The OpenWater Blog

Your Guide to Board Nominations

A step-by-step walkthrough on Board Nominations

So how does a Board Member Nomination process really work?

1. The Vetting Process – who gets through?

Every Board Nomination Process involves a Nominating Committee who vets the candidates that are chosen to enter the pool. While it is helpful to have a big pool of candidates to choose from, having a vetting procedure in place to ensure that only quality candidates are being reviewed is crucial. The nominating committee is also responsible for following the correct election procedure. Sometimes companies even choose to hire a third party orgnaaization to ensure objectivity throughout this entire process.

2. Does the Nominee require a specialization? If so, concentrate your search.

Did your most recent departure mean the loss of a Marketing expert on your board? While the best boards out there boast a good harmony in skill sets amongst its members, ensuring that there are experts on the board is just good preparation against any kind of business crisis.

3. The Candidate Pool is presented to the Board

The nominating committee then moves on to present their final set of nominees to the Senior Board. This is when the current board members get an opportunity to review all the information on all potential new members, through ideally what be a central web-base with information on each nominee including their names, resumes, professional history and even a photo.

4. The Board convenes to discuss and vote on each nominee

The voting process is simple using an online Board Nomination Software. Instead of having an appointed meeting, the full board can instead vote on each nominee online. If there is a runoff, the OpenWater platform also accommodates a multiple-round review process. However, if the bylaws call for a final executive session that must be held in person to ensure that nominations can also be taken from the floor, an online voting procedure is a good way to whittle the pool down into a core group of top nominees.

5. From the core group of top nominees, they vote to choose the final candidate

The board may choose to set multiple rounds of voting, or just do a single round depending on the size of the group of nominees and the spread of the votes. An ideal Board Nomination Software should be able to handle any form of voting structure. From then on, it’s easy! The company may choose to release the vote in the form of a public gallery to the entire company, or keep it limited to the board. Now it’s just a matter of time until you find your next new Board Member!

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There is a lot of behind-the-scenes work that goes on behind the election process of every Board Nomination. Because every company has a designated process to recruit, nominate, and elect new board members, having a Board Nomination Software that can accommodate those small differences might be that extra edge you need in finding your next best candidate.
 

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