Boardroom Metrics provides confidential, objective CEO Evaluation support to Boards of Directors in Toronto and across North America.

Performance management of the CEO is a key Board role. Typically, the CEO is the only employee reporting to the Board. By assessing the CEO’s performance, Board’s identify opportunities for improving CEO performance including the direction and support they provide the CEO.  When there are concerns about a CEO’s performance, the objective feedback provided through an externally lead process can be very helpful.

The Benefits of an Externally-Lead CEO Evaluation process

 These are the benefits of an externally lead process:

  1. Objectivity and confidentiality

    For many Boards, objectivity and confidentiality are the greatest benefits of an externally lead process. When confidentiality is ensured, quality of feedback increases. With objectivity, there is greater confidence in the results by the CEO, the Board and by other stakeholders.

  2. Tools to evaluate the CEO

    Boardroom Metrics has the assessment tools and processes required to evaluate the CEO. Customizing each is important, but not nearly as time consuming as starting from scratch.

  3. Expertise to evaluate the CEO

    Boardroom Metrics has been working the Boards and CEO’s on performance for over twenty years. In fact, Jim Crocker, who leads the CEO Evaluation Consulting Practice for Boardroom Metrics is both a long-time governance expert and an ex-CEO of several public and private organizations. Jim’s ability to relate to both the Board and CEO sensitivities around CEO assessments is unique and often helpful to the Board and CEO.

The Boardroom Metrics CEO Evaluation Process

There are three key elements of the Boardroom Metrics CEO Evaluation process:

  1. Written assessment of the CEO’s performance. (Also available: results tabulation only).

Directors, the Leadership Team and others (eg, partners) rate the CEO against key accountabilities of the CEO role. They also provide written comments. The CEO’s accountabilities will vary to some degree depending on the organization. Boardroom Metrics works with the Board and the CEO to ensure that the accountabilities being assessed are relevant and meaningful. One of the greatest complaints CEO’s have about assessments of their performance is when the Board evaluates accountabilities that are not perceived as relevant.

  1. Select interviews with Board, Leadership Team and others

Interviews with select respondents provide an extra layer of detail and understanding around the assessment. Typically, the Board and CEO determine who will be interviewed. The CEO is also interviewed. Interviews take approximately half an hour and follow a standard interview format.

  1. Reporting of CEO evaluation results.

Once the written assessments and the interviews are complete, the Boardroom Metrics Consultant prepares a draft report for the Board Chair (and/or relevant Committee Chair) to review. Based on this draft, additional work is completed as necessary or the report is finalized and presented to the Board. In this report the Consultant shares the results and interprets key patterns emerging from the ratings, comments and interviews. Typically, the Consultant working with the Board or Committee Chair will make recommendations on opportunities for improving CEO performance. For many Boards, the development of a detailed CEO performance plan is the final step of the process.

CEO Evaluation Process Timing

A comprehensive CEO evaluation can be completed in as little as six weeks provided surveys are completed on time and interviews happen as scheduled. Typically, the process takes two to three months.

For more information on Boardroom Metrics CEO evaluation services, please email [email protected] or call 416-994-6552.