Chartered Director

Chartered Directors lead organisations whether in the private or public sector, at the highest strategic level. As a Chartered Director you will demonstrate the expertise and integrity needed to meet the challenges of business today. If you are looking to enhance your skills and improve your organisation’s performance, Chartered Director is the award you need.

Benefits to you and your organisation.
Chartered Directors have a dramatic and positive effect on the success of their organisations. Chartered Directors are able to:

• Demonstrate to shareholders, clients and customers that their organisation is professional and successful.
• Operate at a strategic and tactical level to establish and sustain growth.
• Appreciate all aspects of effective business leadership and sound corporate governance.
• Improve the board’s effectiveness and their personal contribution.
• Enhance their career prospects as an executive director or non-executive director.

• You must be an IOD member or Fellow.
• You must be a director*, and have been so for at least three years in the last five (or seven years in the last nine if you do not have a degree or professional qualification).
• Your board must meet at least four times a year, have at least three directors and focus on the governance, not management, of your organisation.

* A director is defined for our purpose in terms of what you do rather than by reference to technicalities of law; that is, if you are a member of a governing body which pursues the four tasks enumerated in Standards for the Board, then you are a director for our purpose.

The four key tasks of the board:

• Establishing and maintaining vision, mission and values.
• Setting strategy and structure
• Delegating to management
• Accountability to shareholders and/or stakeholders.

The net is cast wider than Companies Act directors only. (In point of fact, company law defines a director as ‘any person occupying the position of director, by whatever name called’ (Companies Act 1985, s.741(1))). Further, there are some organisations where, by law, the board is made up of non-executives only. However, if (say) you are the chief executive of such an organisation and attend all board meetings and act as a de facto director, then you are taken for our purpose to be a director.

The first stage is to pass the IoD examination in Company Direction.

The exam assesses the IoD Company Direction Programme. The Programme’s syllabus covers the areas which are considered important to a director’s competence.

Who should attend?
Practising and newly appointed company Chairmen as well as those shortly to take up the position.

• Director duties, liabilities and responsibilities.
• Finance
• Setting strategic direction
• Human resource strategy
• Marketing strategy
• Leading and directing change
• Decision making
• Performance management

There are three routes to the exam:

The practice exam is designed to test your knowledge of company direction against the syllabus of the IoD Company Direction programme.

The practice exam will:

• Help to identify your knowledge strengths and gaps
• Give you an indication of the scope of the Programme
• Indicate the course or courses you may need to study with the IoD.

The exam, and the programme it assesses, covers the role and responsibilities of the director. It is important that you are cogniscent with all aspects of your directorial duties, indicated by a pass in this examination.

Test yourself and see how up to date and knowledgeable you are!