Are you finding your new role as a company secretary more challenging than you presume? Your official role is ensuring that the company complies with statutory and regulatory requirements. But a company secretary’s roles are very diverse; you will also act as a record-keeper, advisor, diplomat, and educator in the company.
The company secretary ensures the decisions of the board are executed. Your performance as a company secretary can make or break the organization. What can you do to excel in this important role?
#1 Stay Updated on Statutes and Regulations
Compliance is your core mandate, and you can only execute it well if you are knowledgeable. This should start right at the business registration stage. Does your business fulfill all the requirements of registration? Does your proposed corporate structure fit corporate regulations?
Employing the services of a Singapore company registration services can be very helpful in compliance, and quicker registration. But you also have to polish up on your knowledge of legal procedures with regards to insurance, taxes, and human resources.
#2 Work on Your Analytical Skills
Your role involves a lot of problem-solving and advising the board on various matters. For example, how does a change in a certain tax code affect your business? You should be able to analyze the business environment in terms of changing regulations and advise the board.
You will often have to take in huge quantities of information including legal and financial jargon. This information is then distilled to be of use in decision-making by the board. There are several ways you can improve your analytical skills including playing brain games, visualization, raising questions around different scenarios, and reading more.
#3 Work on Your Communication Skills
Your role as an advisor involves a lot of oral and written communication to the board, management, as well as employees. Your communication must be well understood at all levels of the organization.
You should inform the board adequately in advance so that it can make informed decisions. Any concerns regarding ethics, corporate governance, and legal or regulatory issues should be communicated in a form that is suitable for the recipient.
There are different ways of improving your communication skills. You can take communication skills short course, which includes writing skills. You can also work on your oral communication by practicing in a toastmaster’s club, or participating in online debating classes and competitions.
#4 Develop Superior Organizational Skills
The multiple demands of a company secretary can get quickly overwhelming if your organizational skills are wanting. There is a lot of information to go through when keeping tabs on the evolving business environment. Your day will involve combing through newspapers, industry reports, government releases, and other sources of information that you need.
You will also deal with incoming and outgoing correspondences in form of email, slow mail, phone calls, and video conferences. You will also have to process documentation while keeping an eye on compliance deadlines.
Organizational skills are also needed to maintain records and documents regarding compliance with different regulations and statutes. It is easy to miss crucial tasks or deadlines under this workload, raising legal and financial complications.
You can improve your organizational skills in several ways;
- Delegating- You can categorize tasks into those that need your attention in-person, and those that can be handled by other people. Good delegation can take the unnecessary workload off your in-tray. You can also let capable entities handle tasks that they can do more efficiently. Business registration services in Singapore, for example, can handle this step in less time especially when a new investor is looking to invest in Singapore.
- Organizational apps- There are different apps you can use for helping you organize better. Apps like Todoist, EverNote, and Calindly are very good at keeping track of things you need to do, time to be done, and the progress made in different activities.
- Deploy efficient record-keeping – It is easy to lose time looking for data or information you need if it is not filed properly. This is both for electronic and paper records. An efficient record keeping and filing system help locate and use information faster.
#5 Developing People Skills
The role of a company secretary requires constant interaction with people at different levels in the organization, employees, senior management, and the board. Each of these levels requires interaction that feels respectful, honest, and trustworthy.
You can improve your people skills by;
- Taking a class in conflict resolution – This will help you identify potential conflict points and avoid conflicts happening. You will also be able to solve issues in a win-win way for different parties including yourself.
- Working on listening skills – This makes people feel that you take their concerns seriously. You also learn more from listening to different viewpoints.
- Cultural awareness – Seeking to learn more about different cultures will help you understand why different people act the way they do.
An efficient and high-performing company secretary can influence positive growth for a business. But improving your performance as a company secretary, and excelling also boosts your career growth and industry profile.
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