Challenges Faced by Company Secretaries and CFOs During COVID-19 Lockdown
The COVID-19 lockdown has posed significant challenges for Company Secretaries and CFOs. Company Secretaries have had to rethink their approaches to corporate events, while CFOs are struggling with cash flow management and employee mental health issues. The uncertainty of when the lockdown will be lifted adds complexity to their roles.
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Presentation Transcript
The Covid-19 laid lockdown has shut down the businesses and professions and there is no clear picture on when the lockdown will be lifted. This has clearly presented many challenges for our organizations, it has also been an opportunity to learn and improve. A Company Secretary too has faced many challenges during the lockdown period.
The Company Secretary is responsible for the efficient administration of a company. This means they are accountable for the submission of conformation statements and other important documents to Companies House. They often take up a number of other administrative matters such as arranging Board meetings. A Company Secretary plays supportive role, taking care of important tasks such as general administration, shareholder communication, corporate governance, and statutory compliance/ filing of accounts. The Company Secretary acts as a bridge between the company, the shareholders and Companies House. It involves lots of different tasks. 1. AS A STATUTORY OFFICER 2. AS A COORDINATOR
A Company Secretary whose role largely revolves around the main corporate events i.e. preparing the Annual Report and arranging the AGM, supporting the Board and its Committees, managing share schemes and ensuring that the company is compliant with various legal and regulatory requirements, faced biggest challenge as a result of the lockdown and social distancing. They have to follow timetable to ensure they remain complaint and do no miss any deadlines. The lockdown has led to rethink how to approach one of the main events in the corporate calendar. The meetings which were to be held in March , but due to social distancing measures and restrictions on travel, the directors and shareholders were unable to attend the meeting so they make plans to adjourn the meeting and make arrangements to reconvene and behind the scenes there was a herculean effort to ensure to compile with Company Law requirements and Government measures. This involves holding a small meeting of two people.
Due to Covid-19, many businesses and professions faced many difficulties. The major sufferers are the CFOs or the finance heads of the company as they are responsible for the CAPEX and OPEX turning the balance sheet into the green. But CFOs are most worried now than ever before. The major challenges is cash flow management. The CFOs are the visionaries and they always think of the future. They make decisions based on how do they see future. What determines the success of their decision is how do they manage to predict the future. But under the current lockdown situation, it s difficult for CFOs to predict when the situation will change. Nobody knows when the lockdown will be lifted. Hence despite having long term planning, the short term planning is a major challenge for the CFOs. Employees are facing high level of stress over the course of the shutdown and will continue to experience, employers can expect an increase of mental health issues affecting its workforce. These issues may include post-traumatic stress disorder and phobias, including intensified germ phobia.
The government has held several meetings with E-Commerce players to resolve their issues which they have been facing due to the lockdown, and now there is an improvement everyday. E- Commerce position is much better now than what was there on day one of the lockdown. Businessmen are facing many difficulties in their day to day business, but government made various measures to overcome their issues. Lockdown has led to distortions in the market. It has affected market in their revenue and profit statement. Due to this outbreak, various provisions of Companies Act,2013 and rules made there under have been relaxed by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs for the ease of compliance by the stakeholders.
The starting months of Covid-19 and lockdown were very challenging for CS as they faced many difficulties in fulfilling their responsibilities i.e. arranging board meetings, administrative work, corporate governance. Due to restrictions in travelling, many sessions were failed. But the Covid-19 crisis has meant the rule book has been thrown up in the air and it s up to us how we put it back together when it lands. Human beings and boards often need a trigger to change. This is an opportunity to be speaking to boards about how to do things differently to come out of this crisis stronger. Same way, CS pulls themselves from this critical situation and manages the things in another way keeping in view the social distancing. CS members organized webinars and online session in order to keep social distancing.
Enforced remote working has impacted people in different ways. The additional pressures of home life and for some home schooling while working, as well as mental and physical health issues have meant that leaders have needed to understand each individual s circumstances and be more flexible than ever. One size doesn t fit all. Daily huddles or stand-ups, once reserved for tech companies and development teams, have become common practice, helping them to stay connected, motivated and support one another. Making sure to check in with individual team members to ensure they are well supported is essential as well as keeping all lines of communication open. There is no doubt that starting of this period has thrown up many challenges and been a very difficult time for many. But they took it as an opportunity to learn and grow in such a critical period. They used this opportunity to create stronger, more resilient organizations.
CS has overcome all the difficulties which they faced in the starting of the lockdown period. They took it as an opportunity to improve their skills and widens their knowledge. CS members also provide opportunities for students by conducting online classes and competitions. They encourages students to stay connected with them and motivates them to do better. Therefore, the problem which was earlier threatening has now become the opportunity. Teams and stakeholders have quickly adapted to new ways of working. SUBMITTED BY: RADHIKA AGARWAL (FOUNDATION STUDENT) REGISTRATION NO. 219987917909/2019
