How company secretarial teams can prepare for the future: from governance administrator to strategic influencer

This article draws discussions from industry experts at our recent Industry Insights event.

Technical excellence and regulatory knowledge are as essential as ever to the role of a governance professional. However, the industry is undergoing constant change, and alone they won’t be enough for company secretarial teams to thrive in five years’ time.

Good governance teams are evolving from compliance administration, to influencing decisions and stakeholders, and helping to enable business growth. An effective future-ready cosec team or professional can steer organisations through change, complexity and increasing stakeholder expectations, whilst embracing technology to create efficiencies.

Finding the right company secretarial operating model

No two organisations require the same governance team structure. Some operate with lean teams focused primarily on board and committee governance, while others support hundreds of legal entities across multiple jurisdictions and provide advisory services throughout the organisation.

It doesn’t matter whether a model is centralised, decentralised, large or small, but that the function is intentionally designed around the company’s strategy, culture, maturity and future ambitions. Problems typically arise when governance structures remain static, while the business evolves around them. Company secretaries and their teams should focus on understanding what the business needs and adapting accordingly, which will allow them to become a flexible and trusted function.

How do governance priorities change as your organisation grows?

Our panellists agreed that the priorities and focus of the company secretariat typically evolve alongside organisational maturity, scale and complexity. For example:

Smaller organisations need clarity of ownership, simple governance foundations and more agile operations
Growing organisations need consistency, standardisation and scalable processes
Complex organisations need stronger oversight, controls and visibility
Changing businesses require flexible governance models that can evolve over time
Every operating model should consider future ambitions, not just current needs

What strategic shift are we seeing within cosec teams?

Historically, many teams were measured by their ability to deliver board packs, maintain statutory records and ensure compliance deadlines were met. Those responsibilities remain critical, but role scope and expectations have expanded significantly.

Company secretaries are increasingly embedded in major business initiatives, organisational restructures, governance transformations and strategic decision-making. They are expected to understand risk, provide judgement, facilitate discussions and help leadership teams navigate ambiguity.

This shift creates a significant opportunity for company secretaries. The profession is becoming less about processes alone, and more about influence. Those who understand how governance supports business outcomes will be better positioned for future leadership roles than those that focus solely on administration.

What skills define the next generation of company secretaries?

Technical knowledge remains the foundation of the profession however; this should be viewed as a starting point. Future company secretarial leaders need to be able to build relationships, influence senior stakeholders, analyse situations objectively and remain effective during periods of change. Governance frequently operates in grey areas, where judgement is just as important as technical interpretation. It’s important that professionals stretch beyond their traditional responsibilities and seek opportunities to participate in broader business discussions.

What capabilities do future-ready company secretaries need to develop?

As the profession becomes more strategic, the capabilities required for success are evolving too. There are several skills that are critical for the next generation of governance professionals:

Emotional intelligence to navigate board dynamics and differing viewpoints
Resilience when dealing with ambiguity, pressure and organisational change
Embracing of new technology to support the function and activities
Influencing skills to gain buy-in without relying on authority
A governance and risk mindset focused on judgement, not just process
Curiosity and adaptability to engage with new business challenges

The strongest teams also recognise that diversity of thought matters. Not everyone needs to be a strategist, and not everyone needs to become a leader. Effective functions require a blend of thinkers, advisers, relationship-builders and delivery-focused specialists.

Why is experience the key to company secretarial development?

A common challenge across the profession is that governance rarely follows a clear career path. People arrive in the role from different backgrounds and learn through exposure to increasingly complex situations. Structured training remains important, but development accelerates when individuals are trusted with responsibility. Stretch assignments, business projects and direct exposure to senior stakeholders help build confidence more quickly than theory.

It’s important to create clear career pathways and invest consistently in learning and development. This not only strengthens capability, but improves retention, engagement and long-term succession planning.

How can company secretaries do more with less?

A common trend within governance today is that company secretariat teams are expected to do more with less budget and headcount. However, effectiveness is not necessarily linked to team size. The most successful teams focus relentlessly on prioritisation. They regularly assess where they add the greatest value, eliminate low-value activity and challenge legacy processes that no longer serve the organisation.

Technology is playing an increasingly important role especially through the development of AI. AI tools don’t need to be overly complex and can be used to improve existing processes. Teams should invest in training and clear governance and risk frameworks for the use of AI. This will ensure that colleagues can make best use of the tools already available with less risk and more effectiveness.

How to remain effective with a high-pressure workload?

As teams face higher pressure without increasing team size, company secretary teams should focus on:

Prioritising high-value activities and stopping unnecessary work
Improving processes before adding additional headcount
Using technology to reduce manual effort and rework
Creating clear accountability and ownership across the team
Aligning governance activity directly to organisational priorities

The future of the company secretariat revolves around building on governance fundamentals. Influence, adaptability, commercial awareness and being open to the use of new technology are increasingly becoming the skills that differentiate exceptional professionals.

Junior company secretaries have a significant opportunity as the profession becomes more visible, strategic and influential. Those who invest in technical capability and broader leadership skills are well positioned to thrive in the future.

The themes explored in this article were informed by conversations at our recent Industry Insights event. We are grateful to our guest speakers, Vicki Haynes from Saga, Marc Boston from Serco, Christopher Meehan from HSBC and Georgina Milis from Computershare, for sharing their experiences, challenges and perspectives on the future of governance. Their insights provided valuable context on how company secretarial teams can evolve from governance administrators to strategic influencers.