Case Study: Emira

Emira needed to strengthen its board through strategic director appointments—not simply filling vacant seats, but building a board with the right composition of skills, experience, perspectives, and diversity to serve the organisation’s governance needs.

Board composition is a fundamental governance issue that often doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Many boards approach director appointments as a relationship-driven process: ‘we need someone on the board, do you know anyone good?’ This approach often results in boards that are reasonably competent but lack diversity, miss critical skill gaps, or overrepresent certain perspectives while missing others.

Emira recognised that its board appointments process needed to be more intentional and governance-driven. The organisation had gaps in specific expertise areas. Its board diversity—of thought, experience, background, and demographic representation—was insufficient for the governance demands the business faced. Appointments had historically been made without clear criteria or explicit connection to board composition strategy.

Sirdar’s engagement combined board evaluation with Contribution Compass profiling. The Contribution Compass is a tool that maps how board members contribute across multiple dimensions—strategic thinking, risk management, stakeholder relationships, specialist expertise, operational knowledge, diversity of perspective. This profiling serves multiple purposes: it clarifies what a current board brings, it identifies gaps and over-representation, and it provides concrete criteria for future appointments.

The board evaluation mapped current composition and identified specific gaps: certain governance dimensions were over-represented (perhaps too many members with finance backgrounds), while others had no champion at the board table. The appointment process had lacked a clear competency framework—appointments were made based on general ‘fit’ rather than specific governance needs. The board’s composition didn’t clearly reflect its strategic priorities.

The outcome included a competency-based appointment framework that clarified what skills, experience, and perspectives the board needed. Contribution Compass profiling informed recruitment criteria—the board now had a tool for evaluating whether a potential director would fill genuine composition gaps. The director appointment process shifted from relationship-driven to governance-driven, while still remaining relational and human. Board diversity improved across multiple dimensions: skills, experience, demographic representation, and diversity of thought.

Importantly, the engagement included transition of the director recruitment process to the board itself. Emira now owns and repeats this governance-driven appointment process—it’s not a one-time project but an ongoing discipline.

The Emira engagement also created connection to Sirdar’s director search service (‘Finding the Ideal Fit’). Once a board has clarity on what composition it needs, specialist director search—either internal or supported by external search—becomes much more targeted and effective.

Frequently Asked Questions

What makes a board composition ‘diverse’ from a governance perspective?

Governance diversity goes beyond demographic representation. It includes diversity of expertise (finance, operations, legal, sector knowledge), diversity of experience (startup versus established business, domestic versus international, profit versus not-for-profit), and diversity of thought (different problem-solving styles, risk perspectives, leadership philosophies). The best governance boards have intentional diversity across all these dimensions.

How should a board define what skills and perspectives it needs?

Start with strategy and risk: what challenges will the business face in the next 3-5 years, and what board expertise does that require? Add stakeholder perspective: what groups does the board need to understand deeply (customers, regulators, investors)? Then add operational reality: what does management need from the board? Tools like Contribution Compass help make these needs explicit and concrete.

How can a board maintain diversity as directors rotate?

By having an explicit, documented composition strategy. As each director’s term nears renewal, the board asks: ‘if this person rotates off, what does that mean for our composition?’ This forward-looking approach prevents composition gaps from emerging by accident.