Over the last few years, Compton Care has developed and refined the role of Trustees as Board Champions.
The role of a Board Champion is to assume board oversight of a particular area and take a special interest in the topic. Champions don’t just contribute their specialist knowledge; they ensure the area is appropriately considered at board meetings and its strategic importance is understood.
Compton has developed a role profile for each Board Champion. This ensures there is governance, structure and process around each role, and that there are clear expectations about what Champions offer. Performance is reviewed on an annual basis as part of the Trustee review process. The Board has a clear reporting structure that requires Champions to feed back to the board’s subcommittees on a regular basis.
Outcomes
The Board Champions have helped improve the hospice’s overall standards and efficiency in a number of areas. The Champions see their role as contributing to best practice and to Compton’s culture of excellence.
Compton currently has Board Champions in ‘digital’, ‘research’, ‘safeguarding’ and ‘retail’, all of whom have been successful in helping services move forward. For example in retail, the Champion has been integral in helping Compton develop a ‘store of excellence’ programme. This is an accreditation programme that sets out standards for Compton’s shops. The hospice now has a set of retail standards that are measurable and auditable.
Facilitators, challenges and advice
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Key facilitator
The Senior Leadership Team have been extremely supportive of the Board Champions and have found significant benefits from seeking their advice and bouncing ideas off them. The Champions are experts in their area and can therefore offer advice and suggestions.
Challenges
The original Board Champion job profiles were too complex which overcomplicated the process. After several revisions the profile has been made simple and easy to understand. It is now clear both about the role and expectations. This helps to ensure Champions do not stray into operational matters.
Tips and advice
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Trustees want to help: the Champion structure assists in utilising their skills whilst ensuring they don’t become involved in operational issues. Be clear about the role of Champions and your expectations for them.
Set clear aims and objectives, along with a proper appraisal process to review how things are going.
Future developments
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The Board Champion process will continue to evolve and will be reviewed regularly.
