Our Advisory Board - Briefing Document

Our Advisory Board
Briefing Document
February 2022

About the Company
• Society is a retained executive search firm with colleagues
in the United Kingdom, the United States, and New Zealand.
• We solve senior recruitment challenges for responsible
businesses and purpose-driven organisations around the
world. Our mission is to bring about positive change by
placing exceptional people into meaningful roles within
good organisations.
• Society is a certified ‘B Corp’. This means that our Articles
of Association commit us to balancing stakeholder interests,
rather than to pursuing profit at all costs, and that we are
independently audited every three years in line with rigorous
standards of social and environmental performance.
• We donate at least 10% of our profits every year to The Society Foundation,
an independent charity we helped to set up in 2014.
• We take our impact on both the environment and
our community very seriously. For this reason we
have joined with other business in the B Corp
movement to declare a Climate Emergency and we
have committed to reaching Net Zero by 2030.

Our Track Record and Client Portfolio
• Society’s clients come from a range of different industries and niches across the
private, public, and social sectors.
• We have worked for major brands like Oxfam, Liberty of London, and the Savoy,
but also for start-ups, social enterprises, and fellow B Corporations.
• Our track record covers many different functional areas, from individual ‘C-
Level’ appointments through to mid-level programmes of recruitment resulting
from expansion or restructure.
• We currently have four sector practices within the firm: Higher Education, Not-
For-Profits, Hospitality and Leisure, and Schools and Colleges.
• We have handled Chief Executive-level appointments for clients as diverse as:
• We are also advising on a growing number Trustee and Non-Executive
appointments for clients ranging from universities to Multi-Academy Trusts.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• We believe that Diversity, Equity and Inclusion bring strength, resilience
and legitimacy to organisations. We are committed to upholding these
principles in how we run our business, in the work we do for our clients,
and in how we interact with candidates.
• In 2021, 57% of our appointments were female, and 31% were from
a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic background (although we appreciate
how reductive the term ‘BAME’ is).
• We have an internal working group specifically focused at deepening our
commitments around Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. One of the many
outputs of this group has been our recent ‘Inclusive Recruitment Toolkit’.
• Society was a founding signatory of the Voluntary Code of Conduct for
Executive Search Firms, an initiative aimed at securing a higher number
of female appointments at Board level. We have also sought to be a vocal
and engaged ally in important discussions around movements such as
Black Lives Matter, facilitating webinars on diversity in recruitment, and
arranging firm-wide anti-racism training.
• We provide clients with detailed diversity monitoring reports, as standard,
on all our projects. These reports also equip us with a rich source of data
from which to drive further improvements in outcomes.

The Opportunity Ahead of Us
• Society came through the COVID-19 pandemic in one piece. Unlike many
firms in our industry, we survived without making a single colleague
redundant, abandoning a single supplier, or missing a single client deadline.
• We currently have 17 colleagues and we are projecting a return to strong
profitability in 2021, based on a global turnover of around £1.4 million GBP.
• We believe there is now a huge opportunity to grow the business and firmly
establish Society as a recognised and respected presence in each of the sectors
where we are most active.
• In our experience, clients are increasingly crying out for executive search
partners who can:
• show a concrete track record of success in making diverse appointments;
• provide a more flexible, tailored, and cost effective service;
• offer genuinely global reach;
• be trusted custodians of their employer brands, modelling high standards
of ethics, integrity, and candidate care;
• take sustainability and emission reductions seriously.
• These are all areas in which Society has a compelling story to tell.

Creating an Advisory Board
• In addition to its formal Board of Directors, Society is now also looking to
create an Advisory Board consisting of trusted individuals with a shared
interest in the company’s growth and impact.
• Advisory Board members will not vote on corporate matters or fulfil a legal or
fiduciary role. No liability is ascribed to members and they will not be
appointed as Directors of the Company.
• Core responsibilities of the Advisory Board will include:
• facilitating introductions and referrals in support of the business
development activity of the firm and helping the firm to broker new
strategic relationships and alliances that will power its growth;
• advice and input into the company’s strategy;
• ad hoc guidance and counsel to the Managing Director upon request.
• Advisory Board members will be engaged via a written ‘Consultancy
Agreement’ and will be remunerated at a proposed rate of £10,000 GBP p/a.
• There will be a basic commercial expectation that the new income unlocked by
the Advisory Board members will exceed the Advisory Board’s associated costs.
• The responsibilities, time commitments, and remuneration of Advisory Board
members may be adjusted over time by mutual consent.

Proposed Arrangements
• The Advisory Board will meet at least twice annually. These meetings will
usually be held online. However where a face-to-face meeting proves
logistically possible, the meeting will be contextualised alongside a lunch or
dinner.
• Meetings are expected to require up to four hours each. Planned business
development or introductory meetings may also be arranged around any faceto-face
Advisory Board meetings.
• The annual time commitment for Advisory Board members will be two fourhour
Board meetings (plus dinner/lunch when face-to-face) and up to a
further four days of introductory meetings or ad hoc advice.
• Travel expenses incurred by the Advisory Board in relation to their work with
Society will be met by Society in full and in line with Society’s Expenses Policy.
• In the event that face-to-face Society meetings are arranged around preexisting
commitments of Advisory Board members for other organisations,
Society will agree to pay a fair proportion of the costs on a case-by-case basis.
• Small events may be organised at which an Advisory Board member is asked
to address a private audience of Society’s clients or contacts on their area of
expertise. Any time involved in the preparation and attendance at such an
event would be part of the member’s overall remunerated time.

What We’re Looking For
• We are seeking individuals with extensive high-level networks and
considerable personal credibility and experience.
• Members must also exhibit the following qualities:
• proven commerciality;
• direct personal experience of working either for or with (eg. as a
client) leading professional service firms;
• insight, judgement, and the ability to offer measured and
constructive challenge;
• collaborative and supportive instincts;
• high levels of interpersonal awareness;
• excellent communication skills;
• a passion for Society’s mission and values;
• a strong personal commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion;
• high standards of integrity, honesty, and discretion.
• Members must also commit to preparing appropriately for meetings and
to engaging actively in all the activities of the Advisory Board.

Our Strategic Priorities
• Society aims to be the retained recruitment partner of choice for
responsible businesses and purpose-driven organisations.
• In order to achieve this, we believe that we must embody five key attributes
which form the basis of the firm’s strategic priorities:

www.society-search.com
Society Europe
x+why
4 Fulwood Place
London
WC1V 6HG
United Kingdom
+44 (0)207 935 4052
Society North America
1460 Broadway
Floor 16
New York
NY 10036
United States
+1 (917) 882 9827
Society Asia Pacific
PO Box 147526
Ponsonby
Auckland
1144
New Zealand
+64 21 419 727
Society Limited (Company No. 6917936) is registered in England and Wales