10 good corporate governance examples

When it comes to corporate governance, it’s all too easy to focus on what not to do. Looking at good corporate governance examples is a more positive way to ensure you remain on the right side of the law. This is important as directors can be prosecuted by the HSE for failing to follow best practices and so causing injury or harm to employees. The UK Corporate Governance Code sets out the expectation for company values, purpose and culture to align with the business strategy, and it also emphasises diversity and integrity.

What is corporate governance?

Corporate governance is the system of rules, practices and processes by which an organisation is directed and controlled. It is about responsible leadership: following best practice to ensure the sustainable growth of the business in a transparent and trustworthy way, and balancing the interests of shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers and regulators. Good corporate governance is made up of four key principles:

• Accountability
• Transparency
• Fairness
• Responsibility

So what do corporate governance examples look like?

Ideagen works with hundreds of SMEs and larger enterprises to improve corporate governance.

We share 10 good corporate governance examples and how we help our customers demonstrate them.

1) Integrated business management system (IBMS)

Corporate governance requires top management to direct and influence what is happening on the ground. One of the most efficient and effective ways to understand what is happening, and when, is to bring all management systems together.

In many businesses, each department has its own KPIs. Most of these departments never interact with the customer or other departments, which means they are not aligned with what the customer needs or with the overall business goals.

Corporate governance requires an integrated business management system so that there is transparency, visibility, traceability and cross-departmental collaboration.

2) A documented policy management system

Across any industry, corporate governance best practice requires you to document policies, procedures and processes to set expectations, establish roles and responsibilities, and communicate commitments. Every document then needs to be controlled and managed, and there needs to be evidence that employees have read, understood or rejected each policy.

A document management system gives your business unshakeable control over documents and policies. A regulatory compliance solution also helps you keep track of the regulations your policies need to meet.

3) ISO certification

Another essential corporate governance example is adhering to ISO standards such as ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 45001:2018. These standards provide a framework for best practice management systems.

Our software solutions provide a system to manage multiple ISO standards without duplicating workload.

4) CAPA systems

To govern the business effectively, leadership needs to know about issues, incidents and accidents, what remedial action has been taken and whether it was sufficient.

Our CAPA module enables employees to log risks, incidents and vulnerabilities from any device across the business. Notifications and workflows are then started, and the status can always be traced. This is an essential tool for leadership teams to quickly spot any leaking buckets.

5) Routine internal audits

Investing in a routine internal audit programme not only helps identify issues and vulnerabilities, it also gives you an opportunity to take the temperature of the corporate culture.

Are employees empowered? Is management responsive to employee needs?

Ideagen provides a suite of internal and external auditing solutions to help you plan, schedule, audit and produce instant reports. Findings, specific parts of checklists and actions can be sent to leadership.

6) Training management system

Investing in employee training, competency and development is key to an engaged workforce that is accountable and takes ownership. We provide health and safety training solutions to help you develop, upskill and nurture your workforce.

7) Risk management

Good governance is all about identifying, assessing and managing risk.

Our risk solutions provide a robust framework for managing all types of business risk. Operational, strategic, QHSE and external risks can be measured, management can be notified and instant reports can be created.

8) Supply chain

When you onboard a new supplier, they become an extension of your business. The supplier and their supply chain can easily enhance or damage your reputation.

Good governance requires your business to know who your suppliers are, what they do, and to continually monitor their performance. This can be achieved using our Supplier Management module.

9) Equipment maintenance schedule

It is the responsibility of leadership to ensure that equipment in use is safe and maintained, and that employees are adequately trained to use it.

In businesses with very few assets or items of equipment, this can be managed on spreadsheets and emails. But as your business grows, there are more risks, complexity, variations and issues, so a central equipment management system is required.

10) Reporting

Good governance relies on good data. All leadership teams need a dashboard of key performance indicators so they have a picture of how the business is performing.

To achieve these good corporate governance examples, our quality management solution provides a GRC Dashboard reporting tool that brings data from across the business into a single view. To keep track of the regulations that sit behind your governance, explore our regulatory compliance solution.