Fundamental changes to the board of directors of the Human Resources Professionals Association of Ontario were narrowly accepted by the membership, last month, and only after an effort to prevent the changes by some discontented members.
The changes were an important part of plans to modernize the operations of the association.
To pursue the long-term plan established by the board last year, the association needed a different board structure and a different model of governance, said Dan Stapleton, CEO of HRPAO. Under the changes accepted by the members, the board will be reduced from 26 to a maximum of 15 members and new members to the board will be elected by the membership at large rather than as representatives of the regions. Members of the association voted on the changes at the annual general meeting during HRPAO’s conference held in Toronto, last month. The changes were passed by just a handful of votes.
The HRPAO is adopting a Policy Governance model which emphasizes a clear distinction between the roles of the CEO and staff and the board. The volunteer members of the board will focus on the strategy for the association while employees will be left alone to implement.
“All the research said you can’t have that large of a board and that regional representation does not lend itself to a policy governance approach,” he said.
However, some members were strongly opposed to the move away from regional representation at the board and tried to introduce a by-law amendment to prevent it.
The proposed amendment was ruled out of order since it represented a substantive change to by-laws on which some members had already voted by proxy.
“Nobody is going around crowing about a great victory. We were surprised at the close vote and we were surprised at the amount of the opposition that came up,” said Stapleton.
The proposals had been on the HRPAO Web site since last June, and Stapleton and association president Anne Charette had traveled to most of the regional chapters to discuss the changes.
Some members were concerned they would not have as much say if they did not elect somebody to represent their region. The Sudbury chapter led the opposition. But in fact, regional representation seldom, if ever, plays a role in decisions at the board level, said Stapleton.
One member pointed out that the new process is in fact much more democratic. Under the old system it was possible to be nominated by a couple of people from a region and then acclaimed to the position if nobody contested the nomination. In the new system, candidates would have to be elected from a slate of candidates chosen by the Board Development Committee which will be charged with finding qualified candidates with as good a representation from the regions as possible.
He also said he doubts the people at the meeting who so vigorously protested the changes represent the membership at large and if all of the 8,500 members voted the changes would have been accepted by a wider margin.
The changes were an important part of plans to modernize the operations of the association.
To pursue the long-term plan established by the board last year, the association needed a different board structure and a different model of governance, said Dan Stapleton, CEO of HRPAO. Under the changes accepted by the members, the board will be reduced from 26 to a maximum of 15 members and new members to the board will be elected by the membership at large rather than as representatives of the regions. Members of the association voted on the changes at the annual general meeting during HRPAO’s conference held in Toronto, last month. The changes were passed by just a handful of votes.
The HRPAO is adopting a Policy Governance model which emphasizes a clear distinction between the roles of the CEO and staff and the board. The volunteer members of the board will focus on the strategy for the association while employees will be left alone to implement.
“All the research said you can’t have that large of a board and that regional representation does not lend itself to a policy governance approach,” he said.
However, some members were strongly opposed to the move away from regional representation at the board and tried to introduce a by-law amendment to prevent it.
The proposed amendment was ruled out of order since it represented a substantive change to by-laws on which some members had already voted by proxy.
“Nobody is going around crowing about a great victory. We were surprised at the close vote and we were surprised at the amount of the opposition that came up,” said Stapleton.
The proposals had been on the HRPAO Web site since last June, and Stapleton and association president Anne Charette had traveled to most of the regional chapters to discuss the changes.
Some members were concerned they would not have as much say if they did not elect somebody to represent their region. The Sudbury chapter led the opposition. But in fact, regional representation seldom, if ever, plays a role in decisions at the board level, said Stapleton.
One member pointed out that the new process is in fact much more democratic. Under the old system it was possible to be nominated by a couple of people from a region and then acclaimed to the position if nobody contested the nomination. In the new system, candidates would have to be elected from a slate of candidates chosen by the Board Development Committee which will be charged with finding qualified candidates with as good a representation from the regions as possible.
He also said he doubts the people at the meeting who so vigorously protested the changes represent the membership at large and if all of the 8,500 members voted the changes would have been accepted by a wider margin.
