Developed by Best in Governance Inc. (BIG), in collaboration with Women Get On Board (WGOB), Modernizing Board Evaluations examines why traditional board evaluation practices are no longer keeping pace with today’s increasingly complex governance environment. The research draws on perspectives from more than 400 Board Chairs, Directors, Governance Professionals, Executive Leaders, academics, regulators and governance practitioners in Canada and internationally.
The report finds that 96% of respondents believe board evaluations need to evolve, while 85% would modernize their evaluation process if designing it today. It identifies key shortcomings in traditional approaches—including strategic misalignment, limited evidence and perspectives, participation barriers and a failure to turn findings into action—and introduces six pillars for modernizing board evaluations. These pillars are designed to make evaluations more forward-looking, evidence-based, aligned with strategy and risk, and focused on meaningful governance improvement.
