The New Face of Effectual Company Secretaries in FY22
The responsibilities of a secretary are getting wider as the days go by. For the coming new year, secretary professionals might continue experiencing some ongoing and new challenges.
While talking to Catherine Maxwell, Governance Institute general manager (advocacy and policy), she pointed out that secretary responsibility is widening at a rate that will impact most organizations. She also said that the broadening trend of the secretary is influenced mainly by the current situation of coronavirus. This has made the company secretaries be crucial personalities in all stripes of organizations.
Additionally, Ms. Maxwell said that the company’s governance professionals and secretary’s role are essential in ensuring the board’s effectiveness, directors, and its committees- she quoted this from the Governance Institute’s Accidental Course.
Explaining further, she noted that this indicates that the organization board will be seeking secretary directions. They will also be turning to them for information concerning several matters, such as how to hold an annual general meeting in the current situation of the pandemic. Also, the company secretaries will be vital in helping the board figure out the ideal practice board papers.
Furthermore, Ms. Maxwell pointed out that with the age of the pandemic, the demand for company secretaries has risen. This resulted from the short time available to perform some tasks, including board meeting preparations. Additionally, the company secretaries demand is also due to increased volumes of information and a wide range of responsibilities.
About FY22, Ms. Maxwell said that the forthcoming financial year would come with numerous hurdles for the company secretaries. She outlined that a significant role that most co secs will be strategizing how their companies will proceed with their AGM. That is because they will have to consider all the legislation in place, restrictions, and the current COVID-19 clusters.
Moreover, most organizations will have to help their organization with data access and handle cybersecurity. For any organization secretary to deal with such roles, they will need to seek advice from necessary experts, which will help them be up to date and well-informed for better organization management.
Additionally, making sure that you are up-to-date as company secretaries will help you have an easy time when your senior managers come seeking advice from you. Also, it would be easy for the company secretaries to cope with the rapid organization and regulatory changes.
Another secretary’s primary role is to make sure that the governance gets a seat during the board room meeting. It is, therefore, the role of the primary function of the secretary to advocate for the most critical issues concerning their organization in the current situation.
In addition, it will be the role of a company secretary to establish like-minded experts. This will be of great importance as you will learn and know how other organizations operate. For any secretary to stand out in their role, they need to possess a resourceful and enquiring mind.