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A recent member-requested Society Quick Survey on board member recruitment practices garnered responses from nearly 190 predominantly public company members.

Noteworthy results include:

• The new director recruitment process is most commonly led by the Nom/Gov Committee (approximately 83%). Much less common, but still significant in this role (whether in combination with the Nom/Gov Committee or on a stand-alone basis) is the CEO/Chair (35%) and/or lead director (about 19%).
• Those most commonly involved the new director recruitment process are - in descending order - the Nom/Gov Committee, CEO/Chair, full board, and/or lead director.
• Director candidates most commonly meet with the CEO/Chair, one or more committee chairs, and the lead director, before being selected to join the board. The full Nom/Gov Committee, stand-alone CEO (if applicable), and other individual directors based on their availability, also commonly meet with the candidate before s/he is selected to join.
• Over 71% of respondent companies or their boards engage an outside search firm for new director candidate searches some or all of the time. Processes vary widely; however, 40% said that their board, Nom/Gov Committee, lead director, independent board chair or other director or director group selects, retains, and works with the search firm on identifying new director candidate criteria and vetting candidates.