NEDs forAll Sizes

Many people assume NEDs are only for large corporations or regulated entities, but that’s a misconception. In fact, micro and small firms can sometimes derive even greater value from the right NED.

In small businesses, an experienced NED can operate across domains: finance, operations, commercial and strategy offering holistic oversight and guidance.

Their external perspective is often more acutely felt when the business is fluid and growing; they can spot behaviours or assumptions that insiders can’t.  The commercial mindset a NED brings helps ensure that decisions are not just aspirational but grounded in return, risk, scalability, and margin.

You are paying for strategic time, not operational hours, so NEDs can deliver heavy leverage: high-level input, not day-to-day cost, with the commitment of a permanent hire.

We have first-hand experience of the positive impact of having the right NEDs on our Board has on our business.

How to Hire the Right NED/Critical Friend for Your Business

Bringing a NED into your business can be one of the most powerful decisions you make as a leader. The right NED strengthens governance, enhances credibility, and brings heavyweight experience, all without the full time cost of a permanent executive. But the key is hiring the right person.

The impact of a NED depends entirely on choosing someone with the right blend of skills, sector expertise, and cultural fit. It’s not just about who looks good on paper, it’s about who can truly add value to your board.

The most effective appointments come through a thorough executive search process:

• Defining your exact needs and expectations
• Mapping the market for individuals with proven track records
• Assessing cultural alignment alongside technical expertise
• Shortlisting leaders capable of making an immediate and lasting impact

At Corvus People, we specialise in guiding this process to ensure your NED hire isn’t just a name on the board but a catalyst for growth, governance, and credibility.

What a NED Brings to the Table

Unlike executive directors, NEDs are not involved in daily operations. Instead, they provide independence and objectivity, ensuring leadership is both supported and challenged in equal measure.

Key benefits include:

• Governance and Accountability: safeguarding compliance, ensuring ethical practices, and holding the executive team accountable for performance
• Industry Connections: offering access to valuable networks of investors, regulators, and sector peers
• External Perspective: bringing clarity, fresh thinking, and constructive challenge that cuts through internal bias or politics
• Strategic Insight: applying years of boardroom and sector experience to guide direction and spot risks before they become issues

The Positive Impact of a Strong NED

1. Heavyweight Impact at a Fraction of the Cost
   NEDs are typically senior leaders with board level experience. Hiring them on a non executive basis gives you access to that calibre of leadership at a fraction of the cost of a permanent C suite role.
2. Enhanced Credibility
   A respected NED strengthens your reputation with investors, partners, and regulators. Their presence signals that your business values good governance and long term sustainability.
3. Risk Management
   They shine a light on blind spots, ensuring risks are identified early and managed effectively, from financial governance to strategic decisions.
4. Creative and Independent Thinking
   Because NEDs are not tied to daily pressures, they can offer fresh solutions and challenge entrenched ways of working, sparking innovation at board level.
5. Strategic Connections
   The right NED brings a network that can open doors to funding, partnerships, or new markets.

The Bottom Line

A great NED doesn’t just sit on the board, they enhance governance, strengthen accountability, boost credibility, and unlock growth opportunities. They bring heavyweight expertise at a fraction of the cost of a full time hire.

At Corvus People, we connect ambitious businesses with outstanding NED talent who can transform your boardroom.

If you’re a business looking to strengthen your board with the right NED, let’s start the conversation today.

If you’re an experienced NED or fractional leader, we’d love to hear from you. We’re actively expanding our portfolio of exceptional talent, get in touch to join our network.

The False Economy of Rushed Executive Hires

When a gap opens up in a leadership team, the pressure is instant.

Perhaps the CEO steps down and it leaves you, the founder there to plug the gap until you get a replacement.

When this kind of thing happens, the instinct is often “how quickly can we replace them?”

The issue is, when it comes to exec hiring, speed doesn’t always mean good. It means you’re likely missing vital steps to ensure you get the right person.

You probably know that a rushed hire can actually slow everything down but:

• The temptation is to move fast.
• When you’re under pressure, shortcuts can look attractive.
• Tick-box CVs. Someone who’s “done the job before” feels like a safe option.
• Reused JD’s. Role descriptions stay at the level of titles and tasks (not taking into account how the role and business may have changed).
• Minimal assessment. Interviews are informal chats over coffee, more about chemistry than ability.
• Referrals from people who deeply understand and know your business as it stands are really useful… but if they’re from somebody with a limited understanding of your challenges and just based on “She/He is worth a chat with”, they can be unreliable.

On the surface, it feels like progress. You’ve got a shortlist together, you’ve got interviews scheduled and decisions are being made.

But I reality, the real questions haven’t been asked. And if you don’t answer them now, they’ll crop up later… Potentially in a performance review or at the point they want to have “the chat”.

The cost of getting it wrong

A mis-hire at leadership level isn’t just an unexpected hassle. It’s expensive.

• Direct costs: salary, bonuses, onboarding, recruitment fees, severance.
• Indirect costs: a loss of momentum, delayed launches, competitors moving faster.
• Cultural costs: morale drops when the team sees the wrong person in the wrong role. High performers start to wonder if leadership really knows what it’s doing.
• Reputational costs: for boards with external investors or stakeholders, a revolving door at the top doesn’t inspire confidence.

In some cases, the true price of a mis-hire can be 10 times the person’s salary. Not because of what they did, but because of what didn’t happen while they were in position.

Why rushing breaks the process

When you focus on speed vs process, a few things usually happen:

Briefs stay superficial. You end up hiring to a job title, not to outcomes. “We need a COO” often masks the real issue: maybe the founder is still in everything, or delivery accountability is unclear.

Assessment is more around “do I like this person?”. Without structure, interviews default to “Can they do the job?” instead of “Will they do the job here, with these people, in this culture, at this pace?”

Psychometrics and referencing get skipped. These aren’t tick-boxes; used properly, they uncover blind spots and add rigour to your decision making process.

Hiring panel misalignment. If you haven’t spent time agreeing what “good/great” looks like, you’ll get five different versions of it around the table. This can lead to disagreements at the end of a process on who to choose.

The result? A leader who might look great on paper, might interview well, but isn’t set up to succeed in your context.

What better looks like

The good news: slowing down doesn’t mean dragging your feet. A structured process can actually save you time.

Sharpen the brief

Go beyond tasks. Ask:

• What must this person deliver in 12–18 months?
• Where does the business need to change gear? (and what sort of experience would help?)
• What’s missing from the current leadership team?

When you align on outcomes, the role often looks different to what you thought you needed.

Structured assessment

Use behavioural interviews, scoring frameworks, and psychometrics. They’re not about ticking a box; they’re about creating a better understanding along with the evidence. This takes bias out and sharpens instincts. The more you do this, the better you’ll get at it.

Alignment at the top

Before you meet candidates, align the hiring panel. If three directors want a steady pair of hands and two want a disruptor, you’ve got a problem, and it’s not the candidates. Sorting that alignment upfront saves months of pain. (We’ve had a situation previously where a non-exec, founder and investor were all looking for different things. This resulted in failed senior hires until they started working with us and we pointed out what the issue was)

Pace with process

Fast doesn’t have to mean rushed. If you invest time upfront, the actual search moves quicker because you’re not starting again. Clearer briefs, sharper criteria, and alignment mean fewer false starts and less repetition.

A story I see too often

I’ve seen businesses panic-hire because “we just need someone in post.” The CV looked great. Interviews were positive. They moved quickly. (And I mean, lots of recruiters will tell you to “move quickly”)

Six months later, it was unravelling. The hire was capable, they’d had lots of success in their previous businesses, but just not in that situation. They were used to structure where there was none. They wanted to delegate when the shareholders still expected them to be hands-on. They didn’t have the resilience for the pace. The role would have probably suited them 10 years ago, but they worked differently.

The board had to start again. Six months lost. Morale/confidence hit. Another recruitment fee. More investor questions.

When we went back to basics, the brief changed. What they needed wasn’t “a COO with 10 years’ experience in leading multi-site manufacturing and distribution operations.” It was someone who could build structure from scratch and work alongside a founder who was still heavily involved. Somebody who was willing to get their hands dirty. A different profile and a totally different hire.

That second hire stuck. The company moved forward.

Final thought

A rushed hire feels like progress, but it usually just pushes the problem further down the track.

Yes, there’s pressure. Yes, there are investors, deadlines, opportunities. But leadership isn’t about plugging a gap. It’s about shaping the team that drives the whole business forward.

Taking a couple of extra weeks to sharpen the brief, align the board, and run a proper assessment doesn’t slow you down. It speeds you up, because you only have to do it once.

The false economy of rushed hiring is paying twice for the same role. The real economy is getting it right the first time.

By Michael Hewitt, Director, Corvus people

We’re all getting older, but there is a definite shift across the NI workforce, which will continue to grow over the coming years. Employers tell us daily that they are struggling to find the right resource, and we talk to mature, experienced candidates who are struggling to find meaningful work. How do we embrace and utilise this “silver” resource better as employers.

In Northern Ireland, we’re facing a demographic shift that’s impossible to ignore. By 2040, one in four people here will be aged 65 or over, which I found a real shock when I researched the figures.

Frankly that’s nearly half a million individuals, in a relatively small workforce geographically, many of whom will still be active, skilled, and eager to contribute to the workforce. This isn’t just a statistic; it’s a call to action for employers to change their approach and a real opportunity to utilise.

The aging population is often framed as a challenge, and yes, it does raise questions about labour supply, productivity, and succession planning. But it also presents a unique opportunity, if we’re willing to rethink how we engage, support, and value older workers.

The Reality Behind the Numbers

Northern Ireland’s population is growing older faster than it’s growing overall. Between 2004 and 2017, the number of people aged 50 to 65 increased by 28%. By 2030, one in five people will be over 65, and by 2040, that rises to one in four.

This shift is driven by longer life expectancy, lower birth rates, and minimal impact from net migration. It’s not just a local issue; it’s a global trend. But here in NI, the implications are particularly acute given our size, economic structure and labour market dynamics.

Why Employers Should Care

As the workforce ages, so does the available talent pool. That means fewer young people entering the labour market and more older workers staying in it for longer. In fact, over the past decade, 77% of new jobs in the UK were filled by people aged 50 and over.

Older workers bring a wealth of experience, reliability, and knowledge. They tend to have lower absenteeism rates and higher levels of commitment. But to fully harness their potential, we need to move beyond outdated assumptions and embrace age diversity as a strategic advantage. Many of the employers we speak to know that this is the case, but don’t have a strategy in place to embrace and utilise this valuable resource.

What Employers Can Do

Conduct Workforce Age Profiling
Understand the age distribution in your organisation. This helps identify potential skills gaps, succession risks, and opportunities for intergenerational mentoring.

Develop an Age-Friendly People Strategy
Flexible working arrangements, phased retirement options, and continuous learning opportunities are key. Older workers often want to stay engaged, they want to contribute, but not necessarily in the same way they did at 40. Understand their drivers and how to best utilise these for mutual benefit.

Invest in Health and Wellbeing
A healthy working environment benefits everyone, but it’s especially critical for older employees. Public Health England has shown that meaningful work is good for health, and vice versa.

Challenge Age Bias
Age discrimination, whether conscious or unconscious, can undermine morale and productivity. Creating a culture that values contribution over age is essential. This will be a valuable resource for NI, we need to challenge our preconceptions and learn how to embrace it.

Collaborate Across Sectors
Government and industry must work together to address demographic challenges. That includes policy reform, funding for retraining, and support for age-inclusive innovation.

Looking Ahead

Ireland’s younger population and stronger labour market performance offer a contrast that’s worth noting. But Northern Ireland has its own strengths, resilience, problem solving, community, and a workforce that’s rich in experience.

As employers, we have a choice. We can see the aging population as a burden, or we can see it as a resource. The latter requires employer intention, investment, and a conscious shift in mindset. The payoff is a more inclusive, stable, and skilled workforce.

Let’s start by asking ourselves: when was the last time we looked at the age profile of our team? How do we embrace this growing, valuable labour market trend?

More importantly, what are we doing about it?

By Michelle Kearns, Senior Recruiter at Corvus People

Sources

https://www.investni.com/sites/default/files/documents/static/library/invest-ni/pdfs/ageing-workforce-tutorial-page.pdf

https://www.agendani.com/closing-the-skills-gap/#:~:text=May%202024,need%20to%20grow%20the%20economy%E2%80%9D.

Skills shortage in Northern Ireland projected in coming years | The Independent

What Hiring Teams Get Wrong About Ambition

Ambition: a word that should signal energy, drive, and growth potential yet too often, hiring teams misinterpret or even mistrust it.

In their article, “Ambition Isn’t a Dirty Word”, Harvard Business Review highlights how ambition gets unfairly judged, especially in environments where it’s viewed as self-serving or aggressive. In recruitment, these misunderstanding leads hiring teams to overlook talented individuals who are, in fact, quietly and sustainably ambitious.

From my experience as a recruiter, here’s what hiring teams consistently get wrong about ambition and how to change that.

They Equate Ambition with Aggressiveness

HBR reminds us that ambition doesn’t have to manifest as cutthroat behaviour or ego-driven leadership yet many hiring managers are drawn to candidates who “talk big,” assuming confidence equals drive.

What to do instead: Look for evidence of purpose-driven ambition. Does the candidate articulate long-term goals, growth plans, or a clear sense of contribution? Ambition isn’t about dominating the room it’s about direction.

They Penalize Quiet or Non-Linear Candidates

Harvard Business Review points out that ambitious people aren’t always the loudest in the room, likewise, candidates who’ve taken non-traditional career paths are sometimes unfairly dismissed. True ambition often looks like someone willing to take unconventional steps to develop themselves.

As recruiters, we need to advocate for candidates who:

• Took lateral moves to build skills.
• Pivoted industries to challenge themselves.
• Built careers through perseverance, not just promotions.

They Reward Burnout as “Hustle”

HBR warns against glamorizing overwork as ambition yet hiring teams sometimes favour candidates who brag about non-stop schedules. In reality, sustainable ambition is strategic not self-destructive.

Best practice: Ask how candidates’ recharge and grow. People investing in themselves for long-term goals are more likely to stay and contribute at a higher level.

They Focus on Past Opportunity, Not Potential

A lack of advancement in a previous role isn’t necessarily a lack of ambition. As HBR notes, ambitious individuals may be held back by restrictive environments, not their own lack of drive.

Advice to hiring managers: Focus on intent and initiative, not just outcomes. Did the candidate seek learning opportunities? Did they push for change even in challenging settings?

Redefining Ambition in Hiring

As HBR puts it, ambition is a “desire to achieve success on your own terms.” It’s personal, evolving, and often quiet. If hiring teams continue to mistake style for substance, they’ll keep missing out on high-potential hires.

At Corvus People, we encourage hiring managers to rethink what ambition looks like in candidates:

• Prioritise purpose and growth over bravado.
• Value resilience and learning journeys.
• Respect sustainable drive not burnout culture.

Because real ambition isn’t about looking impressive in an interview, it’s about consistently pursuing growth and helping your company grow too.

By Helen Cosgrove, Senior Recruiter at Corvus People

When the Role Can’t Hold the Candidate: Why Executive Hires Fail (and How to Get It Right)

We’ve all heard it before: “They looked perfect on paper.” The CV was impeccable, the interview was smooth, their experience, impressive, even enviable and yet, six months in, something’s not working.

The reason, the role simply couldn’t hold the candidate.

This is an increasingly common and costly issue at the senior and executive level. You secure a high-calibre leader, but the position itself lacks the scope, challenge or strategic alignment to keep them engaged. Before long, they’re restless, under-utilised or quietly plotting their next move.

The Real Cost of a Misaligned Hire

As Forbes’ The High Cost of a Bad Hire highlights, hiring mistakes aren’t just budget line items they derail strategic initiatives, drag down morale, and drain time and energy from the wider team. When the hire is senior, the ripple effect can spread across departments and reach all the way to board-level frustration.

But the root cause isn’t always the person. Often, it’s the role itself or more specifically, a mismatch between the position and the candidate’s capacity, pace or ambition.

Why Prestige Does Not Mean Equal Fit

It’s tempting to chase the big CV. Someone with a high-flying background, household-name employers and all the credentials but as Susan Pike Partners and 1EQ Consultants highlight, hiring for prestige without clearly defining what the role really requires often leads to misalignment.

Executives want to make an impact. If the role lacks challenge, influence or decision-making scope, they will outgrow it or lose interest entirely. A role that does not stretch and evolve becomes a cage instead of a platform.

The Hidden Reasons Executive Hires Fail

Loxo’s 7 Reasons Why Half of Executive Searches Fail digs deeper, pointing to issues like:

• Vague, shifting briefs
• Internal misalignment between decision-makers
• Over-reliance on gut feel instead of structured, evidence-based hiring

The result, mismatched expectations, poor integration and high churn at the most senior levels of the business.

Getting it Right: The Case for Clarity and Partnership

So what’s the solution? It isn’t just about finding stronger candidates it’s about building a stronger process from the very beginning, one that focuses on clarity, alignment and mutual fit.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

Start with the “why,” not the wish list
What is the real challenge this hire is solving? What does success actually look like?

Design the role around outcomes, not titles
Think about the impact needed at 6, 12 and 18 months. Does the role truly allow for it?

Be honest about pace, politics and structure
A brilliant candidate can still struggle in a system that does not support or trust their leadership.

Partner closely with your recruiter
When your recruiter understands the job, the context, the culture and where the business is going, they become a strategic advisor not just a CV provider.

Too often, talented executives are placed in roles that were never truly set up for success. The result is frustration, misalignment, and ultimately, turnover. That’s why a more thoughtful approach to executive hiring is essential one that prioritises clarity, cultural fit, and long-term support from the start.

Organisations that take the time to define clear outcomes, assess both capability and behavioural fit, and build roles that can truly support high-performing leaders are far more likely to see those leaders stay, thrive, and deliver real impact.

Because great hires aren’t just qualified they’re energised and the right role doesn’t just attract them, it holds them, if it can’t, eventually, it won’t.

By Charlene Craig, Senior Recruiter at Corvus People

More of the CVs I see tick every box. They quantify impact, they tell the story, properly and that would usually mean, “they’re worth a screening call”.

It’s very different to how it was even 12 months ago.

It’s going to lead to a significant time sink for internal hiring teams and hiring managers.

Unless you’ve got somebody at the front end who knows how to properly interview and assess talent, you’re just going to waste more time. And time, in this context? That’s bad hires, wasted budget, slower growth, internal friction… take your pick.

How many leaders/managers have had proper interview training?

How many managers know how to properly score an interview, read body language, take detailed notes, probe deeply into what somebody has achieved?

I’d argue it’s fewer than you’d think.

Most people become managers due to being good at the job they do. They then become responsible for hiring people. They usually learn how to interview from somebody else who didn’t have interview training.

How it used to work (in a lot of businesses):

A need arises because Jeff handed his notice in. They’d dust off an old Job Description (probably from a few years ago), change the last reviewed date in the footer to today’s date and then post it on a job board (and probably send it out to a few recruiters). When it comes to interviewing, they’d either look for past interview questions or if they couldn’t find them, they’d use their trusty friend, Mr/Mrs. google for some.

Simple.

We had a candidate last month who looked perfect on paper. But five minutes into the interview, it was clear they couldn’t evidence half of it… (Has it happened to you yet?)

Nowadays, they go onto their chosen AI model, ask it for a JD for a _______ role. Then ask it to write an advert. Then get it to create some interview questions. If they’re really good with AI, they’ll also ask for a scoring matrix.

On the candidate side. They’re wise to this. They upload the JD to their chosen AI model (potentially the same one as the hiring company) alongside their CV and they ask it to “tailor my CV to this job”.

Few seconds later, and depending on how good they are at prompting, out pops a CV that looks like a perfect fit for the role.

They hit apply. The CV does the job. A few days later, they’re invited to interview.

They don’t remember applying for the role. So they dig out the JD, upload it to their model, and ask: “What questions might I get?”

Then they go one step further: “Based on my CV, how should I answer that?”

So, you now have a bunch of candidates with cracking CVs, ready prepared answers to your questions and a bit of initiative.

So what happens when you’ve got polished answers, polished CVs… and no one in the room trained to tell the difference? Do you see the problem yet?

In a market this competitive, if you can’t tell what’s real at interview… someone else will.

That’s the bit we focus on at Corvus People, getting past the polish.

We ask better questions (We often hear “that’s a good question, I’ve not heard that one before”) and we know what to look for.

It’s what we do every day, and if that kind of sharp thinking would help you, just give me a shout.

By Michael Hewitt

AI is no longer a future concept, it’s here, embedded in our workspaces, reshaping roles, and redefining what it means to be “employable.” As AI agents become increasingly capable of performing tasks once thought to be exclusively human, from analysing data to writing code to managing workflows, the natural question arises: What do we bring to the table that AI can’t replicate?

The answer lies not in doing what machines do faster, but in leaning into what makes us fundamentally human. For too long, the world of work has prioritised IQ technical knowledge, reasoning, and hard skills while EQ (emotional intelligence) has been sidelined as a “nice to have.” That era is over.

To stay relevant and to prosper we need to actively develop the intersection between EQ and IQ. In fact, the most valuable skills of the AI era may well be those we’ve traditionally labelled “soft skills.” It’s time to recognise them as the core skills of the future.

Here are the five human skills you must develop to accelerate in the age of AI:

Imagination: Seeing What Hasn’t Been Seen

AI excels at identifying patterns based on what’s come before. It looks back to predict or generate what might come next. But it doesn’t imagine. It doesn’t dream, hope, or intuit something entirely new.

Imagination is where innovation begins. It’s the ability to see beyond the data, beyond the trend, and beyond the obvious. Whether you’re designing new products, building a brand, or reimagining an entire industry, your capacity to imagine is your competitive edge.

Growth Mindset: Adapting to the Unknown

A growth mindset, the belief that abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work, is no longer optional. AI is evolving fast, and so must we.

In a world where the “right” answers can be retrieved in seconds, the real value lies in asking better questions, being open to feedback, learning new tools, and getting comfortable with uncertainty. The professionals who thrive will be those who embrace change, not resist it.

Creativity: Sparking the Original Thought

AI can assist creativity, it can riff, remix, and generate ideas based on what already exists. But the original spark, the leap that connects seemingly unrelated concepts, still starts with a human.

Creativity is not confined to the arts. It’s critical in problem-solving, strategy, leadership, and innovation. The more you cultivate divergent thinking, the more value you bring in a world where sameness is increasingly automated.

Storytelling: Making Meaning, Creating Connection

In a data-rich world, storytelling becomes the differentiator. It’s how we make sense of complexity, build trust, and inspire action. Whether you’re pitching an idea, leading a team, or presenting to stakeholders, your ability to tell a compelling story is what creates resonance.

AI can mimic structure, even tone but it lacks emotional resonance. It doesn’t live experience. Only humans can draw on nuance, empathy, and shared meaning to tell stories that truly move others.

Conscience: Leading with Empathy and Integrity

As the All Blacks say, great players ‘leave the shirt in a better place.’ This ethos speaks to something AI simply cannot replicate: conscience. It’s the ability to act with integrity, to weigh ethical implications, to care.

In practice, this means empathy, active listening, moral judgement, and the ability to consider others’ perspectives. In a world of automation, these deep human capacities will become more essential, not less especially in leadership.

The Takeaway: Be More Human, Not More Machine

AI will continue to take on more of the mechanical, analytical, and even creative workload. That’s a reality we must embrace. But that doesn’t mean we become obsolete. It means we must become more human.

The skills we’ve traditionally undervalued, imagination, adaptability, creativity, connection, and conscience are emerging as the true power skills of the 21st century. The challenge now is to develop an awareness of these capabilities, to actively build them, and to lead with them.

In a competitive, AI-enhanced world, the humans who will accelerate ahead are those who lean into what makes us irreplaceable.

By Mollie Weatherup

In a world increasingly augmented by AI, the spotlight is shifting to the human skills machines can’t replicate; imagination, creativity, emotional intelligence, ethical reasoning, and storytelling. These aren’t just “nice to have” anymore. They are becoming the core skills of high-performance teams and resilient organisations.

But there’s a catch.

We’ve spent decades assessing IQ and technical ability, with well-established testing and development frameworks. Meanwhile, critical human skills, often bundled under vague terms like “soft skills” or “emotional intelligence” have remained undermeasured and underdeveloped.

That has to change.

To keep pace with AI and retain our relevance, we must treat these human capabilities with the same rigour and intentionality we’ve historically reserved for technical skill. That means we need to measure them, develop them, and embed them into how we recruit, assess, promote, and lead.

Why Measurement Matters

You can’t manage what you don’t measure. Historically, we’ve hesitated to measure human-centred skills because they feel subjective or harder to quantify. But that no longer holds water.

Modern assessment tools are now available that can reliably evaluate human skills such as:

Emotional intelligence (EQ) – through validated tools like the EQ-i 2.0 or MSCEIT

Creativity and divergent thinking – using tasks that assess originality, fluency, and flexibility

Imagination and future-thinking – through scenario-based assessments and innovation simulations

Storytelling and communication – via structured narrative exercises and audience feedback

Moral reasoning and empathy – with ethical dilemma frameworks, 360 reviews, or behavioural interviews

Forward-thinking companies are already embedding these assessments into leadership development, hiring, and team building, not as add-ons, but as core competencies.

How to Develop These Skills in Practice

Unlike some technical skills, human skills aren’t “one and done.” They’re lived, practised, and refined over time. Here’s how organisations and individuals can nurture them:

Imagination: Seeing What Hasn’t Been Seen

AI excels at identifying patterns based on what’s come before. It looks back to predict or generate what might come next. But it doesn’t imagine. It doesn’t dream, hope, or intuit something entirely new.

Imagination is where innovation begins. It’s the ability to see beyond the data, beyond the trend, and beyond the obvious. Whether you’re designing new products, building a brand, or reimagining an entire industry, your capacity to imagine is your competitive edge.

Growth Mindset: Adapting to the Unknown

A growth mindset and the belief that abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work is no longer optional. AI is evolving fast, and so must we.

In a world where the “right” answers can be retrieved in seconds, the real value lies in asking better questions, being open to feedback, learning new tools, and getting comfortable with uncertainty. The professionals who thrive will be those who embrace change, not resist it.

Creativity: Sparking the Original Thought

AI can assist creativity, it can remix and generate ideas based on what already exists. But the original spark, the leap that connects seemingly unrelated concepts, still starts with a human.

Creativity is not confined to the arts. It’s critical in problem-solving, strategy, leadership, and innovation. The more you cultivate divergent thinking, the more value you bring in a world where sameness is increasingly automated.

Storytelling: Making Meaning, Creating Connection

In a data-rich world, storytelling becomes the differentiator. It’s how we make sense of complexity, build trust, and inspire action. Whether you’re pitching an idea, leading a team, or presenting to stakeholders, your ability to tell a compelling story is what creates resonance.

AI can mimic structure, even tone, but it lacks emotional resonance. It doesn’t live experience. Only humans can draw on nuance, empathy, and shared meaning to tell stories that truly move others.

Conscience: Leading with Empathy and Integrity

The ability to act with integrity, to weigh ethical implications, to care is essential.

In practice, this means empathy, active listening, moral judgement, and the ability to consider others’ perspectives. In a world of automation, these deeply human capacities will become more essential, not less, especially in leadership.

The Role of Leaders and Talent Professionals

To build a workforce fit for the future, leaders and talent professionals need to do more than acknowledge the importance of human skills, they must actively integrate them into organisational life.

That means:

• Redesigning job descriptions to prioritise human capabilities alongside technical ones.
• Embedding human skills into performance reviews and promotion criteria.
• Providing coaching and learning journeys focused on empathy, communication, creative thinking, and ethical leadership.
• Creating psychological safety so people can practise, experiment, and grow without fear.

From Intuition to Intention

These skills have always mattered. What’s changed is that in the age of AI, they’re no longer optional, they are what sets us apart.

The organisations and individuals that thrive won’t just acknowledge these human capabilities. They’ll intentionally measure, develop, and embed them, turning human potential into a true competitive advantage.

In the race with AI, the winners won’t be the ones who try to out-compute the machines. They’ll be the ones who double down on what only humans can do.

By Mollie Weatherup

In today’s fast-moving often unpredictable business climate owner-led and privately held firms face a unique leadership dilemma. They’re scaling quickly, investing in new markets or navigating periods of transformation but, don’t always have the capacity or confidence to bring in full-time senior executives.

Enter: fractional leadership.

What is Fractional Leadership?

Put simply, fractional leaders are experienced executives who work with organisations on a part-time, interim, or project-specific basis. Rather than hiring a full-time CFO, for example, a business might bring in a fractional finance director 2-3 days per week for a defined period bringing senior-level insight without the long-term cost or risk.

It’s a model that’s becoming increasingly common. LinkedIn recently reported a sharp rise in roles tagged as “fractional” in the UK, jumping from just 2,000 in 2022 to over 110,000 in 2024. In sectors like manufacturing, engineering, and infrastructure where transformation and succession challenges are real but budgets and headcount may be constrained, this flexible leadership approach is gaining serious traction.

Why It Makes Sense Now

Owner-led businesses often reach a tipping point. They’ve outgrown their original leadership structure but aren’t quite ready to commit to permanent hires at the executive level or they need specialist skills such as financial restructuring, digital transformation and operational scaling but only for a window of time.

As one Chairperson we recently spoke with put it: “We didn’t need a full-time Commercial Director, we needed someone who could steer the ship for six months while we restructured our client base and pricing model. The fractional model gave us just that.”

Fractional executives offer not just flexibility but focus. They’re typically highly experienced, often ex-C-suite leaders who bring both the strategic thinking and the “get-it-done” mentality that fast-moving environments demand.

Benefits for Owner-Led Businesses

• Cost-Efficient: You access top-tier leadership without the full salary, benefits, and long-term commitment.
• Speed to Impact: Fractional leaders are used to hitting the ground running—they make a difference fast.
• Fresh Perspective: They bring an outside-in view, unclouded by internal politics or legacy thinking.
• Scalable: You can increase or reduce involvement as business needs change.

Perhaps, most importantly, these leaders can act as trusted advisors during key transition points prepping the business for investment, succession, or permanent senior appointments.

Is It Right for Every Business?

Not necessarily. If you’re looking for someone to build deep, long-term relationships with clients or culture-shape over a longer period of time a permanent hire may be the better fit.

But for some of the clients we work with particularly in fast-scaling environments or moments of strategic shift fractional leadership is a powerful and underused lever.

As one interim MD told us:

“There’s something liberating about being brought in to solve, not to settle. You’re there to challenge, move things forward, leave things better.”

The executive landscape is changing. The old rules of hire slow, embed deep and stay forever don’t always work in today’s climate. For ambitious, owner-led businesses who need senior talent with precision and pragmatism fractional leadership offers a smart, strategic alternative.

By Lesley Armstrong

Resources

“How I juggle three jobs at once: the rise of ‘fractional workers’” in the version available via The Times thetimes.co.uk, June 2025

The Harvard Business Review article titled “How Part‑Time Senior Leaders Can Help Your Business”, authored by Tomoko Yokoi and Amy Bonsall, was published in July 2024