Missing NED opportunities, lockdown fads or the future of work and new colleague
In this week's Hanover Talent Insights:
?? 5 reasons you're not getting a non-executive directorship
?? Lockdown fads or the future of work ?
?? Join us in welcoming Joe Watkins to the Hanover team
5 reasons you're not getting a non-executive directorship
Seeking a prominent role in the world of non-executive directorships can be a challenge. It's not necessarily about your professional standing or calibre, but rather more nuanced factors that can hinder your path to NED-dom.?
Perhaps you're not yet at that pivotal juncture in your career, or maybe there are other unseen elements at play. Fortunately, many of these obstacles can be addressed, enhancing your prospects. Let's delve into the intricacies of the role and why you might be finding NED roles to be rather elusive.
What does a non-executive director do?
A non-executive director provides an unbiased, external perspective to a company's board , influencing its strategic trajectory without being involved in its daily operations. NEDs are instrumental to the effectiveness of a board , and in supervising company performance, ensuring accountability and offering invaluable insights based on their expertise.?
NED roles, while demanding, come with substantial benefits, including networking, leadership opportunities and a unique vantage point on corporate strategy.
What's the difference between a director and non-executive director?
While both director and NED roles are pivotal to a company's board , their functions and scopes differ.?
Directors are typically entrenched in the daily operations of the company, taking on managerial tasks and responsibilities.?
In contrast, non-executive directors offer strategic counsel without being embroiled in the day-to-day. Their external viewpoint, free from company politics and granular level detail, should provide a balanced perspective on pivotal decisions.?
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DE&I & WFH: Lockdown fads or the future of work?
I’m sure that you, like me, have found yourself reading countless articles about the pandemic, lockdown and their effects on the workplace. Nowadays, I’m sure it’s common that we feel completely fatigued at the thought of ‘that topic’ again, given the hardship it has caused and the damage it has left in its wake.
But we might also appreciate that the world of work changed because of it…or did it?
Have we been too quick to believe that we’ve implemented lasting change?
During the pandemic, organisational agendas shifted to different ways of working. A focus on areas like diversity, equity and inclusion took centre stage because the pandemic highlighted clear differences in society. Equality and equity were challenged more than ever before - and more so given events surrounding the death of George Floyd .
What strikes me though is how quick we have been to forget, move on and revert to type. There are so many lessons we took from the pandemic as a global community - we talked about them, wrote articles about them and changed our working lives because of them.?
But now, I often hear from clients that while they learnt so much during this time, they now find themselves losing the learning in favour of what used to be. It’s becoming a swift return to the status quo.?
Not a bad thing, you may think. After all, if it worked, why change it? Well, to my mind, that way of thinking holds back progress. Change happens - but why bother if all you do is go back to where you came from?
Fad or future: 2 ways the pandemic should change the workplace
The two points below, the DE&I agenda and working from home, seemed to be working themselves into our psyche during lockdown. But now, do we have to recognise them as lockdown fads?
I’d argue that neither of these should be fads. They are critically important across industries around the world, but it feels like we really haven’t learnt from the lessons of the pandemic, and many organisations are reverting to type.
DE&I is starting to feel tokenistic, and businesses are calling people back into the office full time (a point to note, I do agree that we need face time, but with compromise). We must find the middle ground, and find it quickly before we undo all of the good that came from such an awful situation.
Hanover welcomes an exciting new addition to the London team -?Joe Watkins
Joe joins as a Partner where he specialises in mid to senior assignments across private equity and their portfolio companies. With over 11 years of experience, he has worked across multiple disciplines, particularly within private equity, energy transition, asset management and hires into fund portfolios.
We're excited to have you on board, Joe!