The “Organic Governance” team of YMCA Europe is collecting and elaborating related best practices, standards, examples of policies, procedures, etc. By this article we want to present you the Templates for evaluation of the Board and Staff.
Any field of work should be monitored and evaluated in order to achieve the results we want. The process of monitoring and evaluation is an essential and unquestionable practice in project management in civil society organisations.
The governance system and organisational bodies in particular have their own roles, functions and tasks. And they are not less important for the success of the whole organisation.
That is why it is essential to monitor the quality of performance of the key bodies as well. The impact an organisation is producing in communities depends on the work of the Board and Staff directly.
Before the launch of the evaluation process, it is essential to make sure that an organisation has key documents and elements of a structure.
- Are the roles and functions of Board and Staff team members clearly defined in the Constitution or By-laws of your organisation?
- Does this description and acting accordingly help to implement “division of power” and “succession” principles?
- Does every staff member have a written job description and an official contract?
- Do members of the Board understand clearly what their specific responsibilities within their role are?
- Are the job descriptions adjusted to the Strategy and the Operational plan?
- Is a communication system between Board and Staff members efficient enough?
The principle “accountability” means that an elected or hired bodies are accountable to those who have elected/hired them. It means that the Secretary General would report to the Board if it is the official body hiring him/her. And the Board would report to the Conference because it delegated their power to it.
When we are talking about the evaluation process in this article, we are not speaking about reporting on activities and impact they produced. We speak about the quality of performance people are providing in order to achieve the goals of organisations. So, this process is quite delicate, ethical and usually does not involve a broad audience.
Often it starts with a self-evaluation process and discussion with representatives of another governing body. For example, the evaluation of the Secretary General usually happens together with the President or/and the Board. The evaluation of the Board performance is organised by the President, run by the Board members themselves, usually together with the Secretary General and often with the Auditing Committee.
The evaluation templates are shared as wide as the ethical principles of the organisation allow.
Usually the process happens annually.
It is important to have broadly discussed and approved evaluation templates. The wide discussion will ensure that important criteria for the members are included into the documents.
Usually the documents are based on:
- the basic governance and management principles (implementation of democratic governance principles, ensuring transparency, succession, youth empowerment, etc.)
- the job description items (planning, implementation, reaching set goals, financial oversight, managing executive structure, building good communication, etc.)
- important practical aspects of performance (quality of elaborated documents, quality of delivered public presentations, etc)
- crucial qualities of people for these positions (communication skills, ability to listen, digital skills, etc)
We provide several examples of the templates, which can help you to elaborate your own documents serving the needs of your organisation.
Chief Executive evaluation template.
Board Evaluation Template.
At the “Governance” manual of YMCA Latina America and Caribbean you will find a detailed description of the evaluation standards.
Board Evaluation Questions
List of Skills for Board Recruitment and Evaluation
This is the “Performance Review” Template for Employees by YMCA Canada.
This is the “Board Culture and Performance” Evaluation Template by YMCA Canada.
The material is created within the project “ Governance and Quality Development” supported by Erasmus+, Key Action 2 programme.
