Sir Stephen: chairs too complacent on board performance

16 Nov 2012 News

Sir Stephen Bubb, chief executive of Acevo, has said charity chairs are “too relaxed” on board performance, as new figures suggest chief executives tend to be significantly more worried about board performance than their chairs.

Sir Stephen Bubb, chief executive of Acevo

Sir Stephen Bubb, chief executive of Acevo, has said charity chairs are “too relaxed” on board performance, as new figures suggest chief executives tend to be significantly more worried about board performance than their chairs.

Acevo quizzed 576 chief executives and 159 chairs on board performance and found only 47 per cent of chief executives were satisfied with the skill-set of the board compared with 57 per cent of chairs.

Further, chairs were more likely to be more satisfied with the experience and knowledge of boards (67 per cent versus 60 per cent of chief executives).

Sir Stephen (pictured) said: “Too many CEOs worry about the skills on their board, but don’t feel they have an active ally in their chairs when it comes to tackling the problem.

“There is too much complacency about board performance in parts of our sector, and chairs need to be at the forefront in tackling it, rather than relaxing while their chief executives worry. We need more chairs to talk to their chief executives about whether their boards are set up to succeed – and to act if they are surprised by the answer.”