New Kids On The Board

Companies are putting less experienced executives in boardrooms in favor of more diversity

- Jeff Green

For most of the past decade, Cheryl Miller has spent her days trying to put more cars on America’s roads—first as the treasurer and now as the chief financial officer of AutoNation Inc., the largest auto retailer in the U.S. And for the past year she’s been working on behalf of another of the country’s biggest companies, Tyson Foods Inc., as one of the newest members of its board of directors.

When she was appointed in late 2016, at age 44, Miller, one of several female directors in the meat and poultry company’s 83-year history, had never served on a corporate board. A growing number of companies, including Tyson, Republic Services, Foot Locker, and Best Buy, are eschewing traditional board candidates—retired chief executive officers, who are overwhelmingly older white men—and opting for diverse members, many of them first- timers with no experience.

In 2017, 45 percent of appointees to the boards of S&P 500 companies were novice directors, the most since recruiter Spencer Stuart started keeping tabs in 2006. Last year also was the first time a majority of the incoming directors were women or minority candidates. “Two years ago, they would have said, ‘Oh, it would be great to have diversity, but we really want a CEO,’ ” says Julie Daum, who leads Spencer Stuart’s North American board practice. “Now it feels like the female will occasionally beat out the CEO.”