Case Study: New Board Orientation

How an annual board orientation led to greater board effectiveness and increased trust in the board-staff relationship

Challenge

NTEA - The Association for the Work Truck Industry was established in 1964 with a mission to further the knowledge, growth, and profitability of the work truck industry. While NTEA had established historical governance structures and processes, the board was looking for ways to take their association leadership to the next level.

Process

Since 2016, NTEA has partnered with AMC Consulting for a customized, annual board orientation. After an in-depth analysis of NTEA’s goals and current governance structure, AMC created a leadership development workshop that was specifically tailored to provide consistent messaging year-over-year for board roles and responsibilities, serving as a foundation for new board members and a refresher course for continuing ones. This orientation also includes valuable insights into the distinct roles of board and staff members and how they pair together, demonstrating the value of the board-staff partnership.

Results

Because of this partnership with AMC and NTEA’s dedication to governance improvement, the NTEA board has improved its effectiveness each year since 2016. The process has also led to greater efficiency, productivity, and trust in the working relationship between board members and staff along with a deeper understanding of the power and importance of an effective committee, task force, and working group structure.

“In creating our formal onboarding process with AMC, new board members were able to be productive and actively contribute much earlier in their term of service. The formalized orientation helped reinforce the oversight role and legal responsibilities of the board, the overall direction of the association, and provide insights into numerous ongoing larger scale initiatives.”
—Steve Carey, NTEA’s President & CEO