Culture trumps policies and procedures when trying to prevent founder’s syndrome at a charity, a governance and finance specialist has said.
Speaking on the latest episode of the Third Sector Podcast, Pesh Framjee stressed the importance of succession planning in charities led by their founders.
Founder’s syndrome refers to when a founder or group of founders retain a disproportionate amount of power and influence over an organisation, which can hinder growth and development.
Framjee said having the right culture is crucial to preventing founder’s syndrome and, while systems, policies and procedures are important, they ultimately do not matter without the right culture at a charity.
“If you don’t have the right culture, then it drives a coach and horses through everything else you’re planning to do,” Framjee said.
Framjee said charities can improve their culture by focusing on their mission as a starting point.
“Everything you do should be focused on making sure that it’s bettering the mission, either the causes or the people you serve,” he said.
Framjee emphasised the importance of getting the balance right between scrutiny and support on charity boards as a way to improve culture.
“In the sector we love talking about empowerment, we want to empower everybody to do everything,” he said.
“But do we check that the people have got the right skill sets, the right tools, the right resources to be so empowered?
“There’s this question about balancing empowerment with accountability. People must be held […] accountable for what they have done or what they have failed to do.
“This doesn’t just mean management but also boards, and I think that’s really important.”
Listen to the latest episode of the Third Sector Podcast here.