King IV Corporate Governance Principles Implementation Training Course

Course overview

Boards and governance teams are expected to show more than policy compliance: they must demonstrate how governance arrangements create value, manage risk, protect stakeholder interests and support ethical organisational performance. King IV’s outcomes-based, principles-and-practices approach can be difficult to translate into board terms of reference, committee mandates, reporting processes and evidence for annual governance disclosures. This course gives participants a practical method for moving from a high-level King IV assessment to an implementable governance improvement plan.

Participants work through King IV’s four governance outcomes, 17 principles and recommended practices, with focused treatment of board leadership, ethics, strategy, risk, technology and information, compliance, remuneration, assurance, stakeholder relationships and reporting. They learn to interpret “apply and explain”, map current practices against King IV, identify material gaps, assign accountable owners, define implementation evidence and prepare concise explanations for stakeholders. The course also connects King IV implementation with the Companies Act, JSE Listings Requirements and established board and committee processes.

Delivery combines instructor-led explanation with realistic governance cases, document reviews and facilitated workshops. Participants analyse board charters, committee terms of reference, governance policies, risk reports and integrated-report disclosures to determine whether evidence supports a credible King IV application statement. Each participant leaves with a tailored King IV implementation roadmap, including a principle-by-principle gap assessment, prioritised actions, ownership assignments, target dates and a disclosure evidence checklist.

The programme is suited to governance, legal, risk, compliance, company secretarial and board-support professionals who need to build or strengthen a defensible King IV implementation process. It is equally valuable for managers preparing their organisation for board review, external assurance discussions, investor scrutiny or governance reporting.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Interpret the four King IV governance outcomes, 17 principles and recommended practices in an organisational context
• Apply the King IV “apply and explain” method to draft evidence-based governance disclosures
• Conduct a principle-by-principle King IV gap assessment using a structured maturity matrix
• Map board, committee and executive accountabilities to King IV governance responsibilities
• Evaluate board charters, committee terms of reference and policies against relevant King IV practices
• Design a governance implementation roadmap with actions, owners, milestones and evidence requirements
• Build a governance evidence register linking policies, minutes, reports and disclosures to King IV principles
• Prepare a board-ready briefing that prioritises governance gaps, risks and corrective actions

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Company Secretaries — who coordinate board governance processes and King IV disclosure evidence
• Governance Managers — who must translate governance principles into policies, accountabilities and reporting
• Board and Committee Administrators — who maintain charters, agendas, minutes and decision records
• Legal Counsel — who advise on Companies Act obligations, board duties and governance documentation
• Risk and Compliance Managers — who align assurance, regulatory compliance and risk oversight with King IV
• Internal Audit Managers — who assess governance design and provide assurance on implementation controls

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should understand their organisation’s basic governance structure, including the roles of the board, executive management, board committees and company secretary. Familiarity with common documents such as a board charter, committee terms of reference, risk register, policy register or annual report will help, but prior King IV training is not required. Participants should be able to read and discuss organisational policies and reports critically. A laptop with Microsoft Excel and Word is recommended for workshop templates. This is a foundation-to-intermediate course; complete beginners should expect a structured introduction before applying the framework.

Training methodology

The facilitator uses short, structured teaching segments to explain King IV principles, followed by guided analysis of governance documents drawn from realistic corporate scenarios. Participants work individually and in groups to score a maturity matrix, test “apply and explain” disclosures, revise a committee mandate and build an evidence register. Board-reporting cases require participants to distinguish between a stated policy and proof of implementation. Daily feedback connects each exercise to workplace decisions, culminating in an individual action plan and a board-ready implementation roadmap.

Course outline

Day 1: King IV architecture and governance outcomes

• Purpose, status and scope of the King IV Report on Corporate Governance
• The outcomes-based governance model and value creation logic
• The four King IV governance outcomes
• The 17 principles and recommended practices structure
• The “apply and explain” disclosure approach
• Sectoral application and proportionality considerations
• Relationship between King IV, the Companies Act and JSE Listings Requirements

Workshop: Participants classify a case organisation’s existing governance statements against the four outcomes and produce an initial King IV applicability map.

Day 2: Ethical leadership, board effectiveness and delegation

• Principles of ethical and effective leadership
• Board composition, independence, diversity and succession planning
• Board charter design and reserved matters schedules
• Delegation of authority and management accountability
• Committee structures, mandates and reporting lines
• Performance evaluation of the board, committees and individual directors
• Conflict-of-interest declarations and related-party governance

Workshop: Participants review a board charter and audit committee terms of reference, then produce a marked-up gap list with recommended amendments.

Day 3: Strategy, risk, technology and compliance governance

• Governing strategy for sustainable value creation
• Risk governance roles, risk appetite and oversight reporting
• Integrating risk registers with strategic objectives
• Technology and information governance under King IV
• Data governance, cybersecurity oversight and information management
• Compliance governance and regulatory universe mapping
• Combined assurance model design and assurance-provider coordination

Workshop: Participants build a combined assurance map that assigns assurance providers and reporting evidence to a selected strategic risk.

Day 4: Remuneration, stakeholder relationships and reporting

• Remuneration governance and remuneration committee responsibilities
• Remuneration policy and implementation report requirements
• Fair, responsible and transparent remuneration decisions
• Stakeholder relationship governance and stakeholder mapping
• Materiality determination for governance reporting
• Integrated reporting connections and governance narrative design
• Drafting clear King IV “apply and explain” statements

Workshop: Participants rewrite weak governance disclosures and produce an evidence-supported “apply and explain” statement for a stakeholder or remuneration issue.

Day 5: King IV assessment and implementation planning

• Principle-by-principle governance maturity assessment
• Gap prioritisation using impact, urgency and implementation effort
• Governance evidence registers and document-retention requirements
• Assigning accountable owners through a RACI matrix
• Implementation milestones, dependencies and resource requirements
• Board dashboard and governance progress-report design
• Preparing a board paper for King IV remediation approval

Workshop: Participants complete a King IV implementation roadmap and deliver a short board briefing on their top governance gaps, actions and evidence requirements.

Tools & standards covered

King IV Report on Corporate Governance for South Africa 2016, Companies Act 71 of 2008, JSE Listings Requirements, Microsoft Excel

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions