This is an excellent Board Source article by Don Tebbe…………….
Selecting the chief executive is one of the board’s most important responsibilities. With the right person in the position, the organization will be better equipped to succeed. In order for the board to choose wisely, it should follow a responsible search process. Appropriately involving the staff in that process is important. Staff can provide an internal view of the organization’s daily needs that may not be clearly known by the board and that should be taken into consideration by the board.
As the board plans the transition process, it needs to discuss and decide how and when to involve the staff. The board should start the search process with a clear consensus on the organization’s nature and current circumstances and its strategic and most pressing priorities and goals — in other words, with a clear understanding of what the priorities are and what the board expects a new chief executive to achieve.
This would be a perfect place in the search process for the board to involve the staff. On behalf of the board, the board chair should consider meeting with the staff to discuss the transition process and to solicit its feedback. Because some staff members may feel more comfortable sharing their opinions privately, the board chair might offer to receive e-mails. Another place in the search process to involve staff is the interviewing stage. The board could invite a few key staff members who report to the chief executive to meet the leading candidates for the position and provide the search committee with their impressions.
Board leaders also should remain open to the idea of identifying, developing, and promoting promising talent from within — and even encourage it to provide a wider pool of candidates. When considering internal candidates, the board should exercise great care, however. It needs to recognize and honor the candidates’ commitment to the organization not by granting them special consideration but by treating them seriously and with utmost respect.
Although a search committee takes the lead in the search for a new chief executive, it should keep the full board, as well as the staff, well informed as the search proceeds. Both board and staff members will be asked by stakeholders and the public about the search; they should speak with one unified voice concerning any details that may be made public. Certainly, the board must maintain confidentiality and be sensitive concerning who has applied or is being considered.
Although the board is ultimately responsible for selecting and hiring a new chief executive, it would be remiss in not engaging the expertise and experience of the staff during the search process.
