The much talked about health and safety law changes are now in effect in New Zealand. As is well known these changes impose increasingly onerous obligations on company directors. The risks and challenges company directors are facing have sharply increased of late. In addition to the health and safety requirements, boards are grappling with issues such as business disruption (often digital in nature) cyber security and diversity.
Although the role of an Independent Director is far more onerous than it was a generation ago there has not yet been a significant lift in Non –Executive Director remuneration to compensate. This is leading some business leaders who traditionally might have been candidates for Non-Executive Director roles to choose not to take that path. We increasingly hear comments such as “It’s not worth the risk” and “Why would I want to do that, compared to other options?”
At a time when New Zealand is desperately in need of good talent around its board tables this is a recruitment challenge for existing boards. In our view this challenge makes it even more critical that Boards extend the net more widely than has been the case in the past. A full and extensive executive search will uncover a wide range of candidates for any Non –Executive Director role. Given the increasing risk involved in being a company director, the advocacy provided through an executive search process can also be highly beneficial in attracting candidates that might otherwise have been less inclined to throw their hat in the ring. Hobson Leavy does a substantial amount of Non-Executive Director search. Please do contact us if you wish to discuss this further.
