Not surprisingly, strategy, compensation and succession planning continue to be the foremost topics on the minds of board members today.
Given the current state of the global economy, many companies are evaluating their options for both retrenchment and strategic growth. Accordingly, now is a great time to take a critical look at the makeup of your board and evaluate whether you have the right combination of skills represented. Do your directors have real experience digging into issues such as strategy, compensation, and succession planning? Times like these highlight both the risk averse and those with the courage to step up and chart a course to the future.
Whether you are a small cap or a Fortune 100 company, board evaluation is of paramount importance. And, it is a task that must be done on a consistent and continual basis. A disciplined, rigorous assessment and review of your board makes it possible to identify areas where improvement is needed and ensure it has the experience to not only tackle issues of compliance, but of long-term strategy as well.
The best directors enrich their board with the perspective of someone who has faced some of the same problems the company may face in the future. In tough times it is often hard to think past tomorrow let alone what the long-term goals should be for the company. Challenge yourself and your board and let us know how you are doing. We’d love to hear.