Project

In light of their unique structure, the SOC were seeking an Independent Chair who would not be affiliated with any of the partner organisations, but would nevertheless have relevant experience and interest in the role. This meant someone who could share a passion for the vital work that the partners undertake for their profession, with relevant experience leading committees, regulating standards and thinking strategically.

Solution

Eastside People consultant Paul Venning started by interviewing the chief executives of the partner organisations. These conversations focused on defining what success for the committee would look like in the future, what skills the Independent Chair would need to have to ensure these goals were achieved, and what questions candidates should be asked.

It was agreed that the chair position was a lay role, so applicants were not expected to be a member of a counselling and psychotherapy body or necessarily even active in mental health. Instead, a list of soft skills were drawn up for the candidate specification. On top of these, it would be desirable – but not essential – for the person to have significant experience of chairing meetings, of external representation and of managing stakeholders.

20 good-quality candidates applied, in response to adverts placed with Charity Job and sector publications and outreach to Eastside People’s existing networks. A dozen of these candidates were interviewed, eight were longlisted, and finally five were shortlisted. These final five were interviewed by a panel of four of the partner chief executives. The calibre of these candidates was high, with one chief executive commenting during the process that “if all the candidates are as good as the first we interviewed, we’ll be happy”. Two of these five were from BAME backgrounds. They had a wide scope of relevance experience as former chairs or non-executive directors and time with the NHS, charities or certification bodies.

“Bernice and Paul quickly showed a real understanding of the environment and candidate we were looking for when recruiting for an Independent Chair of a new Governance committee. Their engagement with stakeholders was exceptional and ensured that the candidates they presented were of the highest calibre. Eastside People took what we thought was going to be a challenging role to recruit and made it successful.”

Haydn Williams, CEO, British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) (SCoPEd).

The new chair was Paul Buckley, who worked as Director of Strategy and Policy for the General Medical Council (GMC). The board felt Buckley “saw the context” of the role and the clarity the project needed. This made him a strong candidate to carry the SCoPEd and its Oversight Committee to the next stage of their development.

“I was very impressed with the professionalism, responsiveness and focus of Eastside People generally and specifically the consultant leading the search. They had a very deep understanding view of the brief, were very responsive in dealing with questions about the process and the informal and formal interviews were friendly while being searching and thorough.” Paul Buckley, new Chair SCoPEd.