Deloitte: Be more agile in stakeholder engagement

KUALA LUMPUR: Chairpersons and the board of directors need to remain agile by transitioning to be more active when engaging with stakeholders, according to Deloitte Malaysia.

Chief executive officer Yee Wing Peng said with a drastically different business environment, the role of chairs would continue to evolve.

“They need to leverage on listening to various opinions of directors and management teams, including stakeholders to provide firm strategic direction.

“Boards also need to consider how organisations could effectively shape strategies to address climate change impact,” he said in his welcoming remarks at the launch of the Malaysia global boardroom programme here, reported Bernama.

Yee pointed out that Malaysian boards were quick to rise to the challenge as the ultimate stewardship body of their organisation in guiding and supporting the management to steer out of crises.

This was based on the country’s highly commendable gross domestic product growth for the first quarter (1Q) of 5%, 2Q of 8.9% and further accelerated to 14.2% in 3Q this year.

“This is a good indicator of the strong recovery of our economy and big corporations are playing a significant role in the recovery,” he said.

Meanwhile, in its recently launched global report – Board effectiveness and the chair of the future – from the Deloitte Global Boardroom Programme, Yee noted that the report had identified key traits of a successful chair.