The Hard Sell – how to attract top CoSec talent

It’s not you, it’s me…

It’s an old dating cliché, but it’s very relevant to recruitment. We all know that quality candidates within the governance space are at a premium, especially if you are looking for someone with 2-5 years plc governance experience with notable exposure to AGMs, annual reports etc. So, with this shortage of candidates, what can companies do to attract the best talent to their teams and organisations?

The current candidate mindset is different from what it was 10 years ago. It used to be that being a ‘name brand’ or ‘recognised governance team’ was enough to attract people and it’s amazing how this has shifted so dramatically in recent years. These company characteristics are no longer enough of a draw – candidates are now fully aware of their worth in today’s market and are demanding more, which does of course positively impact salaries (for candidates!), but even salary alone isn’t necessarily enough to secure top talent.

When hiring in today’s market you need to factor in several key areas and incorporate them into your recruitment process:

• Company/team culture: what are the different personalities in your team and how is the new hire going to add to the culture and environment? Who are the leaders and how accessible are they for guidance? 
• What can you do for the candidate? Most candidates now want to avoid job hopping, so what are the areas of development that the candidate joining can look to experience with your company and is there a plan in place for them to achieve their goals in the next two to four years? Do you have a proven track record of development? 
• How are you going to support them through these development areas? Will this be through formal channels such as offering them the chance to add to their qualifications? Might they have an internal/external mentor? 
• What are the targets set out for this person from day one? What barriers will they come up against in terms of promotion or gaining access to work that isn’t covered on the job description? 

Today’s market is crazy and there are of course many more things you can do to control the process and narrative around the hire. Companies often seek out our services when they have been taking care of hiring in-house and have had to repeatedly advertise for the same role with no success – candidates see the same job coming up with the same company and it immediately makes them question why someone hasn’t got the job and if there is something wrong with the role or the team perhaps?

If you are a company secretary looking to hire at any level in your team now or sometime later in the year, please do feel free to drop me a message and pick my brain on how to run an effective recruitment campaign – connor@dmjcosec.com