Spencer Stuart's annual survey of Nominating/Governance Committee chairs revealed these noteworthy results based on the input of 107 S&P 500 and MidCap 400 participating chairs.
Priorities
- Nearly on par with last year’s survey, 65% of respondents identified ESG oversight as among their top five priorities. Other top priorities include CEO succession (46%), board composition and board diversity (each at 37%), and board performance/effectiveness (34%).
Board performance
- Up a few percentage points from last year’s survey but down from 35% the year before, 22% of respondents reported their board having one or more underperforming or non-value-add directors.
- 85% of respondents indicated that the board conducts individual director evaluations. Individual director evaluations, full board evaluations, and board committee evaluations are most commonly conducted by the lead director or board chair, as shown here:
Recruiting and refreshment
- The top three board composition priorities are developing a boardroom succession strategy (58%); enhancing racial/ethnic diversity (54%); and enhancing gender diversity (24%).
- The top three drivers of board refreshment are adding new skills to the board (66%); enhancing racial/ethnic diversity (44%): and replacing retiring director(s) due to mandatory retirement or term limits (43%).
- The top five director recruiting priorities are tech experience (38%); individuals from underrepresented groups (34%); individuals with global perspective/experience (46%); active CEO/COO (25%): and retired CEO/COO and financial experience (21%).
Access additional resources on our Nominating/Governance Committees page.
This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!