiotic. (A modest honorarium, often in the form of equity, may be offered in these cases as a tangible sign of the company’s appreciation and to keep the members engaged.)
At the other end of the spectrum are advisory boards whose members are expected to engage with the company more intensively, advising management on issues ranging from product development to long-range strategy. At the far end of this continuum, the model is more akin to a consulting relationship and meetings are geared primarily to the company’s needs and getting work done. Depending on the nature and extent of the time commitment, the members on this kind of advisory board are paid a retainer (typically in the form of equity) or as paid consultants
Along a different tangent are what might be called high-profile advisory boards, whose members are selected primarily for their star power or prominence in the field. These boards typically meet relatively infrequently and the members tend to be compensated for the use of their names, rather than for any substantive contributions.
Regardless of the board’s purpose, what’s critical is to carefully define the purpose and then recruit and compensate the members accordingly. To create an engaged advisory board, you need to:
SOURCE: Olivia Wakefield Lee and Carl Schmitt, Towers Watson, Boston and Los Angeles
LEARN MORE: Best Practices for Preparing the Next Generation
The information contained in this article is intended to provide useful information on the topic covered, but should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion. Also remember that state laws may differ from the federal law.
Schedule, engage, and pay your staff in one system with Workforce.com.
Staffing Management
4 proven steps for tackling employee absenteeismabsence management, Employee scheduling software, predictive scheduling, shift bid, shift swapping
Time and Attendance
8 ways to reduce overtime and labor costslabor costs, overtime, scheduling, time tracking, work hours
Don't miss out on the latest tactics and insights at the forefront of HR.