Sitting on public boards: lessons from an Irish broadcaster scandal

Sitting on public boards is a unique governance experience. Sometimes, though, significant corporate fallout can tarnish its reputation. 

The latest example of this comes from Ireland, where a national enquiry into a public body remains ongoing and has grown so large that attention has fallen heavily on the body’s board of directors. 

Amid the negativity, new figures have shown how directors in the country view the prospect of sitting on a public/state board. 

Let’s dive in.

Two main developments:

1. Since the summer of 2023, the Irish national broadcaster (RTE) has been struggling through an extensive scandal. It started as a probe into unreported payments and has evolved into broader accusations of poor governance culture and communication. Since the scandal broke, RTE’s director-general has been dismissed, and the chair of the board has resigned. 
2. In March 2024, a new Irish survey highlighted the latest attitudes toward sitting on state/public boards. 72% of respondents said they were open to such a position, but 60% said personal/reputational risk was the biggest deterrent. 

Experts have commented that the RTE scandal contributed significantly to “personal/reputational risk” as the number one deterrent. If the scandal hadn’t happened, it may have been other factors, such as remuneration or the scale of responsibilities, they said.

The scandal has been drawn out and impactful enough to prompt an in-depth review of RTE governance and thrust its board into the spotlight. Because of that, it’s an example of the unique way that a role on a state board can cause severe headaches for governance professionals. 

If you want to learn more about the RTE scandal and the specifics of how we got to this point, you can do so here.

The reality is that there is no simplistic answer to this question – no rule of thumb saying you should avoid state boards no matter what. 

Don’t think of the question regarding state/public boards and private boards. Think of it in terms of good boards and bad boards, because you can find both in either sector. 

So, while joining a state board can carry some risk, you can say the same for any board if you don’t do the right homework before accepting a role.

Anyone looking to join a board should first analyse the risks the position might bring to their career. This is a fundamental principle of building a successful governance journey. 

This analysis involves studying the parameters of your position and assessing its responsibilities against the skills you can offer. Do they align? Do they differ? If so, by how much? 

You also need to examine the organisation’s governance culture. How transparent is it in decision-making, reporting, and collaboration? Can the board explain the reasoning behind recent actions, and do the explanations make sense to you? How have critical decisions affected the company’s fortunes over the past few years?

These kinds of questions let you know the type of culture you’re dealing with as soon as you walk in the door, and that’s crucial because if you uncover a culture of negligence, box-ticking, nepotism, or anything else that might sink an organisation’s fortunes, you don’t want to be on the wrong side of a corporate disaster.

Of course! If you do proper due diligence, you’ll never automatically bring unmanageable risk to your career. 

The key with state boards is that in addition to your due diligence, you need to understand what makes state boards unique governance environments:

• You may be subject to more scrutiny from the country’s government, media, or ordinary citizens since you work for an organisation that serves them. If a scandal like RTE breaks, the board as a unit will quickly fall under the microscope. 
• You’ll likely have more laws covering your governance activity. 
• State board remuneration is typically relatively low – often significantly lower than what’s on offer for private companies. 
• State boards are high-intensity environments that, if managed well, can hugely boost your experience and know-how in governance.

It’s all about fiduciary duty. State boards may be different environments, but they shouldn’t scare you if they function correctly. 

Scandals like RTE unfold because external stakeholders uncover a lack of good governance, which means fiduciary duty hasn’t been respected, and a lousy culture has been allowed to develop. If you scrutinise potential board roles for such red flags before you take an offer, you’re far less likely to end up in the firing line as a scandal breaks.