CEO is the position that most commonly features in corporate succession plans, according to our research: 80 percent of respondents say the chief executive is covered, followed by other NEOs (67 percent), senior management (60 percent) and board members (53 percent).
Almost three quarters (72 percent) of respondents at mega-cap companies say board members are included in succession plans, compared with half of those at small and mid-cap companies and 48 percent of those at large caps.
Fifty-two percent and 56 percent of those at small and mid-cap companies, respectively, say senior management is covered by succession planning. By contrast, 68 percent and 66 percent of respondents at large and mega-cap companies, respectively, say the same.
Just over half (52 percent) of respondents at small-cap companies report that other NEOs are covered by succession plans, compared with 72 percent, 75 percent and 80 percent of those at mega-caps, large caps and mid-caps, respectively.
A higher percentage of respondents in North America (87 percent) say their CEO is included in succession planning than do those in Europe (70 percent). A majority (61 percent) of respondents in Europe say their succession planning includes board members, while less than half (48 percent) of those in North America say the same.
The most frequently cited element of succession plans for board members is skills requirements, which is mentioned by 82 percent of respondents.
Almost three quarters (73 percent) of respondents say the plans include DE&I considerations, followed by job description (50 percent), timeline (47 percent), names of preferred candidates (39 percent), onboarding process (36 percent) and code of conduct (30 percent).
Eighty-three percent of respondents in Europe say DE&I considerations are included in their succession plans, compared with 71 percent of those in North America. Almost half (44 percent) of those in North America include preferred candidates' names, compared with around a third (34 percent) of those in Europe.
More than half (53 percent) of respondents in North America include a timeline, while just four in 10 (40 percent) of those in Europe do so.
Perhaps due to greater public and investor scrutiny, almost all respondents at mega-cap companies (96 percent) say they include DE&I considerations, compared with just 60 percent of those at small caps.
A greater proportion of respondents at larger firms say their plans include board skills requirements. The figure increases from 76 percent and 77 percent among those at small and mid-cap companies, respectively, to 85 percent and 100 percent among those at large and mega-cap firms, respectively. Sixty percent of respondents at small caps say they include a job description, almost twice as many as do so at large caps (31 percent).
