Board Skills Matrix Survey
A Board Skills Matrix is a vital governance tool that outlines the collective skills, experience, diversity, and behavioural traits of a board.
Board Skills Matrix Overview
A Board Skills Matrix is a vital governance tool that outlines the collective skills, experience, diversity, and behavioural traits of a board. Its purpose is to ensure the board is equipped to support the organisation’s strategic direction with a balanced mix of technical, leadership, and interpersonal competencies.
To remain effective, the matrix must be tailored to the organisation’s evolving needs rather than relying on generic templates. As strategic priorities shift, the matrix should be reviewed and updated to reflect the required capabilities. This ensures the board remains agile, aligned, and fit-for-purpose.
Regulators, stock exchanges, and proxy advisors increasingly expect boards to use rigorous, bespoke matrices. These tools not only support compliance but also enhance renewal planning and strengthen accountability.
An effective matrix includes clear skill categories, behavioural traits, and diversity indicators. It also informs board disclosures, director bios, and committee assignments, ensuring transparency and consistency in stakeholder communication.
Benefits of a Good Board Skills Matrix
A well-developed Board Skills Matrix helps boards visualise their strengths and address skill gaps through targeted recruitment or development. This supports proactive governance and ensures the board remains strategically aligned.
It also plays a key role in succession planning, providing an objective basis for appointing directors with needed skills. Public director bios can be aligned with the matrix, creating consistency between internal assessment and external representation.
Beyond skills, a good matrix promotes diversity and recognises behavioural qualities like collaboration, integrity, and rigour. This holistic view supports more inclusive and balanced governance.
Our approach includes using structured surveys, rating systems, and facilitated board discussions to ensure clarity, encourage reflection, and drive performance improvement. This helps lead to a more cohesive and effective board.
Our Board Skills Matrix Surveys
We offer three stand-alone Board Skills Matrix Surveys and a Board Skills Matrix Module that can be added to the end of a board survey. The Board Skills Matrix Module added to the end of a Board Survey is the same as the stand-alone Lite Board Skills Matrix Survey. Each Survey and module has been tried and tested across organisations of all shapes and sizes. The following table outlines what is included and what is excluded in each category. Skill is used as a broad term to describe knowledge, expertise and experience.
The Advanced version includes a description of each skill category and of each behaviour whereas the Lite version only includes the name of the skill category and behaviour. The Lite and Advanced version include director self-ratings only.
The Premium version includes self and peer ratings. The use of peer ratings adds rigour to the skills matrix as it informs how each director’s skills are exhibited inside the boardroom and not just on paper. Due to the sensitivities of some directors a peer review won’t suit all boards or may not be appropriate at the current stage in the board’s journey.
If you’d like a demonstration of our Board Skills Matrix Survey and/or Module please Contact Us for a demo. Alternatively Contact Us if you would like to discuss which module or survey would be best for your organisation.
Board Skills Matrix Review Process
Reviewing the Board Skills Matrix should be a structured, forward-looking process that aligns with the organisation’s strategic direction. It begins with identifying essential skills and behaviours, then assessing current board composition using a well-structured Board Skills Matrix Survey.
An effective review involves several key steps. First, the board agrees on a concise yet comprehensive list of critical skills, experiences, and behaviours. Directors are asked to rate themselves on each dimension and provide justifications for higher ratings. This process promotes transparency and encourages directors to reflect critically on their contributions. A deeper dive review will include a peer assessment component.
Next, the results are aggregated into a board-wide Board Skills Matrix Report. Individual director reports are also produced if the survey included peer ratings. These reports highlight key strengths, development opportunities, and any discrepancies between self and peer assessments, where relevant. Where current or impending gaps are identified, the board can use this insight to inform recruitment strategies and interim mitigation plans.
The review process often culminates in a facilitated discussion, during which the board validates the findings, revises the matrix where needed, and agrees on actionable steps. This discussion is invaluable in building consensus and aligning the board on its future needs.
Ideally, the matrix is updated annually or as changes in strategy or board composition occur. The skill descriptions should also be evolved and improved over time as they are rarely exactly as desired on the first or second iteration. A deeper dive review every three years also helps ensure it remains current and aligned with the organisation’s evolving needs.
Our Referral Partner Program
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Frequently Asked Questions
Browse our frequently asked questions to learn more about our surveys and benchmarked reports.
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Board Benchmarking has developed other surveys and reports to help boards achieve organisational success. These surveys are supported by expert advice on how to interpret and act on the results by our Global Board Advisory Partners.
