KAMPALA – Experts from ICSA Uganda-East Africa Region, a professional institute for governance and is the professional body for Chartered Company Secretaries and KPGM, a global network of professional audit firms providing Audit, Tax and Advisory services have urged both private and public organizations to embrace good corporate governance principles if they are to become resilient.
These were addressing press on Thursday ahead of ICSA Uganda/KPMG March 9 Annual Directors and Secretaries Conference.
Under the theme “Corporate Governance: A Catalyst for Organizational Resilience”, the conference will be officiated by the Deputy Governor Bank of Uganda, Dr. Michel Atingi Ego who will talk about Fostering Resilience through Corporate Governance.
According to Mr. Peter Kyambadde, Partner KPMG Uganda, much as a number of organizations have embraced good corporate governance principles, there’s also a big percentage of organizations to that have not yet.
“That’s why we find many entities cannot survive to their 5th birthday,” he said.
“People start businesses without putting the fundamentals in place and they don’t understand certain risks, and because of poor governance principles, they are not trustable and as such accessing finance is difficult,” he added.
Mr. Kyambadde noted that there is a need for Environmental Social Governance (ESG), the social aspect which is also part of good social governance focuses on ensuring equity and good working environment for the staff which will lead to more sustainability of entities.
He reminded that in the last year’s conference, the organizations were told those that integrate ESG into their businesses and strategies are more sustainable than those that do not.
Experts say that good corporate governance principles will enable organizations to bounce back after business disruptions because they are resistant to the impact of the disruption.
“The recent COVID 19 pandemic tested the resilience of organizations and the graveyards of companies and organization have a tale of their own on this matter.”
Data shows that Uganda is ranked among the top six countries in Africa in rates of depressive disorders, while 2.9% live with anxiety disorders.
Experts say that the recognition of stress demands and the conditioning of one’s response to the stress demands will determine whether to develop resilience of end up.
Some of the things that people need to do be become resilient:
a) Looking after your physical condition
b) Developing and training regularly in multiple areas (emotionally, mentally, morally and physically)
c) Positive attitude and optimism
d) Developing coping strategies and making use of them
e) Developing cognitive flexibility and learning to reframe
f) Facing your fears g Having actively found resilient role models
g) Recognizing and developing your signature strength
h) strong moral campus and sense of purpose
i) Establishing and nurturing a supportive social network
All these will be subject of discussion at the conference
