Report: Director Assessments Are Lacking. Here's how boards can improve their own performance while promoting refreshment.

Director assessments in the United States need an overhaul.

The annual board performance assessment, when conducted, tends to rely on director surveys and other self-evaluation tools. But more importantly, companies continue to forgo, or at least forgo reporting, a systematic process that extends beyond the collective performance of the board or its committees to also evaluate the contribution of individual directors, according to a a recent review of disclosure documents filed by companies in the Russell 3000 index.

Only 14.2% of the Russell 3000 companies report having instituted such an annual process at the individual director level, a share that has barely grown since 2016 (13.2%); in the S&P 500, the percentage remains shy of 30%.

That's a problem, especially...