Onboarding of new Supervisory Board members.

The onboarding of members of supervisory boards and comparable bodies has become increasingly professionalised in recent years, particularly on the part of companies. At the latest Frankfurt School Corporate Governance Working Breakfast (CGWB), Dr. Werner Schick, lawyer at Siemens, spoke about the duties of board members in connection with familiarising themselves with a new mandate, as well as about the content and formats of onboarding. The CGWB is an event series regularly hosted by Professor Dr. Julia Redenius-Hövermann, Professor of Civil Law and Corporate Law at Frankfurt School, and Sabrina Biedenbach, Board Office Biedenbach.

The duties relating to familiarisation with a mandate are based on the duty of care of supervisory board members derived from the German Stock Corporation Act (Section 116 sentence 1 in conjunction with Section 93 sentence 1 AktG). Key aspects of this duty of care are personal responsibility and the time perspective.

With regard to the content and components of onboarding, Dr. Werner Schick recommends that supervisory board members, among other things, obtain a clear understanding of the company’s economic situation, familiarise themselves with fundamental documents such as statutes, annual financial statements and organisational overviews, and also consider more in-depth information, such as the business model, risks and technologies. Onboarding formats may include onboarding packages or introductory folders, as well as induction days and meetings, workshops or site visits, all of which are regarded as helpful tools for onboarding.

The conclusion of the discussion: The primary objective of the onboarding process is to bring new supervisory board members up to speed within a short period of time so that they can engage in discussions with the management board on an equal footing. Both personal onboarding and support from the company play an important role in this regard.

A more detailed report on this Corporate Governance Working Breakfast can be found here.

Information on previous Corporate Governance Working Breakfasts can be found here.