after separate scandals relating to governance and culture, to regulatory actions over poor customer outcomes and allegations of cartel conduct and price-fixing, Australia’s top 50 boards have had a busy year.Credit:A landmark report has found directors of Australia’s biggest listed companies are increasingly prioritising cultural issues and believe a greater boardroom focus on culture will lead to better long-term performance.
Mr Green said boards should consider the soft skills of CEO candidates as well as their financial performance before making appointments and should reach out to more junior staffers such as director reports or executive assistants to assess the character of an incoming CEO. But another senior director at an ASX top 50 company who declined to be named in the report gave the impression there was only so much a board could do to stamp out poor conduct. "The most important person in any organisation is not the CEO or chair; it’s your immediate boss. If your immediate boss is a bully, that’s the culture in which you operate," the unnamed senior director said.