Spotlight on 'Chief Executive Performance Committees'
As a Chief Executive facing your Performance Committee, does it feel like you are getting called to the Principal's Office?
Just the very name of these Committees probably tells you a lot about how they see their role. Is it a CEO 'Performance' committee, or a 'People & Culture' committee, a 'Remuneration' committee or just a vanilla 'CEO Committee.' There is a truth that what we choose to measure will be what our Chief Executives prioritise and do. That is both good and bad. It is just as good or bad as the development of their KPIs.
Committees are NOT there to administrate process. They are in place for a lot more than that. We want these committees to be thought leaders for their organisation over the development of their Chief Executives into excellent leaders who are locked-in and highly motivated. We want the committee to think about the frameworks of success and how these are worked through the Chief Executive and their organisation. We want the committees to toss out old, outdated KPI approaches that have not stopped the high-profile failures across sectors. We are calling for much more thought into these critical committees.
At Tribe Leadership Executive Search I have had a look at the terms of reference (ToR) for a lot of Chief Executive Performance Committees recently. In my consulting role I'm developing about three new Committees for organisations at the moment and so I'm doing a lot of work into it. There are tons of exemplars of ToR online to cut 'n' paste a new name into. If you do this, I don't think enough thought is being put into what you are trying to do with the Chief Executive. A lot of the ToR are heavy on performance monitoring and silent on professional development of the Chief Executive. That's a mistake.
If you want to manage a Chief Executive well, there is a need for the Chief Executive Performance Committee to balance monitoring and motivation of the Chief Executive. Many of the ToR documents make a reference to Good Employer obligations under Law and that's it, really. It is hardly motivating. There is almost nothing about professional development. The counter argument might be that "training is a part of total remuneration" in their IEA. I can't tell you how cynical I feel about treating staff training as some kind of 'benefit'. It is not. Chief Executive professional development is as necessary to them as any other staff member. It is 'tools of the trade', not a benefit. Equally if your Chief Executive asks the Performance Committee to go to a conference to spend their training allowance, I am equally as cynical. It is the role of the Chief Executive Performance Committee to understand the development needs of their Chief Executive and ensure they are being trained into their actual needs.
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You may have read my articles on Chief Executive KPIs and the approach to rebalancing 'how' the KPIs are achieved with the traditional 'what' is done. When we concentrate on the 'how' we end up with Chief Executives and their staff taking a longer-term sustainable approach to KPIs. It is the role of the Chief Executive Performance Committee to invest significant time into the development of a KPI framework that is well-balanced and focussed on the few things that lead to success in the organisation.
I think you should review your Chief Executive Performance Committee, and who is advising it. To finish, here are My-4 on the review of your Chief Executive Performance Committee:
I am developing all these frameworks at the moment in national, regional and local organisations. Feel free to pick up the phone to me on 027-4446368 or email me at, [email protected]
Comments on my articles always welcomed.