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Skip to main contentAs a board member, you already know that having the right CEO in place is crucial to your business. But how do you find that CEO in the first place? By being strategic with your succession planning and implementing a dedicated team—known as a CEO search committee—when it’s time to appoint your next executive leader.
This small, dedicated team—typically made up of board members and employees, and sometimes external industry or HR advisors—helps steer the process so that you can identify, review, and evaluate candidates in the most comprehensive and effective way possible.
Working with executive search professionals, as well as the company board, the search committee does everything from drafting timelines to reaching out to potential candidates and conducting multi-stage interviews.
By using a search committee, you’re ensuring that your executive appointment process is being conducted in the most thorough and equitable way. But who exactly should be on your CEO search committee—and what does it take to make it successful? We dive into these questions below.
Your team will only be as effective as the people you put on it. When setting up a CEO search committee, start by picking members who understand deeply what being a CEO involves. And who understands that better than people who have been CEOs themselves?
“Having former CEOs on the search committee provides a unique perspective on the demands and complexities of the role,” says Jane Edison Stevenson, Vice Chair of Board & CEO Services at Korn Ferry.
“Their experience helps the board focus not just on impressive resumes during the CEO selection process, but on finding the right leadership qualities to handle the organization's specific challenges and opportunities.”
Chances are, anyone you’re considering for inclusion on the search committee will be richly experienced and higher-profile within their sector—which means they probably already have a lot of demands on their time. But finding a new CEO is a complex process that takes commitment and effort from everyone involved. So, while experience is important, capacity is, too. Nobody wants the process to drag on longer than is necessary.
Just how long do CEO searches take? It’s common for a CEO search to span four to six months, or even longer. During this time, committee members will typically need to spend one to two hours each week meeting with the wider team or conducting other work for the search. When it’s time to hold interviews, they should expect to commit one or two entire days to speaking with candidates.
Your appointed search committee chair will need even more time than that—roughly an additional hour each week on activities like planning and engagement.
A recent Korn Ferry survey of board members found that 81% think diversity leads to better boards. The same principle applies to CEO search committees, which should reflect a diversity of skills, experiences, and opinions that allow prospective hires to be evaluated from all angles.
“Just like having a diverse workforce, a CEO search committee should also be diverse,” says Tierney Remick, Vice Chair of Board & CEO Services at Korn Ferry. “This means having members with CEO experience, knowledge of the succession planning process, and varied experiences with your business, products, and services, as well as different genders and ethnicities.”
A varied committee also signals to prospective candidates that your organization values diversity. This will encourage the best quality talent to come forward for consideration. It’s possible that strong potential leaders from underrepresented backgrounds might hesitate to consider a role if they don't see themselves reflected in the hiring team.
Committee members need to have a strong understanding of the industry in which their organization operates. Such knowledge helps them more easily identify candidates who are familiar with market trends, regulatory issues, and growth opportunities in that sector.
Search committee participants should also clearly understand the company’s goals and culture. This way, they can identify candidates who not only have the right skills and experience but also align with the organization’s vision, mission, and values.
Good impressions count. Choose committee members who are ready to be ambassadors for your organization at all times, not just during official search committee proceedings. Remember that while your team members may be there to assess CEO candidates, those candidates will also be evaluating your company. The search committee may be the first, and perhaps the only, contact candidates will have with your organization and will play a strong part in forming their opinions on suitability.
“Great candidates will want to engage with the committee, so you need to consider whether members will encourage this dialogue and welcome questions,” says Divina Gamble, Managing Partner and a member of Korn Ferry’s Board & CEO practice. “Choose members who are willing to spend time recruiting candidates, not just interviewing them.”
The more experts on your committee, the better, right? Not necessarily. The ideal committee size is three to seven members, as this allows for decisive action and helps keep the process confidential. Small teams can also avoid the administrative pitfalls that come with bigger groups (for example, difficulty scheduling meeting times that work for everyone).
Keep in mind that a committee comprised of an odd number of members makes decision-making easier, since votes can’t result in deadlock.
Once assembled, a CEO search committee needs to become a real team. Each member brings their own expertise and perspectives; but engaging, listening, and reaching a group agreement is crucial for success—and it’s the board’s job to help ensure that happens.
“Encouraging open dialogue, active participation from all members, and collective decision-making fosters collaboration,” says Kate Shattuck, Managing Partner and Co-Leader of Korn Ferry’s ESG & Sustainability practice. “This leads to more well-rounded evaluations of potential candidates and, ultimately, a better hiring decision.”
Finding a new CEO requires dedication, commitment, and teamwork from the board, search committee, and executive search professionals. Getting it right is crucial. But once you’ve appointed the right CEO, how do you ensure their long-term success?
Read our guide to discover the leadership traits that contribute to a long-lasting CEO and what you can do to improve CEO tenure in your organization today.
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