CEO succession planning continues to not be a priority that boards act on. Our work has long shown us that was the case, but we were still surprised at how few CEOs and board members said in a 2024 survey that it “is a top priority and treated as such”—only 28%.¹

Our new survey found the same: Forty percent of respondents to our most recent survey say that CEO succession planning isn’t a priority at all. Most often, these directors just see a current CEO in place and look toward other, more pressing, concerns—either because they don’t expect their CEO to leave anytime soon or because the CEO is new to the role. A quarter say that CEO succession isn’t important for the board given their ownership structure.

These companies are rarely publicly traded.

Reference

¹ See Jeremy Hanson, “CEO and board confidence monitor: Beating the succession planning paradox,” Heidrick & Struggles, October 30, 2024, heidrick.com.