A mix of expertise, diversity and vision make the work of the Supervisory Board successful.
“Women don’t necessarily make better decisions, but they make them differently.” Says a woman who doesn’t care about hierarchies, consistently pursues goals, is direct and receives a lot of encouragement for this.
Tuesday Porter has been an employee representative on the Supervisory Board of TÜV NORD AG since 2018. She stood for re-election in 2023. Why? The answer comes promptly: “Because I like the job and the responsibility and I want to continue to make some adjustments in the interests of the company,” says Porter.
What motivated her to be certified as a qualified Supervisory Board member? Porter
about this:
The demands on the level of professionalisation of supervisory board work are constantly increasing. In addition, I am personally liable as a supervisory board member, and this applies to both employee representatives and shareholder representatives. For us Supervisory Board members, this means that we have to take responsibility for our own training and continuing
and further training in accordance with our duties, as set out in the German Corporate Governance Code.
When I was elected to the Finance Committee in September 2021 at the latest, it was important for me to undergo further professional training with a certificate as proof of my expertise.
I started the “Qualified Supervisory Board” course in January 2022 and passed the exam at Deutsche Börse in March.
What do you currently see as the biggest challenges in the Supervisory Board’s
work?
Being able to competently assess the impact of megatrends and future topics on the respective company is a constant challenge. This is where a diverse board and corresponding expert knowledge, which you may have to bring in from outside, can help. And, of course, current developments and events such as the energy and climate crisis and the war in Ukraine affect companies and therefore also the work of supervisory boards.
Another challenge in many companies remains the proportion of women – both at specialist and management level. The shortage of skilled labour has already led to a labour market. Companies that continue to fail to adequately involve women in management run the risk of being unattractive as an employer for female specialists today and even more so in the future. Important future topics such as this are an absolute must for all supervisory board members.
We must therefore ensure today that there is a sufficient proportion of women in the important decision-making bodies so that the course can be set for tomorrow.
What do you consider to be the most important success factors in the work of supervisory boards?
Successful Supervisory Board work needs goals. I set my goals even before I started as a member of the Supervisory Board. After four years on the Supervisory Board, I can now say that I have addressed the issues and achieved my goals. Now I would like to add more topics to my agenda. It is therefore important to ask yourself before accepting a mandate: what can
I can contribute to this company and what do I want to achieve?
The basis for successful Supervisory Board work is also a high mix of expertise that is well tailored to the company and a Supervisory Board that looks ahead to the long-term development of the company. I believe it is important to attract young people to join the Supervisory Board, if only to have expertise on board for future issues.
to have expertise for future issues on board.
The network that brought Tuesday Porter to the Supervisory Board of one of Germany’s highest-turnover technical services companies is not LinkedIn or Facebook, but the workforce. And it’s a big one at TÜV NORD AG.
What does she recommend to other supervisory board members for their networking activities?
Networking is one of my strengths, but I haven’t specifically tested this skill in the Supervisory Board community. I network in my Supervisory Board committee and also address issues bilaterally for clarification. I would like to engage in more concrete dialogue with our employees about my work on the Supervisory Board. However, the very strict duty of confidentiality stands in the way of this.
So my tip is: seek dialogue with those who are conducive to achieving your goals as a Supervisory Board member – even in one-on-one meetings.
What do you want for your Supervisory Board year 2023?
My wish list includes a higher proportion of women on the large supervisory boards and parity on the nomination committees. I would like Deutsche Börse-accredited and other providers of further training for Supervisory Board members to recognise the courses as educational leave in all federal states.
Overall, more transparency would help to demystify the job. Supervisory board work is demanding and responsible, and absolute confidentiality is of course essential for some topics. For other topics, however, the application of the Chatham House Rule would be sufficient in my view.
My personal wish was to be re-elected to the Supervisory Board of TÜV NORD AG in March 2023. I am delighted that 25% of the voters have placed their trust in me, allowing me to continue this exciting work.
It is also conceivable for me to take on another mandate in the future.