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A new "TradeMe" to unearth company directors is taking off, with its founders hoping it will help bring much-needed diversity to New Zealand boardrooms.
It's called finddirectors.com and already has nearly 300 directors listed.
Set up by professional director and businessman, Sandy Maier and Jens Mueller of Waikato
University's management school, the website is in response to surveys showing 68 per cent of directors are selected by fellow directors or existing management.
Mueller says there is no good market for directors in New Zealand, which means there is no easy way for smaller companies to identify talent.
This means current directors are people selected based on "what fits in your golf cart".
Mueller says: "That means that you have people who are most likely from the same social, geographic background and network as the existing operators for the firm."
This doesn't mean they are bad people or incompetent "but it means the firm has not fished with a big enough net and has not really drawn in all of the potential people who might be helpful."
Directors say they are not after glory or money, but are motivated by genuine altruism, a wish to do good.
"Realistically most directors would do it for free, or just for expenses," says Mueller.
And choosing only directors from the traditional fields means the company stays firmly in the past.
"You are effectively telling people [that] the way we've done it in the past is the only way we're going to do it in the future. That cannot be right.
"We're denying enormous opportunities to firms that could grow into sustainable large-scale businesses because there is not the existing resource - and people are scared, uncomfortable or too lazy to bring that resource in. Directors are the fastest and cheapest way to bring stimulating dialogue into a boardroom, so that everyone learns."
Nicki Crauford, chief executive of the Institute of Directors in New Zealand, does not share Mueller's view of the poor state of our boardrooms.
She says many of the issues faced by companies looking for directors are similar to those seen when looking for other employees.
"I think it's always difficult to get well-qualified directors for boards with the right skills for the right company, the right personality, the right fit - that kind of thing," says Crauford.
"I think that it's the same with the employment market. It's never easy to find the right person - you have to go and hunt. That doesn't mean you'll automatically fail or there's automatically a problem. I think that the challenge is to get the next generation of directors through.
"I'm not suggesting the directors we've got aren't good enough, or that we need new directors in there, I don't believe that's the case.
"It's a question of getting the next generation through. While the number of women around NZ board-rooms is low, directors should be chosen for the skills they bring not just because they are male or female."
Crauford says she is "not hearing" of any great problems around a lack of good directors.
"One issue may well be a lack of awareness in some organisations, particularly smaller and medium-sized organisations, about how a board might help them and how governance could actually assist their business."
Many companies are now looking for directors with experience in areas other than the traditional law and accounting, says Crauford.
"We are finding a lot of demand for things like marketing skills, particularly international marketing skills for exporting organisations," she says.
"There are a wide variety of skills out there and I think the days of the traditional lawyer or accountant being on boards is somewhat out of date.
"One of our hobby-horses here is that directors must add value, they mustn't see their role as simply being about compliance.
"They must actually add value. If all you're doing is ticking the box and making sure that management has complied, well you don't need to do that, your CEO could do that, you should be adding value."
Don Jaine is a partner at Swann Group, a consultancy and executive recruitment firm. Part of his job is helping companies find suitable independent directors.
"The opportunity is really in the medium and large-medium enterprise market. There is a tendency for people to run what we might call a 'circle of sequels'. People quite commonly tend to get board members or advisory board members who are either related parties in terms of professional advisers, or are people who are friends or acquaintances."
Most businesses profit greatly by getting true independence - people with different networks, different levels of experience, different capabilities and different levels of judgement.
"These people generate many, many more multiples of value than they cost," says Jaine. "These guys worry about paying $25,000 to $40,000 a year for directors, and I wouldn't know any company that is disappointed at the money they've spent."
Emmet Hobbs is one of the directors who Don Jaine has helped place on boards. The chairman of private-equity owned Hirepool, Hobbs is also on the board of NZX-listed Main-freight and on the board of a number of smaller companies.
The companies wanting new independent directors initially "weren't sure what kind of help they wanted, they wanted a bit of mentoring help I suppose, someone who can help out".
And it's not just stories of past glory these companies want, says Hobbs, with just as much to be learnt from failures. "In all the companies I have been in what they've wanted is someone who can bring experience of both being successful and tripping up and failing sometimes," he says.
"Probably the most satisfying part of being a director of small companies is the enjoyment of watching them grow. It's a lot of fun, keeps me young.
"It's a good deal for them, but it's great excitement for me - to actually see people grow."
