How CEOs Can Make the Most of Independent Board Members

Last week, we assembled a group of Independent Board Members as part of SBI’s executive advisory board program. We focused on how these leaders are partnering with CEOs and their leadership teams in 2022, where they would like to see greater focus from the executive teams with which they partner, and how they’re helping their companies navigate the Great Resignation.

See below for excerpts from this dynamic, roundtable-style session.

Theme 1: The CEO Growth Agenda

During our initial conversation, SBI introduced our Q4 research, which centered on the four top risks facing CEOs for 2022:

1. Unrealistic assumptions around talent acquisition and retention
2. Disproportionate budget allocation to “feet on the street”
3. CX initiatives that are lip service only
4. Too much agility

Board members largely agreed that these risks continue to present among the teams they work with and added two more: security and sustainability.

Several Board members noted that executive teams often turn to investment in “feet on the street” as an immediate fix to drive results quickly, whereas a productivity focus would generate more reliable, long-term growth. SBI’s 2021 research on the topic supported this idea: proportionally, high-growth companies reported greater focus on productivity levers such as sales enablement and digital selling, while their mid- and low-growth peers prioritized investment in a greater number of quota-carrying sellers.

Theme 2: Helping CEOs Use Board Input with More Impact

One attendee shared that Independent Board Members have one mandate: making the executive team as strong as possible. They also explored several key imperatives for Board members related to the shift from operator to influencer:

1. Share detailed perspective on the ‘why’ behind key recommendations. The context improves CEO confidence and willingness to follow through.
2. Get involved immediately after a first investment. Provide a clear picture of your role, your background, and where / how the CEO might leverage the Board.
3. Ultimately, let the CEO figure out how to put the Board to work. Valuable work occurs outside of board meetings, but CEOs must identify where and how they think they can benefit from independent directors.

The group also spent time discussing the differences between first-time and veteran CEOs. Overwhelmingly, participants found tenured CEOs much easier to work with and noted that first-time CEOs don’t often know how to use boards effectively, limiting the potential impact they can have across the organization.

Theme 3: Accelerating Growth by Retaining Top Talent

Finally, the group discussed the impact of the Great Resignation on their companies and where CEOs should get involved in response to some new SBI data on seller retention.

As the group compared attrition rates, one independent director suggested that even as the pace of resignations slows, companies will see a new fluidity in the market due to pandemic-induced changes to how work gets done. Another attendee believed that the shift toward automation has accelerated the rate of departures in Sales. With more automation and analytics, sellers must show exceptional evolution to advance; many begin job seeking instead.

The group landed on several key conclusions for CEOs and their teams:

• Executive trust is a crucial driver of seller retention. CROs must equip their CEO and other key leaders to engage in regular conversation with sellers.
• Sellers value the next five years more than the pay day today; to stay, they require a clear view of the organization’s growth strategy, path to get there, and what it means for them individually.
• SalesTech can’t replace the universities, skill development, and robust onboarding programs of the past. Companies must reengineer these programs to complement the technology they’ve introduced in the name of sales productivity.
• Traditional engagement surveys and listening tools don’t provide the full picture. CEOs should encourage their leaders to identify what really motivates their individual teams and the roles that comprise them, rather than looking at company-level data.

To learn more about SBI Executive Programs, click here.