About CEO Selection Process

The CEO (chief executive officer) is charged with the day to day implementation of the policies of the company. It is expected that such a person must also key into the corporate governance guidelines of the organisation as in many instances he is more identified with the company than any other person on the board.

The position of the CEO may be filled from within the company based on the performance and evaluation of senior executive management employees. Alternatively the position could be filled by a candidate from outside the company. Whatever option is taken, a CEO selection team is put in place in order to ensure that the candidate that is eventually chosen out of the many possess the qualities, attributes, and relevant experience that have been outlined for the position. The most important consideration is that the candidate that is eventually chosen should be a good team player who has the ability to coordinate the many functions of the company in the overall interest of all stakeholders.

For CEO selection in Canada it is important that the board of directors representing the shareholders of the company must be sure of the qualities that they want in the chief executive of their company. It is this rule of determining the qualities, qualifications and experience of the candidate is usually left with a committee of a board. The committee in turn may seek the professional expertise of a consultant to help in scouting for candidates that meets the set criteria and also conduct initial reviews and charts for candidates that are shortlisted. The consultant so employed transmits to the committee the list of candidates found suitable from all those who applied with recommendations as to their strong points and weak points. The committee of the board will then vet he consult report and usually would in turn invite a number if the candidates for interview. The interview session affords the committee members the opportunity to have first-hand knowledge of candidates. It also gives them the opportunity to find out if the candidates so shortlisted for them have the required attributes.

For top Canada CEO Selections such as this the board would still need to do a lot of background checks on the candidates that they eventually consider in terms of their educational background, work history, as well as criminal records to ensure that the person so selected does not have a legal baggage that can affect the company negatively. It is also important that the committee ensures that the person so selected has not run an organisation into bankruptcy and does not have a mental or health challenge that would preclude them from discharging the dis-takes of their office creditability.

The CEO as the overall coordinator of the company must have multiple competencies and should be able to flow well with the heads of the various divisions because of the diverse issues that would be brought to him for final approval. He must therefore apart from technical competencies relating to the organisation have a good background of administration, management, human resources, and finance.

Professor David R. Beatty of chairmanofboard.com provides corporate governance, board evaluation and CEO consultation in Canada. He offers valuable experience working with global boards and CEOs.