BUSINESS GOVERNANCE
Two terms later… A governance development programme saw Donna Smit climb the ranks in boardrooms. By Claire Ashton.
D
onna Smit’s governance resume reads like a who’s who of the primary industry sector; Dairy Women’s’ Network trustee, and directorships of EastPack, Ballance Agri-Nutrients, Primary ITO, Eastern Bay Energy Trust, and until November 2022, farmer-elected board director at Fonterra. Her path to such a pivotal governance role began when she saw an advertisement in a rural magazine for the Governance Development Programme with Fonterra which was established in 2006 to help address dairy industry and rural sector succession needs, and boost regional governance. She had been a company administrator at Eastpack for 24 years, where they took it from a small co-op to the largest supplier of Gold Kiwifruit to Zespri. Eastpack was close to home, family, and thier Bay of Plenty farms. However, Donna had a bit of a wake-up call driving home, yet again late for dinner, and decided it was time for a change and applied successfully to the governance development programme. Donna took part in the Fonterra governance programme for two years while wrapping up work at EastPack. The programme was intensive at times, and involved week-long training sessions, book reviews, personality tests and coaching. Persistence and her stellar resume saw Donna’s applications to director positions on Fonterra and Ballance boards be accepted simultaneously, however, with a clash of meeting times, Donna opted for the Fonterra role in August 2017. She had previously applied and been ‘first loser’, however, perseverance pays. She wanted to be on the team to take the co-op back to its core values. “You could see there were issues at Fonterra, and you could see that the place could be so much 30
better when you see how other boards operate. There was a dominant leadership culture in that board at the time, and that’s not how highly effective boards run - you need to run the full skills of the whole team. Alongside that, Fonterra’s strategy to be globally relevant wasn’t working. “The whole strategy was at odds with our competitive advantage, quality, highly nutritious pasture-based milk,” Donna says, and the strategy to focus on New Zealand milk resonates well with farmers. “To me, no matter what board you are on, you have to work out; how does this business create value and then how do you go after that value?” The Fonterra Board, during Donna’s time, has had three different chairmen; John Wilson, John Monaghan and now, Peter McBride, two chief executives, and two chief financial officers. The previous 12-member board was reduced to 11, with nine out of the 11 having a tenure of six years or less, only Leonie Guiney and Clinton Dines have been on the board longer. This relatively new board has seen major changes in strategy, purpose, risk settings, culture and capital structure. Donna would also like to compliment the openness and transparency CFO Marc Rivers has brought to both the reported financials and the board packs. “It’s really important we understand what creates value in a global business of this scale and transparent financials go a long way in understanding the drivers. “ Now, after six years as an elected director on the Fonterra board, Donna steps down come
‘THERE WAS A DOMINANT LEADERSHIP CULTURE IN THAT BOARD AT THE TIME, AND THAT’S NOT HOW HIGHLY EFFECTIVE BOARDS RUN - YOU NEED TO RUN THE FULL SKILLS OF THE WHOLE TEAM.’
Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | August 2022
