Offices putting secretaries ‘centre-stage’

Businesses are being urged to do more to give more prominence to company secretaries after reports reveal just 15% of UK workers know who the secretary at their firm is. A new study by eShare has revealed that the role of corporate secretaries is becoming harder than ever more as the world increasingly goes digital, and as a result secretaries and personal assistants are becoming more high profile.

With companies being put under more pressure to give attention to secretarial workers, eShare has examined the change in the economic and technological landscape that has led to increased company secretary (CoSec) exposure.

“There are more governance and compliance requirements than ever before, and the penalties for not meeting those requirements are severe,” explained Alister Esam, CEO of eShare. “The responsibility for this lies mostly with the CoSec.”

With an increased focus for businesses to have strong governance and a good attitude to ensure success, the role of the CoSec has continued to broaden, with many setting the agenda for governance and overall company culture. With greater digital capability, but fewer physical resources at their disposal, experts believe secretaries are being put to the test.

“The biggest challenge for company secretaries is doing more with less,” said James Menzies, Director EMEIA Tax Centre, Corporate Secretarial Support Services, Ernst & Young LLP. “The increasing profile of corporate governance, more reporting and more transparency, opposed by a steady pressure on budgets and headcount mean that the company secretary of the future will need to be able to work ever smarter, embrace change and new challenges in order to succeed.”