This NACD post reveals some of the key findings from its 2023 Private Company Board Practices and Oversight Survey of 218 private company directors.
Among the key takeaways:
Human capital
- More than one-quarter of boards represented by respondents (28%) have assessed their composition for human capital-specific experience and expertise to identify gaps.
- Nearly one-quarter of boards represented by respondents (23%) have reviewed existing committee charters for human capital oversight.
- Nearly one-quarter of boards represented by respondents (23%) regularly discuss AI, although 93% say that their business will be impacted by the increased adoption of AI tools.
- Nearly one-third of respondents (30%) said ESG issues have increased in priority over the past year.
- More than one-quarter cited the absence of clear definition and scope as applied to their companies as the most challenging ESG oversight issue.
- Nearly one-quarter of boards represented by respondents (22%) have increased the frequency of their climate-related discussions over the past two years, but nearly 40% said that climate change is not a concern for their companies (37%).
- Respondents identified a lack of board time spent together outside of formal meetings (52%), absence of diverse perspectives (27%), lack of board turnover (21%), and problematic directors (21%), as among the most significant barriers to sustaining an effective board culture.
- Board culture-enhancing practices cited by respondents include having the right director in the board chair/lead director role (59%), a healthy board-management relationship (59%), ensuring diversity of thought, expertise, and experience (58%), and fostering an environment conducive to candid dialogue (55%).
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This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!