Too many board members around for too long, says advisory firm.

Friday 26 November, 2021

Advisory firm Board Dynamics says demand for governance expertise has doubled over the past 12 months in the wake of the changes brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Its managing director Henri Eliot said it was time for many companies to have a refresh.

"I think we've had too many board members who have been around the board for too long, in some cases over 10 years. It's time for the next generation.

"And also a lot of shareholders are looking at their boards and thinking the changing face of New Zealand, [they] want to see more diversity of thought around the board'.

"Diversity of thought is not only the skillsets of experience, passion and attitude, [it's] as well as ethnicity, gender and age."

Eliot said companies need board members who bring in new skills that current directors don't have due to age.

He said a lot of directors aren't able to notice key things around sustainability and being a purpose driven organisation.

"They're out of touch with how technology has enabled new companies to prosper. If you look at a lot of the companies today, they didn't exist 30 or 40 years ago."

Eliot said governance was no longer viewed as a retirement gig, with many board members starting in their 40s as opposed to their 50s and 60s.