Boards must be braced for significant change and radically rethink their skills coverage, according to a recent survey that suggests that more than half – 55 percent – of directors at listed US companies believe that at least one of their peers should be replaced.
The findings PwC’s 2025 annual survey of 600 public company directors, collected in its report titled Driving a culture of accountability in the boardroom, paint a clear picture: many boards are not yet positioned to meet the demands of tomorrow.
One of its most striking revelations is that 55 percent of directors now believe at least one of their peers should be replaced, the highest level of dissatisfaction ever recorded in the survey. For company secretaries, this represents both a warning and an opportunity.
Too many boards continue to avoid difficult conversations about director performance, fearing conflict or disruption. Yet this growing frustration points to a broader recognition that some directors are no longer contributing meaningfully, especially as board agendas become more complex and demanding.
Despite the centrality of board assessments in driving governance excellence, 78 percent of directors say their assessments fail to provide a complete picture of board performance. Even more concerning, 51 percent admit their boards are not sufficiently invested in the process.
Perhaps most revealing of all is the finding that 73 percent of boards do not conduct individual director assessments. Without them, real accountability remains elusive.
We know that boards continue to favour traditional skill sets, specifically financial acumen, operational experience and industry knowledge. While foundational, these may not suffice for what lies ahead. Notably, less than one-third (32 percent) of executives believe their boards have the right mix of skills.
For example, international expertise ranks as the top skill executives want on their boards, yet only 8 percent of directors say it’s a priority. This glaring disconnect underscores the risk of insular recruitment practices and outdated criteria.
The report found that 88 percent of directors say they could personally take steps to improve their effectiveness. Encouragingly, 45 percent are prioritizing ongoing education or training, while others focus on improving interpersonal dynamics and board culture.
This appetite for self-improvement can be channelled but only if structured, relevant opportunities are available.
According to Ray Garcia, PwC’s Governance Insights Center Leader, the survey shows that boards continue to focus on the same traditional skills when adding new directors: finance, operations and industry knowledge.
‘Those are important and will always matter, but when we ask executives what they need from their boards, they’re focused on very different areas, like AI, global markets, and sustainability. That’s where company secretaries can really help close the gap,’ he says.
In particular, he highlights three practical steps they can take to get boards ready for 2026. The first is when selecting new directors, ‘think about breaking out of familiar recruitment patterns to source new candidates, or bringing in people with differentiated expertise who can give the board a sharper edge on emerging issues’.
Next, he says company secretaries can bring in outside coaches ‘to help management teams and directors get smarter about what questions to ask in the boardroom’. Lastly, ‘they can help the board itself upskill, whether that’s targeted education, onboarding, or reboarding, or just carving out time for directors to dig into new topics’.
These things will go a long way in making sure boards stay aligned with what companies really need from them, he explains.