Is your executive governance ready for what’s coming?

In a sector grappling with unprecedented financial strain, intensifying regulation, and increasingly complex operational demands, it’s easy to overlook the quiet strength of a well functioning governance structure. As pressure mounts, particularly with new expectations around fraud prevention, one question is becoming increasingly urgent:

Is your executive governance doing its job?

Not just on paper. Not just in terms of minutes and terms of reference. But in practice. Day to day.

Because while much attention is rightly paid to the work of governing bodies and academic boars, it’s the executive governance spine – the structures and processes that connect your leadership team to decision makers, committees and operations – that can either keep your university resilient or quietly let risk seep through the cracks.

What good executive governance looks like

At its best, executive governance is the system that makes it possible for the right people to make the right decisions at the right time. It enables early warning. It supports clear ownership. It builds trust between teams, committees, and leaders. You know the important work is being handled.

Good executive governance is:

• Clear: Everyone knows who is responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed.

• Timely: Issues are escalated quickly, not buried in layers on ambiguity.

• Aligned: It connects strategy with operations, and operations with compliance.

• Consistent: It’s applied in practice, not just captured in an organigram.

It’s not just about avoiding scandal. It’s about enabling good leadership.

Five actions to strengthen your executive governance now

If you’re reflecting on your institution’s readiness for a tougher regulatory climate, including increasing scrutiny on fraud prevention, here are five actions that can make a real difference.

1. Map your executive governance structure

   Don’t just revisit your organisational chart, review how decisions actually move through the institution. Where are the gaps or overlaps? What decisions get stuck and why?

   
   

2. Clarify roles and responsibilities

   Fraud prevent, for example, is not just an issue for the Finance department. Who owns the policy? Who implements it? Who escalates when things go wrong? Governance only works when ownership is clear.

   
   

3. Review your policies and how they’re used

   A well written policy is useless if it’s not understood or followed. Are your internal policies clear, current, and embedded into daily practice? Who signs them off? Who reports on compliance?

   
   

4. Check your committee effectiveness

   Are the right committees in place, doing the right work? Do   their terms of reference align with institutional risks? Are they receiving the assurance they need or just updates?

   
   

5. Audit your assurance flow

   How does the executive team receive assurance on key operational and regulatory risks? Are reporting lines robust and timely? Do issues escalate early enough to act?

   
   

How The Hiveworks can help

At The Hiveworks, we work with universities to strengthen the operational and executive structures that underpin institutional effectives – including governance, compliance, and risk. Whether through an Executive Governance Review, a VCO executive support function review, or a bespoke diagnostic, we can help you assess and strengthen the spine that holds it all together.

Good governance doesn’t just protect you from what might go wrong. It creates the conditions for everything to go right.

Ready to take a closer look at your governance foundations?

Let’s talk about how I can help.

hello@thehiveworkshub.com