- After less than a year and a half in the position
- Thanks and good wishes for Allgood
- Laura Peterson taking over temporarily
(exechange) — Salt Lake City, Utah, May 17, 2023 — Kiva Allgood, chief executive of Sarcos, leaves her position. As announced by Sarcos Technology & Robotics Corp. in a news release published on Friday, May 12, 2023, and in a regulatory filing published on Wednesday, May 17, 2023, Kiva Allgood has left her post as chief executive officer at the developer of robotics and microelectromechanical systems, after less than a year and a half in the role, effective May 11, 2023.
Kiva Allgood’s duties as CEO will be taken over temporarily by Laura J. Peterson, a former Vice President, Business Development for China at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, as Interim Chief Executive Officer.
Already a director
Peterson has already been a member of the board of directors of Sarcos. Generally speaking, most director-turned-CEO appointments occur following a sudden resignation of the outgoing CEO and signal a lack of preparedness on the company’s part to groom internal talent. Directors-turned-executives represent a blend of outsider and insider.
They don’t have the constraints of a pure insider when it comes to leading painful changes or making unpopular decisions, and they have more company knowledge than a pure outsider.
Having been a director, Peterson understands the expectations and dynamics of the board and has knowledge of Sarcos’s organization, risk-management practices and strategy.
“Manufacturing and commercializing”
Sarcos did not give an explicit reason for Kiva Allgood’s departure from the CEO post. Peterson stated: “It is an honor to work with the Sarcos team at this important time, as we transition from being primarily a research and development organization to manufacturing and commercializing our award-winning robotic systems.”
Precise information regarding Kiva Allgood’s future plans was not immediately available.
“Resignation”
Sarcos said: “Peterson will replace outgoing president and CEO, Kiva Allgood.”
Sarcos further said: “Resignation of Kiva Allgood as Chief Executive Officer; Effective May 11, 2023, Kiva Allgood ceased to be President and Chief Executive Officer of Sarcos Technology and Robotics Corporation (the “Company”) and its subsidiaries (together, the “Company Group”) and ceased to be employed by the Company Group on May 12, 2023.”
“Not the result of any disagreement”
Sarcos stated, regarding the change: “Effective May 15, 2023, Ms. Allgood resigned from her position as a member of the Board. Ms. Allgood’s separation from her service as President and Chief Executive Officer and resignation as a member of the Board is not the result of any disagreement with the Company Group regarding its operations, policies or practices.”
Share price decline since December 2021
The announcement follows a decline in Sarcos Technology & Robotics Corp.’s share price of 95% since December 2021. December 2021 is the month in which Allgood’s tenure as CEO began.
In the position of CEO since 2021
Kiva Allgood became CEO of the Company in 2021.
Kiva Allgood has served as the Company’s President, Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors since December 13, 2021.
Prior to joining the Company, Allgood most recently served as the Global Head of IOT and Automotive for Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, a Nasdaq-listed company that is a global provider of communications technology, from April 2019 to July 2021.
Allgood served as the Chief Commercial Development Officer for GE Ventures, a Corporate Venture Company from August 2017 to April 2019, and as Managing Director for Innovation Group of GE Corporate from November 2016 to August 2017.
From June 2012 to November 2016, Allgood served as President, Qualcomm Intelligent Solutions, IoT and Smart Cities, at Qualcomm Incorporated, a Nasdaq-listed company that is a global provider of foundational technologies and products used in mobile devices and other wireless products.
Earlier in her career, Allgood served in senior-level operational roles including sales, marketing and business development in the technology industry.
Allgood served on the board of directors of Synaptics Incorporated from May 2019 to October 2022.
Allgood has served on the board of directors of Airgain, Inc. since July 2021.
Allgood holds a Bachelor of Science degree and Master of Business Administration degree, both from Northwestern University.
No statement by Kiva Allgood
In the news release announcing her departure as CEO of Sarcos Technology & Robotics Corp., Kiva Allgood received thanks and good wishes.
The announcement of her departure as CEO does not include a statement by Kiva Allgood.
40% of CEOs are forced out or fired
When CEO departures are announced, exechange determines the Push-out Score on a scale of 0 to 10 to assess how likely it is that the chief executive was pushed out or felt pressure to leave the position, with 0 being most likely a voluntary move and 10 being most likely a forced exit. Anything over a 5 indicates that there are valid reasons to believe an executive may have been pushed out.
Of the 318 CEO departures in the Russell 3000 Index evaluated over the past 12 months (May 17, 2022, to May 16, 2023), the average Push-out Score was 6.1, according to exechange data. References to conduct issues, disagreements and irregularities lead to the highest Push-out Scores. When performance issues, pursuit of other opportunities or time with family were cited as departure reasons, the average Push-out Scores were also significantly elevated.
Around 40% of the CEO departure events from the past 12 months received Push-out Scores of 8 or higher.
In other words, in the past 12 months, two in five departing CEOs were forced out or fired.
Closer look at female CEOs
Female CEOs in the U.S. have been found to be more likely to be pushed out than male CEOs. Over the past 12 months, outgoing female CEOs have received an average Push-out Score of 6.5, slightly above the average Push-out Score of 6.1 for outgoing male CEOs.
Female CEOs have a 35% shorter tenure. Women in the role step down after an average tenure of 5.1 years, compared with 7.9 years for men, the exechange data shows, which covers 22 departing female CEOs and 296 departing male CEOs.
On a five-year view, departing female CEOs received an average Push-out Score of 5.8, which was significantly higher than the average Push-out Score of 5.3 for departing male CEOs. This suggests that women were more likely to be pushed out than men, even when using a longer observation period. This is evident from exechange data covering 1,403 CEO departures (84 of them women and 1,319 men) from 2017 to 2021. Female CEOs who announced their departure from 2017 to 2021 had a 26% shorter tenure, exiting after an average of 6.6 years, compared with 8.9 years for men, the exechange data shows.
Push-out Score for Kiva Allgood’s move determined
The Push-out Score regarding Kiva Allgood’s move is explained point by point in the exechange report.
exechange reached out to Sarcos and offered the company the opportunity to comment on the score.
Read the full story in the exechange report 21.2023 ($).