Trustee knowledge and understanding exercise

Our Pension Executive and Management Services (PEMS) team ran a Trustee Knowledge and Understanding exercise to help a trustee board looking to understand, develop, and identify any knowledge gaps. 

The board had held Trustee Knowledge and Understanding and Trustee Effectiveness exercises over the past few years. However, while results had always been noted with interest, minimal action was taken. 

We worked with the trustees to understand the exercise goals, demonstrated that  the real value comes from action planning following the results. 

Objectives

• To identify areas of strength as well as areas for further development or training. 
• To formulate an action plan, with progress monitored regularly. 
• To enhance the board’s level of knowledge. 

The approach

We focused on constructing a well-structured questionnaire to provide helpful and important information. Free form boxes were also included for context and reasoning. 

We then presented the results at the annual training day. It was critical at this stage to emphasise how, as a board, they could best utilise the results and take forward an action plan over the coming year. 

Working closely with the board, we developed a comprehensive training plan, including group and individual sessions. Group sessions targeted overall knowledge improvement, while individual plans focused training for smaller groups. This allowed trustees with existing subject knowledge to focus their attention elsewhere.

Our approach was successful; it aligned with client needs and was structured to keep it engaging. Maintaining diverse training was helpful, with face to face, webinars, and articles/blogs. We issued regular updates, training suggestions, and a quarterly review of the progress log to keep the board on track.

The result

The board, with our support, maintains this approach; an update is sent before quarterly meetings alongside board papers. This keeps everyone focused and facilitates discussions on what will be achieved over the next quarter. 

How can we help? 

If you are looking for ways to keep knowledge and understanding levels high, but for it to fit into everyday life, please do contact us. We can design custom questionnaire and training plans, while providing ongoing support.