HR succession strategies questioned, as boards struggle to take right steps to find next CEO. The CEO’s departure is, sooner or later, inevitable—but is HR really prepared for it?
CEOs are turning over at a rate of 10-15% per year. From jumping to another firm to resigning due to poor health or poor performance, or just retiring—HR would be expected to be well-prepared for CEO succession. But governance experts from Stanford and The Miles Group have found a number of broad misunderstandings about CEO transitions and examine how ready the board and HR really are for this major change.
The selection of the CEO is the single most important decision a board of directors can make, but turmoil around these decisions at the top have called into question the reliability of the process that companies use to identify and develop future leaders. David Larcker and Brian Tayan of the Corporate Governance Research Initiative at the Stanford Graduate School of Business; and Stephen Miles of The Miles Group now share their insight on the seven myths that commonly pervade CEO succession strategies.
7 myths of CEO succession
Myth #1: Companies know who the next CEO will be
The longer the succession period from one CEO to the next, the worse the company will perform relative to its peers, but, shockingly, nearly 40% of companies claim they have no viable internal candidate available to immediately fill the shoes of the CEO if he or she left tomorrow.
Myth #2: There is one best model for succession
There are several different paths companies can take to naming a successor—including internal and external approaches. One reason companies fall short at succession planning is that they often select the wrong model for their current situation. A company may need an external recruit to lead a turnaround, for instance, or may have the capability to groom multiple internal executives over a period of time to allow the most promising one to shine through. One size does not fit all.
Myth #3: The CEO should pick a successor
Sitting CEOs have a vested interest in the current strategy of a company and its continuance, and they may have ‘favorites’ they want to see follow them. Boards, however, must determine the future needs of the company, and what kind of successor will best match the direction the company is headed.
Myth #4: Succession is primarily a ‘risk management’ issue
While a failure to plan adequately certainly exposes an organization to downside risk, boards should understand that succession planning is primarily about building shareholder value. Succession planning is as much success-oriented as it is risk-oriented.
Myth #5: Boards know how to evaluate CEO talent
According to the 2013 Survey on CEO Performance Evaluations conducted by the Center for Leadership Development and Research at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and The Miles Group, CEO performance evaluations place too much weight on financial performance, and not enough on other more critical metrics. This means boards are placing great emphasis on accounting, operating, and stock price results, while not enough weight is being placed on nonfinancial metrics including employee satisfaction, customer service, innovation and talent development that have proven correlation with the long-term success of organisations.
Myth #6: Boards prefer internal candidates
While, ultimately, three quarters of newly appointed CEOs are internal executives, external candidates still hold a strong appeal for boards – especially at the start of a search. Often boards aren’t given enough exposure to internal candidates, and directors are often nervous about giving an ‘untested’ executive the full reins of a company. There is a still-prevalent bias against promoting the insider ‘junior executive’ to the top spot one day. So, while the ‘myth’ may end up mostly true in the end, there is often a long journey of getting the board to that decision.
Myth #7: Boards want a female or minority CEO
Diversity ranks high on the list of attributes that board members formally look for in CEO candidates, and yet female and ethnic minorities continue to have low representation among actual CEOs. We continue to see that boards select CEOs with leadership styles they perceive to be similar to their own, and the fact is that boards today are still highly non-diverse when it comes to gender and ethnic backgrounds.
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
