Board Consulting

Egon Zehnder International has a dedicated practice specializing in Board Consulting. The Group focuses its efforts on the highest level of an organization and works in a collaborative manner with the chairman of the board and its members. Typical activities include reviewing overall Board performance or appraising individual board member contributions to recruiting directors whose independence, intellect, integrity and courage will strengthen the board and create sustained competitive advantage.

Egon Zehnder International identifies those critical competencies required of the board as a whole, as well as its individual members, that will enable it to graduate from the traditional role of “oversight” to the more valuable role of “contribution”. An effective board comprised of the right people, focusing on the right issues, and working in an environment of dialogue, not monologue, is a high-value corporate asset. We aim to ensure that the board has a balanced perspective and that the collective wisdom of the directors is unleashed and utilized for the benefit of the company’s shareholders.

Our approach to Board Consulting acknowledges the wave of change in corporate governance norms which has taken place around the world in recent years. While the plethora of new codes of behaviour may have been justified by the poor or fraudulent actions of some we argue that they are necessary but not sufficient. Only a group of diverse and outstanding individuals combining to form an exceptional team will achieve sustained effectiveness in the board room.

Egon Zehnder International clients range in scale from start-ups, to privately-held family firms, and to the world’s largest corporations. Typical engagements include:

• Building a board from scratch at the stage of an initial public offering.
• Appraising and restructuring an existing board.
• Reviewing a board’s performance and that of its committees, and refreshing the review annually
• Internationalizing an existing board.
• Assisting a family firm with the appointment of independent directors.
• Creating a strategic advisory board.
• Advising on appropriate corporate governance practices.
• Advising on appropriate remuneration levels and structures.

Our global partnership structure, and single-profit center approach, ensure that our clients receive the full benefit of the decades of knowledge and contacts that our consultants have built up over their careers with our firm. Whether an engagement’s scope is local, national, regional, or global, our consultants provide salient and pertinent counsel. Our knowledge, contacts, and efforts result in an outstanding board of directors.