- 81% of US CEOs and board directors surveyed support direct
engagement with employees beyond senior management.
- 70% of US CEOs and board directors surveyed say there has
been increased operational involvement from the board.
- 33% of directors surveyed have increased their reliance on
external experts to manage risk, with 30% adding specialized
experts directly to their boards.
CHICAGO, May 20, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- Today, Heidrick & Struggles (Nasdaq: HSII), a
premier provider of global leadership advisory and on-demand talent
solutions, released its Board Monitor US 2024. The report unveils
critical trends reshaping US board priorities, notably the growing
influence of the workforce. 50% of respondents in the US say the
broader workforce has somewhat or significantly more influence on
the board's agenda and decision-making than they did before
Covid.
"Integrating employees' perspectives into business decisions
gives organizations a competitive advantage," said Bonnie Gwin, Vice Chair, and Co-Managing Partner
of the firm's global CEO and Board of Directors Practice. "While
the CEO and leadership team remains a primary contributor to the
board agenda, the acceleration of workforce influence is a
transformative shift."
Key findings from Board Monitor US 2024 include:
- Workforce influence is on the rise: When evaluating the
rising impact of stakeholders in the board room, the broader
workforce ranked second (50%), close behind the CEO and leadership
team (55%). Interestingly, a relatively low number of US
respondents report increased influence from mainstream investors
(19%) or from activist investors (9%).
- Support for proactive workforce engagement: An
overwhelming 81% of US respondents support direct engagement with
employees beyond senior management. While US directors support
increased workforce engagement, they are less likely than many of
their global counterparts to favor the use of employee advisory
committees that report to the board, or employee representation on
the board itself. Among these:
- 37% prefer management-run third-party surveys, suggesting
comfort with continued indirect employee engagement.
- 27% prefer meeting with small groups of employees without
management present, indicating an openness to understanding
workforce issues beyond traditional reporting.
- The elevated role of the board in operations: The
survey revealed that more than ever before, boards are playing an
increasing role in operations. In the US, 70% of respondents say
boards are more operationally involved. While there a number of
potential reasons for increased involvement, overall, board members
around the globe want to learn more about operations than regular
reporting allows (47%) and board members also have specialized
knowledge the executive team doesn't (39%). Interestingly,
directors (54%) were much more likely than CEOs (34%) to report
this specialized knowledge as the reason boards are more
operationally involved.
- Increasing reliance on external expertise to navigate
today's reality: In a widening risk environment, boards are
increasingly looking to novel and external sources of expertise.
30% of respondents report adding specialized experts to the board
itself. Beyond that, 19% are establishing advisory committees and
15% are hiring independent experts separate from those advising
management.
- Directors are increasingly concerned about workforce
attraction and retention: Not surprisingly, as workforce
influence grows globally, boards are focused on workforce
attraction and retention, which directors flag as their third
highest concern (behind geopolitical and economic volatility and
uncertainty) according to a January
2024 Heidrick study. In the same survey, directors report a
relatively low level of confidence in the company's ability to
manage the issue."
"More is expected of directors today — they are expanding
their capacity to govern in this environment through novel
approaches to building expertise and stakeholder engagement," said
Jeffrey Sanders, Vice Chair, and
Co-Managing Partner of the global CEO and Board of Directors
Practice at Heidrick & Struggles. "Virtually every stakeholder
group is demanding more access to the board, making governance more
complex, and high impact boards are responding well."
About Heidrick & Struggles
Heidrick & Struggles (Nasdaq: HSII) is a premier provider of
global leadership advisory and on-demand talent solutions, serving
the senior-level talent and consulting needs of the world's top
organizations. In our role as trusted leadership advisors, we
partner with our clients to develop future-ready leaders and
organizations, bringing together our services and offerings in
executive search, diversity and inclusion, leadership assessment
and development, organization and team acceleration, culture
shaping and on-demand, independent talent solutions. Heidrick &
Struggles pioneered the profession of executive search more than 70
years ago. Today, the firm provides integrated talent and human
capital solutions to help our clients change the world, one
leadership team at a time.® www.heidrick.com
Media Contact
Bianca Wilson
Director, Public Relations, Americas
Heidrick & Struggles
bwilson@heidrick.com
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