Board Secretary
Also known as: Corporate Secretary · Company Secretary · Governance Secretary
Supports the executive board and supervisory board with meeting documents, minutes and governance, and ensures decisions are formally and traceably recorded.
The board secretary prepares meetings of the executive and supervisory boards, tracks the decision making calendar and drafts minutes and action lists. Unlike an executive assistant, this is not just about agenda management but about safeguarding statutory and governance obligations. Selection often fails on secretarial skill alone, while the role stands or falls on flagging when a decision is not procedurally sound, even to a director in a hurry.
Competencies to measure
These are the behavioural and ability constructs in this profile. Each one shows which hrmforce questionnaire measures it.
| Competencies to measure | Target level | hrmforce instrument | Assessment method | Behavioural anchor at target level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Decisiveness Competency (50-framework): Decision-making ability Knockout | N5 | Big Fifty, 360 Feedback | Situational Judgement Test | Decides on irreversible matters with major consequences, records the trade off and sets which decisions others may take themselves. |
| Developing vision Competency (50-framework): Vision Knockout | N5 | Big Fifty, Competency Check, 360 Feedback | Assessment centre | Formulates a multi-year vision for the whole organisation, underpins it with scenarios and uses it as a test for investments. |
| integrity and dependability Competency (50-framework): Integrity Knockout | N4 | Big Fifty (Integrity Scale), 360 Feedback, Structured interview | Personality questionnaire | Reports a possible conflict of interest on own initiative and asks for review before a decision is taken. |
| Persuasiveness Competency (50-framework): Persuasiveness | N4 | Big Fifty, Competency Check, 360 Feedback | Assessment centre | Chooses per counterpart the argument that matches their interest and checks along the way whether the agreement is genuine. |
| organisational awareness Competency (50-framework): Organizational Sensitivity | N4 | Big Fifty, Competency Check, 360 Feedback | Situational Judgement Test | Assesses which interests a proposal touches, involves the right people beforehand and chooses a suitable moment to raise it. |
| Taking difficult personnel decisions Competency (50-framework): Decision-making ability | N4 | Big Fifty, Competency Check, 360 Feedback | Assessment centre | Takes a substantiated decision after a completed improvement track, discusses it in person and records the grounds in the file. |
| Stress tolerance Competency (50-framework): Stress resilience | N4 | Big Fifty, 15PF, Mental Resilience (4C) | Personality questionnaire | Keeps working in a structured way at peak load, keeps agreements with clients clear and flags early which results are at risk. |
| Market orientation Competency (50-framework): Market Orientation | N4 | Big Fifty, Competency Check, 360 Feedback | Assessment centre | Links signals from customers and competitors to the own offering and proposes adjustments on that basis. |
| Dealing with ambiguity Competency (50-framework): Flexibility | N4 | Big Fifty, Mental Resilience (4C), Competency Check | Situational Judgement Test | Formulates explicit assumptions when information is missing, proceeds on that basis and revises the approach once new data arrives. |
Short profile
The ten heaviest skills in this profile. The full profile with every skill, behavioural anchor and assessment method is in the download.
| T | Skill | Target level | Weight | Knockout | Assessment method |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | Decisiveness | N5 | 5 | yes | Situational Judgement Test |
| G | Developing vision | N5 | 5 | yes | Assessment centre |
| V | Strategic thinking | N5 | 5 | yes | Assessment centre |
| G | integrity and dependability | N4 | 5 | yes | Personality questionnaire |
| K | Reading and interpreting financial reports | N4 | 5 | yes | Knowledge test |
| V | Risk assessment | N4 | 4 | no | Work sample test |
| G | Persuasiveness | N4 | 4 | no | Assessment centre |
| V | Stakeholder management | N4 | 4 | no | Assessment centre |
| G | organisational awareness | N4 | 4 | no | Situational Judgement Test |
| V | Change management | N4 | 4 | no | Assessment centre |
See all 24 skills in the full profile
Assessment instruments for this job
Competency Check
Behavioral-Level Competency Assessment
360 Feedback
Multiple assessments based on behavioral anchors
Big Fifty
Personality questionnaire, 150 items, 25 factors
Knowledge test (client-specific)
Professional knowledge test, customized for each client
Work sample test
Representative work sample under standardized conditions
Structured interview
Behavioral interview with a fixed structure
Mental Resilience (4C)
Mental Resilience According to the 4C Model
Ability Scan
Aptitude Test: Verbal, Numerical, and Abstract Reasoning Skills
Big Fifty (Integrity Scale)
15PF
Personality Profile, a shorter alternative to the Big Fifty
Career Orientations
Career Anchors and Work Values
Development Review
Structured development interview
Portfolio
Evaluation of prior work against fixed criteria
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