In corporate Australia, there are no limits to the director roles a person can hold, just guidelines. but how much is enough? Consider the superhuman efforts of Richard Goyder.
Goyder has five presidencies, three at major organizations that are experiencing at least one or more of the following challenges: succession planning, geopolitical disputes, operational and reputational crises, and negotiating and executing multibillion-dollar deals.
AFL Commission Chairman Richard Goyder.Credit:fake images
Goyder chairs the AFL Commission, the governing body of the Australian Football League, which some say makes him the secular pope of Melbourne. The AFL is in the midst of choosing a replacement for its highly successful CEO, Gillon McLachlan. Goyder is leading that process. In addition, the AFL is in the midst of negotiating a television rights deal, which is expected to set another record for Australian sports broadcast rights, topping $2.5bn.
While nothing has been signed so far, the deal has already angered stakeholders, from the federal government to the 18 AFL clubs and fans, who are concerned and angered by reports that some games could be wiped out. free or not be transmitted. Live. Goyder and McLachlan’s phones must be hot.
At Qantas, where Goyder is also chairman, the airline has experienced reputational and operational crises after emerging from the pandemic. Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce offered a belated apology, noting that the global airline industry was experiencing the same problems. But he hasn’t explained why he and his management have been backward in addressing the issues.
While the CEO is responsible for the performance of a company, the chairman’s legacy is closely tied to that of the CEO. It is the role of the chairman and the board to monitor the senior executives’ response to the crisis in the interest of all stakeholders, not just shareholders. That’s why the Qantas board’s decision to approve a $400 million share buyback, announced yesterday, came as a surprise.
Sick employees, canceled or delayed flights, misplaced luggage, understaffed call centers are just some of the problems Qantas and its subsidiary Jetstar have been dealing with emerging from the pandemic. Credit:janie barrett
Qantas staffing and service levels remain a serious issue for the company, which Joyce acknowledged, and yet the company expects its staffing levels by the middle of next year to be nearly 5,000 fewer than they were in March 2020. Qantas received at least $1 billion in government donations through the pandemic
There is also the issue of succession planning at Qantas, which Goyder and the board need to address. For now, they have pushed it back to the end of 2023. By then, Joyce will have been chief executive of Qantas for 15 years.
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