"Board composition: The road to strategic refreshment and succession" from PwC and Spencer Stuart provides a brag-worthy framework for board refreshment and succession planning that reflects a strategic, well-considered process in lieu of a reactive, ad-hoc approach to a critical and increasingly scrutinized board responsibility.
Suggested action items include:
- Making board refreshment & succession planning a regular topic on the annual board agenda
- Conducting skills and attributes assessment gaps
- Using director evaluations to inform the board refreshment process (as illustrated below):
- Creating a waterfall chart to better map, understand and plan for director departures and leadership changes over the longer-term to support a multiple year succession plan
The primer includes a sample board composition matrix (with gender and racial diversity attributes, as well as traditional areas of expertise), the most common lead/presiding director and key committee chair backgrounds, and board diversity and tenure proxy voting guidelines for BlackRock, Nuveen, CalPERS, CalSTRS, ISS, and Glass Lewis.
Access additional resources on our Board Recruitment & Succession/Refreshment page. This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!