I recently came back from presenting at the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators’ (ICSA) global conference in London, sitting on an international panel discussing how governance professionals are change makers within an organisation.
It was a fantastic opportunity to share my knowledge and experience from Australia. There was a large amount of interest from our international colleagues, given the large amount of legislative change occurring over here — much of which affects governance professionals and company secretaries directly.
Certainly, the banking royal commission gave me a number of talking points where we could compare Australia’s regulatory compliance issues to those of our colleagues overseas. I always like to contribute practical advice on how to enable positive change.
Personally, these kinds of events are invaluable for building a great network of international governance professionals, learning what is topical overseas, and bringing that knowledge and practical tips back to my day job.
We recently had a Governance Institute board strategy session (more details to follow!), and I was able to directly contribute these insights into our future planning, for example, the principles of good governance for the advancement of society.
It’s more than a badge, in that proves that the candidate is skilled to the highest levels for their knowledge and competence in governance and risk management practice.
It also reminded me of the importance of our own certifications in the international context. Governance Institute of Australia is literally the only accredited organisation in this country that offers the ‘Chartered Secretary’ and ‘Chartered Governance Professional’ designations, and the post-nominals (ACIS and FCIS) are internationally recognised.
Our accreditation stands out from the competition to prospective employers, both here and overseas. ICSA estimates that around three-quarters of company secretarial jobs have a professional qualification as a desirable or essential requirement.
As a personal anecdote, in my role as a chief financial officer, I started out as an ‘accidental’ company secretary, and doing Governance Institute’s Graduate Diploma of Applied Risk Management and Corporate Governance helped me get where I am today. When I am hiring my own governance professionals, I consider these designations to be the gold standard, and non-negotiable on any prospective governance employee.
It’s more than a badge, in that proves that the candidate is skilled to the highest levels for their knowledge and competence in governance and risk management practice. It’s effectively a high-level education in aspects of law, finance, governance, risk and strategy. Most importantly, it obliges you to uphold the highest standards of governance and ethics within your organisation.