Select an option below to continue reading this premium story.
Already a Honolulu Star-Advertiser subscriber? Log in now to continue reading.
U.S. companies push outside-CEO hiring to 17-year high
U.S. companies from Avon Products Inc. to Yahoo! Inc. recruited externally for 29 percent of chief executive officer hires in 2012, the most in at least 17 years as desire for growth sparked demand for new leaders.
Avon’s hiring of Sherilyn McCoy from Johnson & Johnson and Yahoo’s choice of Google Inc.’s Marissa Mayer helped fuel a 36 percent jump in outside CEO recruitment at Fortune 500 and Standard & Poor’s 500 companies, according to Crist/Kolder Associates. The Hinsdale, Ill.-based search firm analyzed management changes at 669 companies through December.
External hiring is rising as companies that may have sought to preserve management continuity through the recession look to shake things up with fresh perspectives and more expansion-oriented skill sets.
Total CEO turnover in 2012 cooled to a rate of 9.3 percent, just 0.4 percentage points higher than the 15-year low set in 2010, Crist/Kolder data show.