Resource Library Insights

Following an extensive internal diagnostic, companies can focus on key HCM areas including, but not limited to, performance management; succession planning; diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I); and culture.

Organizations that lead in DE&I devote meaningful energy from a strategic perspective by aligning DE&I with business strategy, dedicating sufficient resources, and emphasizing accountability.

While we don't anticipate immediate clarity on these questions, we see this as an opportunity for companies to reflect on their DE&I policies, practices, and metrics to ensure they align with business and communication strategies.

The absence or misalignment of well-executed DE&I initiatives can introduce unintended challenges, potentially derailing the achievement of objectives.

It’s only natural for boards to worry about retention in CEO transitions, whether hiring from inside or outside. When making retention award decisions, boards should consider the following.

Boards have a growing interest in special equity awards to fend off recruiters and partially compensate executives for target pay that was not fully realized. Are special awards a good solution?

As with other operational or strategic metrics, adding ESG metrics to incentive plans can be a signal of importance and a sign of commitment.

The most critical choice the board makes is selecting the CEO. All boards have strategies that the current management team has developed. A different standpoint on strategy, in turn, may require a different kind of leader. 

We recommend boards and directors ask these questions to help understand their role in process oversight, emergency planning, transition dynamics, and more.

Recognizing both the shrinking of leaders’ tenures and the shifting skill sets needed for future success, many boards are now making succession planning a continual process.

Nearly 30 percent of companies in the S&P 500 used a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) metric in executive incentive design last year, and a quarter of these businesses did so for the first time, although metrics focus on representation only, easily achieved goals disconnect from long-term aspirations, and metric definitions are not stress tested.

Boards are now broadening their oversight to capitalize on the criticality of more diverse, equitable and inclusive organizations—and strong organizational culture.

Third article of a three-part series focused on how companies can implement the foundational steps of board-level ESG oversight.