Small companies fail to get the best out of non-execs

Firms
with fewer than 100 staff are failing to make the most of non-executive
directors, according to the latest MORI poll.

The
survey reveals that small companies employ, manage and remunerate non-executive
directors in an unco-ordinated way.

It
shows that 61 per cent have no formal means of measuring non-executives’
performance, or their overall contribution to the business. 

Only
half of the respondents knew how many other boards their non-executives sat on,
while a quarter hired them on the recommendation of friends and family.

The
Begbies Traynor-commissioned poll of 185 private firms also shows that 53 per
cent of businesses employ non executives on a permanent basis, rather than for
restricted periods.

By Ross Wigham