A unique educational program in the local landscape aims to enhance the practical abilities of board members in listed Romanian companies or firms aspiring to get listed and help them face increasingly complex challenges.

A partnership between Envisia – Board of Elites, the first business school in Romania for Board Directors, and the Bucharest Stock Exchange, the Corporate Governance that Creates Value program starts its third edition on November 17.

Over a period of six months, the participants enrolled in the program attend 60 hours of in-class training in which they learn about the legal framework that governs the functioning of company boards in Romania, the different types of board structures, the roles of board members and committees, specific activities, the relationship of the board of directors with the executive management team, and responsible governance principles.

The evaluation at the end of the program consists of a simulation of a board meeting in which the participants get to put into practice everything they learn over the training period and solve real-life board topics.

“This program aims to align the professionals in the local capital market with the current demands and future challenges. It is practical, participants can apply everything they learn within the program the next day,” says Gabriela Hârțescu, Ph.D., Envisia’s Dean and COO (opening photo).

The program participants are high-caliber practitioners – board members, members in consultative committees, professionals that support the board with documents and opinions, and consultants that support the board in making decisions on matters such as fiscal policies, legislation, and digital transformation, according to the Envisia representative.

“We help them get updated with the legislation in our country and good practices at European level, and we bring up potential challenges they will face such as digital transformation, legislation changes, and tax changes, which are very frequent in Romania,” Hârțescu explains.

“We aim to keep the program up to date with the latest market trends and the feedback received from participants. With each series, we come with renewed curricula and discussion themes,” she adds.

The program’s facilitators and guest speakers are highly-reputed practitioners with a lot of business know-how. The evaluation committee is led by the president of the Bucharest Stock Exchange’s Board of Directors, Radu Hanga.

“The development of the Bucharest Stock Exchange is closely linked to the development of the Romanian economy and implicitly of local companies. Development involves a continuous process of learning and adapting to a constantly changing environment, and this process always starts from the top level,” says Radu Hanga.

“The boards of directors and the executive management of the companies are the ones who create (or significantly influence) the culture of any company through the governance framework they build, and, in the last instance, the internal culture is the one that significantly influences the chances of success of any business. Training and certifications in corporate governance (or good governance within companies) are an important investment in increasing the quality of management teams and have a direct influence on the long-term performance of the companies they lead,” he adds.

Why do board members need training?

In the current context, marked by frequent legislation changes and a complicated economic and geopolitical context, practical training for board members is in high demand. The legislation in other countries, and even in some tightly regulated sectors in Romania, requires board members to go through annual training programs to stay up to date.

“In Romania, the board members are appointed on various criteria and sometimes the people who get into company boards don’t have the experience requested by such positions although they are very good executives, practitioners, law experts or industry specialists. That’s why we advocate that new board members that don’t have a background of responsible corporate governance should go through such a training program within a year after being appointed,” says Envisia’s Dean.

“The current context requires continuous training even for those with a lot of board experience, who need to manage new risks. Besides legislation, industry and technical competences, boards need competences to manage digital transformation and cyber security risk or climate change risks. These new requirements can be met by bringing new board members or training the existing ones in these areas,” explains Gabriela Hârțescu, PhD.

In addition to the program organized in partnership with the Bucharest Stock Exchange, Envisia has also brought to Romania Henley Business School’s Board Practice and Directorship program, a transformation program that also helps board directors gain practical experience by solving actual board issues brought from international practice.

Besides the two programs, Envisia also organizes open courses for business professionals and board members looking to get specific certifications.

Envisia’s latest addition is the launch of a training solution to prepare local professionals for obtaining the prestigious professional qualification CIIA - Certified International Investment Analyst, under the auspices of ACIIA - Association of Certified International Analysts. The course is organized by AAFBR – Association of Banking and Finance Analysts in Romania, in partnership with Envisia Business School and with BVB support.

More details about Envisia’s training and educational portfolio are available here.

editor@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Envisia)