F ID I ASSO C I ATI O NS LETS GIVE DEMOCRACY A CHANCE FIDIs long-established governance structure needs updating to make it relevant to the modern business world, and allow the organisation to make faster decisions for the benefit of its Affiliates. Jesse van Sas on why and how this should happen F JESSE VAN SAS, FIDI SECRETARY GENERAL Share your thoughts and opinion We would love to hear your thoughts, ideas and opinions on how FIDI could improve its decision process. Please contact Jesse van Sas at jesse.vansas@fidi.org all suggestions will be treated confidentially. IDIs current (and only) governance model is that of a federation, an association of associations. Affiliated companies are not direct members of FIDI; they become members of FIDI through membership in one of the 27 local or regional FIDI Associations (FAs). These FAs, in their turn, are the official members of FIDI and have a seat in FIDIs governance, through the Delegates Meeting and General Assembly. This means that Affiliate companies only have an indirect vote within FIDI, having to represent their views through their local or regional Association. Because the number of FAs is limited, their involvement in FIDI and their decision-making power is relatively high, and the Boards authority is limited. FIDI opted for this federation model in the 1950s, because, back then, there were hardly any global operating companies, and most movers were focused on their own country, with a limited understanding of global matters. Communication was not what it is today, so it just made sense to organise locally, and create this indirect democracy of a federation. Now, the world of international moving looks very different. MEMBERS OF THE FIDI STRUCTURE COMMITTEE Ebru Demirel, Asya International (Turkey) and FIDI President Nick Kerr, Gosselin (UK) and FIDI UK President Lorenz Amiet, Keller Swiss Group (Switzerland) Miguel Florez, Aviomar (Colombia) and FIDI Latin America President Nigel Saunders, Nuss Relocation (Australia) Jesse van Sas, FIDI Secretary General 68 FF305 Mar_May 22 pp68 Assoc.indd 68 There are some clear flaws the federation model has for our organisation today, which leads to frustration from many sides, especially for our membership. l This model may be outdated for the modern global operating market l Affiliates are often not really involved in FIDIs governance, because of a lack of time, a lack of information from their FA, or, sometimes, unintentionally misinterpreted information l The indirect communication channels are cumbersome, and some FAs dont have the knowledge or resources to play the role of two-way messenger (from the FIDI Board and office to the Affiliates and vice versa) l This indirect democracy and underlying communication issues mean the decision-making process is awfully slow. At times, it takes several years, which is perhaps not sustainable in todays business environment l 50 years ago, each FA represented a country, and was relatively similar in size. We now see some huge FAs (such as FIDI Asia, with 72 affiliated companies) and very small ones (such as FIDI Denmark, with three affiliated companies). Some are harboured in the legal entity of a national Association; others are just represented at informal meetings. Some communicate well and apply the democracy principle; others dont l The federation model automatically implies limited Board authority to make changes. After all, the model assumes the FAs are deeply involved in FIDI matters, and therefore limits the Boards scope of action. We know now that many FAs are not involved enough, leading to regular paralysis of governance l Delegates of the FAs, as well as Board members, are all movers and FIDI Affiliates at the same time. Though it is assumed that they can and will wear the FIDI hat when representing their members, this is not controlled, so its possible they may vote wearing their company hat clearly an inherent conflict of interest. In our recent SWOT analysis, when we asked if our current governance is working well, most interviewees underlined the need to increase the voice of the Affiliate in FIDIs decision process. Under the current structure, this is difficult to do. There is an alternative format to the federation model, which could be looked into, too. It is called the true association model, which essentially is an association of Affiliates. In this model, each Affiliate company has a direct vote in the General Assembly. The FA layer is removed; democracy is more direct. The Board is taking this matter seriously and we feel it is high time we take a deep look at FIDIs governance structure and decisionmaking process. Not only the association model, but also the FIDI Board itself. We need to be critical and courageous to rethink the whole concept. The revamping of FIDIs governance is one of the focus areas for the FIDI Board in 2022/23. The Board has extended the FIDI Structure Committee and has tasked it with looking into this and coming up with solutions, ensuring more Affiliate involvement, better communication flow and a faster decision process. WW W. F I D I FOC U S . OR G 08/03/2022 08:24