Board reviews are crucial to ensuring organizations have strategic direction and the right leaders to keep them on course. 

However, evaluating board performance is complicated. It requires objective assessments, continuous monitoring, and skills audits while maintaining alignment with corporate goals and evolving market trends. It’s not just about box-ticking or tightening procedures; it’s about making sure the board is fit for the future.  

Leveraging the expertise of an executive advisory firm like Hanover is your organization’s key to streamlining board reviews, maximizing leadership and achieving strategic outcomes. 

The importance of regular board reviews  

The health and success of an organization hinges on regular board assessments. Without them, weaknesses persist, leading to poor decision-making, diminished leadership effectiveness and a failure to meet objectives. 

The importance of a board review lies in three key areas: 

•  Assessing board effectiveness by evaluating its performance against set benchmarks, identifying weaknesses and enabling targeted improvements 
• Improving leadership practices by measuring individual performance, addressing leadership gaps and recommending training or changes in board roles 
• Aligning the board’s composition and performance with strategic goals, ensuring there’s the right mix of competencies and perspectives 

Despite these clear benefits, board assessments are often underutilized. According to a PwC survey, 39% of directors say their boards made no changes after a review. Organizations should seek external board effectiveness reviews to hold themselves accountable and drive meaningful change. 

The role of executive advisory firms in board reviews  

Executive advisory firms like Hanover bring specialized expertise to board reviews. Possessing deep experience in helping boards leverage strengths, close development gaps and improve diversity, they provide fresh, unbiased recommendations that can be easily actioned.  

Hanover’s board effectiveness ‘blueprint’ is based on the work we’ve done across hundreds of organizations for thousands of leaders. Designed to be adaptable and pragmatic, it involves three levels:  

Build: Establishing strong foundations 

For organizations with new board members, optimizing board dynamics and operations is paramount. The “Build” phase includes an online survey to capture board members’ perceptions and dynamics, complemented by one-on-one conversations for deeper insights. 

Observing board meetings and providing feedback offers practical insights into real-time interactions and decision-making processes. This phase quickly assesses and improves the board’s basic functioning, ensuring new members integrate smoothly and effectively. 

Grow: Nurturing leadership skills  

The “Grow” phase includes all “Build” activities while also providing insight on individual board members’ skills and personalities using leadership development assessments and psychometric testing. One-on-one feedback furthers members’ insights into their impact on board dynamics, as well as personal strengths and gaps. 

A team insights session with the Chair fosters a comprehensive understanding of the board’s overall makeup and cognitive diversity. Optionally, organizations can include one-on-one coaching to address specific developmental needs, promoting individual and collective growth. 

Accelerate: Aligning skills with strategic goals 

The “Accelerate” phase combines the “Build and Grow” work with a deep dive into the board’s technical skills, experience and behaviors in the context of the organization’s strategic goals and business plan. Observing sub-committee meetings also provides detailed feedback on specific areas of the board’s work. 

By aligning board members’ skills and behaviors with strategic objectives, “Accelerate” ensures the board is not only operationally and dynamically effective but also strategically positioned to drive the organization forward. 

Enhancing board diversity  

Diversity is important at every level of an organization. McKinsey shows that companies with diverse boards excel financially; those in the top quartile for board-gender diversity are 27% more likely, and for ethnic diversity, 13% more likely to outperform those in the bottom quartile. 

Executive advisory firms know how to build diverse boards. Hanover’s work goes beyond demographic factors to include cognitive diversities, like the different experiences, ways of thinking and problem-solving processes among members.  

Incorporating cognitive diversity into board composition prevents groupthink, encourages innovative solutions and ensures that complex problems are approached from multiple angles. By understanding cognitive differences, boards can better leverage the unique strengths and perspectives of each member, leading to more balanced, inclusive and effective decisions.

Creating actionable insights from board reviews  

A board assessment is only as effective as its results. Unfortunately, many directors lose their sense of urgency once the review is over.  

One of the key advantages of partnering with an executive advisory firm is that they hold boards accountable. They don’t just streamline the process – they make sure it counts for something.  

Hanover does this by: 

•  Translating findings into clear, actionable plans that support tangible improvements. This involves outlining specific steps and strategies to address key issues, ensuring that recommendations are practical and tailored to the organization’s unique context 
• Setting measurable goals, e.g. increasing board diversity or enhancing meeting efficiency by X% within a given period. This provides benchmarks for success and enables continuous evaluation, making it easier to assess the impact of changes 
• Plugging leadership gaps by finding new talent is a key offering of firms like Hanover, which can leverage their extensive networks in the executive search sector to source active and passive candidates whose skills, experiences and cognitive patterns align with the board’s strategic needs and fill any diversity gaps  
• Providing ongoing support through follow-up workshops, maintaining momentum after the review process. These address emerging challenges, reinforce key learning and help boards adapt strategies as necessary, ensuring sustained board effectiveness 

Long-term benefits of board reviews  

Conducting regular board reviews produces significant long-term benefits:  

• It contributes to sustained organizational success by ensuring that the board remains aligned with the company’s strategic vision and responsive to market changes 
• Regular board assessments improve leadership and strategic alignment, driving better decision-making and enhanced corporate governance 
• A proactive approach to board of directors evaluations pre-empts potential issues, minimizing risks and fostering a culture of continuous improvement 
• It encourages collaboration and reduces friction among directors, demonstrating a culture of respect and good governance that trickles down the entire organization 
• Board evaluations promote transparency and accountability, cultivating a sense of trust among stakeholders  

Executive advisory firms become trusted partners here. With an objective party running the process, organizations gain a no-holds-barred picture of how their board is running, enabling them to make changes that land with impact.  

Partner with Hanover for comprehensive board reviews  

Investing in regular board reviews isn’t just about compliance; it’s a strategic move toward achieving excellence in corporate governance and leadership. 

Partnering with Hanover is your road to achieving this. For more information on how we can help you, contact us.