Assessing your succession plans
Respondents were asked how confident they are that their board’s succession plans are effective, using a scale where one is ‘not at all confident’ and five is ‘extremely confident’. Overall, responses tend toward confidence with an average score of 3.4. Respondents at mega-cap companies have, on average, higher levels of confidence in their board’s succession plans (3.9) than those at large caps (3.3), mid-caps (3.2) and small caps (3.3).
Breaking these figures out, half of all respondents say they are very or extremely confident that their board’s succession plans are effective. Just 20 percent are slightly or not at all confident. Among those at mega-cap companies, almost two thirds (65 percent) are very or extremely confident in their board’s planning, compared with less than half (45 percent) of those at small caps.
More than half (53 percent) of respondents in North America say they are very or extremely confident, while just 45 percent of those in Europe express the same sentiments.
Room for improvement Respondents were asked how they would like to improve their board’s succession plans and processes. Their responses include:
