The GNDI Future of Board Governance Report 2023

It is critical that global leaders around board tables collaborate to advance our understanding of how better boardroom performance can drive better organisational performance and create better outcomes for our stakeholders.

The GNDI Future of Board Governance Report 2022-2023 is a must-read for any director who wants to ensure that their board is prepared for the challenges of tomorrow.

The report provides valuable insights into views on business confidence, social, economic and environmental issues and risks, technology and data governance, core governance practices, and how boards can improve effectiveness and director capability.

The biennial GNDI Global Director Survey was conducted during the last half of 2022, with a total of 1,071 respondents completing the survey.

The participants came from director institutes spanning North and South America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

It looks at three key timeframes for director priorities and areas of improvement: immediate (next 2 years), the next 3 to 5 years (2025 and beyond), and boards of the future (2030 and beyond).

Key findings from the report include:

• Long-term strategic focus: Directors see a need for long-term, robust strategy in an environment dominated by short-term pressures, with 66% of directors viewing this as their most critical priority to support organisational success.
• Diversity and inclusion: Directors see diversity as a means to enhance board practices within the next three to five years. 83% of directors believe that technological advancements will require changes to board structures for 2030 and beyond, with the results indicating an urgent need to close the gap in cyber skills.
• Board evaluations: Over 50% of directors say enhancing board evaluation processes is their top priority for improving board performance.
• Rigorous decision-making: Nearly 50% of directors consider the rigour of board decision-making as their top improvement priority in terms of procedures for the effective functioning of their boards.
• Climate change: A lack of board deliberation and focus on social or environmental issues will be less acceptable in 3 to 5 years according to only 27% of directors. Furthermore, despite legislative changes, increased reporting requirements and worsening natural disasters, climate change is considered a critical priority by only 5% of directors.
• Digital governance: 83% of directors consider that expanding board committees to include technology and sustainability will be a key change for 2030 and beyond. For now, however, digital transformation ranked fifth (only 21%) of priorities critical for organisational success despite cyber-risk and digital innovation being identified by 55% and 54% of directors respectively as the two keys areas that their boards have insufficient expertise/skills to govern over the next 3 to 5 years.

About the Global Network of Director Institutes (GNDI)

The Global Network of Director Institutes (GNDI) is a network of leading director institutes, including the Institute of Directors (IoD). Established in 2012 to foster closer cooperation between its members, the global program of reciprocity helps directors, and their boards, to unlock access to director resources from around the world. GNDI comprises 24 institutes representing more than 150,000 directors and other governance professionals.