ILA’s Training Program : framework and objectives

At the occasion of it’s General Assembly in June 2010 , ILA decided to set up a new working group on ‘Training ‘ : a proactive  move to an upcoming need . Indeed continuous discussions and regulatory decisions and proposals on ‘how to continue to strengthen corporate governance rules ‘ have tended to emphasize  the importance of  efficient and well trained supervisory boards as the highest authority in the management of a company : and such trend is expected to continue.  This evolution coupled with an increasing complexity of the global economic and regulatory environments have led ILA to set up this training working group with the objective to offer its Members both a fully fledged basic training program as well as continuous educational program in certain areas of specific importance.

The Training Working Group has since then developed the general framework of such training programs, framework that has been approved by ILA’s Executive Committee in late 2010. Such framework can be summarized as follows :

• Basic Training Program: such program would comprise three major parts :

• Module 1: The Essentials – Universal: this part should cover general aspects of directors responsibilities - whatever legal or regulatory framework they would operate in - and would cover topics like : reviewing and approving growth strategies, general governance and responsibilities, overview of basic knowledge and competencies needed,  how to make boards more effective, financial analysis, review of strategic plans ….

For this part of the Program, ILA is in negotiations with multiple organisations to partner with existing or to be developed training models to be offered by these organisations ---  A partnership agreement was signed with INSEAD in early March 2011 --- similar partnerships are expected to be finalized over next months with the IOD, Guberna, IFA and others. These partnerships will be presented in the fall of 2011 at a  ‘Directors Day’ to be organised by ILA with an objective to showcase the full set of training offers from ILA as well as the related certification programme.

• Module 2: The Essentials – Luxembourg: this part is expected to put the general concepts covered in Module 1 into the specific Luxembourg context and cover major legal & regulatory features specific to the Luxembourg business environment.

  ILA is proud to announce that the Université de Luxembourg has expressed it’s interest to partner with ILA to develop the training program for this  module – plans are that this module could be launched by end 2011.

• Module 3: Europe: acknowledging the fact that most Boards in Luxembourg operate in an international and European environment this part is expected to put all of these concepts in a European environment by providing insight to specific aspects of importance at European level.

  This module exists already today at ecoDa, which whom ILA has partnered for this part : the first edition of that module is scheduled for March 23 – 24, 2011 in Brussels.

An ILA certification will be granted to participants that have successfully covered the 3 modules of this basic programme : details of such certification process are presently being defined and will be shared at the ‘ Directors Day ‘ referred to above in fall 2011.

• Specialised sector training programs:  regarding specific industry sectors such as Regulated Funds, Listed Companies, Public Sector , Banking and Insurance, SME’s, Private Equity, PSF, Non-Profit organisations ….

 The idea is to partner  as much as possible with sector specific associations and organisations on both existing or to be jointly developed training programs.

• Continuing Education / In depth programs: these are expected to cover more indepth knowledge and discussions on certain speific  topics of importance to Directors like : Risk management, Board evaluations , wealth protection for directors …

Again such programs are expected to be offered in partnership with other organisations which have specific knowledge in these respective fields.

INSEAD - ILA partnership

Early March 2011 ILA and INSEAD signed a partnership agreement through which ILA will act together with Russell Reynolds Associates and PricewaterhouseCoopers as a founding member to  INSEAD’s new “ International Directors Programme”.  INSEAD is launching this programme as part of their 2011/2012 Governance and Top Management Programmes.

The key benefits of this programme that fully matches the objectives of the ‘Module 1: Essentials – Universal ‘ part of the ILA programme described above, can be summarised as follows :

1. Understand the broader context in which boards operate and the responsibilities that come with a board mandate
2. Provide an overview of the knowledge and competencies expected from directors in today’s environment
3. Develop skills that contribute to the creation of an effective board culture and performance

The International Directors Programme consists of three modules:

1. Creating and safeguarding value,
2. Implementing effective board processes, and
3. Managing critical events
 – which represent the knowledge base that experienced directors are expected to master and which form the basis of effective board membership. Successful completion of the International Directors Programme modules leads to the INSEAD Certificate in Corporate Governance (ICCG). Within each module, the programme will focus on three fundamental questions:

• What do directors need to know in order to set the direction of the company ?
• What are the proper boundaries within which the company should operate ?
• How best can directors exercise their responsibilities to get things done in the boardroom ? 

Profile

This programme is designed for participants who hold position such as:

• Chairs and non-executive directors of listed and private corporations
• CEOs, COOs, CFOs and other C-suite executives
• Family members and controlling shareholders of boards of large family companies
• Directors of government and non-profit organisations and agencies
• Senior professionals from the institutional investment community
• Senior partners of professional firms who serve boards and their committees and interact with them frequently

Participants should have sufficient exposure to board matters to fully benefit from and contribute to a programme that involves role-play, simulations and exchanges with other participants.  They also must demonstrate that they possess the credibility and competences required to assume board-level responsibilities.

About INSEAD

Independent Directors Program - Application Form

IDP Application Form

Presentation

Presentation International Directors Programme

Brochure International Directors Programme