CEO Succession Planning and Execution

Many experienced directors and governance experts believe that hiring and firing the CEO is the board’s most important function. Despite this core belief, few companies seem to get the process of CEO succession planning and execution right. Moreover, little attention has been paid to the size and quality of the CEO market and how this talent market influences performance evaluation, compensation, succession planning, and talent development within an organization. This session will review strategies that boards can adopt to help ensure that they know when it is time to look for a new CEO and will offer advice about conducting an efficient and intelligent search in light of data suggesting that the labor market for outstanding CEO talent is significantly tighter and more competitive than most experts realize. The panel will also explore the practical strategies for succession planning and execution, including practices for growing internal CEO succession candidates, the importance of focusing on the development of the full executive team, the merits of giving preference to internal candidates over outside hires, and related issues, and the ongoing efforts needed to help ensure the success of the newly placed CEO.