ERA Constitution

The Executive Research Association

Constitution and Committee Structure Paper

NAME

The name of the organisation is the Executive Research Association (“The ERA”).   The ERA is an an unincorporated association: 

Unit 7

The Forum

Icknield Way

Tring

Hertfordshire

HP23 4JY

MISSION STATEMENT

To provide an international forum for educating, sharing best practice and raising standards amongst both practitioners and users of talent sourcing and insight. It will provide a showcase for talent professionals and thought leadership within the sector.

CODE OF PRACTICE

The Executive Research Association (ERA) is the leading Association and resource for professional executive Researchers and talent professionals; encompassing training, personal and corporate development, business growth and networking. The ERA seeks at all times to inspire, enable and motivate its members to convey to the executive search sector and the corporate community, in words and deeds, the value of using professional executive research research and talent services.

ERA members undertake on joining the Association to adhere to the ERA Code of Practice proving evidence of their commitment to high standards of ethics in relations with clients, candidates, business partners, colleagues and other parties as follows:

• Members will adhere to the European data protection laws, also known as EU General Data Protection Regulation GDPR.
• Members shall only undertake projects which they feel they are competent to undertake successfully. They will not make false statements about their skills, experience or activities, or about those of their organisation or colleagues, and at all times remain mindful of the scope and limitations of their techniques and capabilities.
• Members will always act in a professional manner at all times. 
• Members will not mislead or use false information in order to access information nor claim to represent any actual organisation or company, nor undertake any activity which could damage the reputation of their client.
• Members shall ensure that projects and activities are designed, carried out, reported and documented accurately, transparently and objectively.
• All personal data regarding candidates and clients will be recorded and stored in accordance with the General Data Protection Act.
• Research and insight work submitted should meet the highest standards of excellence, quality and reliability, and members should conduct themselves with respect, honesty and fairness in any dealings. 
• Members will always respect confidential information entrusted to them by relevant parties.
• Members will not begin to undertake services for a client where there is a conflict of interest to another existing client without declaring such conflict of interest to the client and will resolve any such conflicts of interest through disclosure or waiver. 
• Members will always support equal opportunities for all, avoiding prejudicial or pejorative reference to an individual’s race, colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status or to any physical or mental illness or disabilities.

STRUCTURE/COMMITTEE

The ERA is run by a committee predominantly made up of volunteers.  The committee consists of a Membership Secretary, Treasurer(s), a Chair or two Co-Chairs and general committee members, to a maximum of 10 individuals. The Membership Secretary can also act as Co-Treasurer, as can a Chair.  

The Membership Secretary is paid a small monthly fee, to be agreed at the AGM through a simple majority vote of the committee. 

The rest of the committee are voted in by the current ERA membership (see Appendix). 

Management committee

The management committee will comprise three individuals, formed from:

• Membership Secretary/Co-Treasurer
• 2 Co-Chairs

The management committee will have responsibility for:

• Accounts
• Arbitration – specifically relating to any committee member deemed to have fallen below the expected professional standards of the ERA
• Mediation – arranging/conducting mediation relating to any ERA member deemed to have fallen below the expected professional standards of the ERA

Committee members

Eligibility: committee members will normally be actively involved in one or more of: executive research, executive search, talent acquisition or talent insight/intelligence.

For voting procedures, see Appendix.

There will be a minimum of 6 and maximum of 10 committee members.  Each member will serve for 4 years, unless the member chooses to resign during that period.  At the end of each member’s 4 year term, that member can be up for re-election. See Appendix.  

If any committee member is deemed to have fallen below the expected professional standards of the ERA and/or to have breached the ERA’s professional code of practice, that member will be asked to step down from the committee with immediate effect. In the event of the removal being disputed, the member’s removal will be arbitrated by the management committee.

Each committee member is expected to contribute to one or more sub-committees and may also be expected to undertake ad hoc projects during their time as a committee member.

Chairs

There are 2 Co-Chairs of the ERA. A Chair will serve for a maximum of 4 years but may resign during that time.  At the end of the 4 years, the Chair can relinquish the post of Chair, be re-elected at Chair, be nominated/elected as a general committee member or cease to be a committee member.   The maximum period of time an individual can act as Chair without a break is 8 years.

A Chair is nominated by a committee member, or by him/herself and is voted in with a simple majority of the committee. In the event of a tied vote, the remaining Co-Chair has the casting vote.  Any committee member has the right to abstain from voting.

MEETINGS

The committee will convene at least 6 times a year.  Meetings can be in person or virtual. At least 5 committee members must be present at a committee meeting to allow decisions to be made. Minutes will be made available to all committee members within 7 days of the meeting having taken place. 

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

An Annual General Meeting (AGM) shall be held in March of each year. All members of the ERA are eligible to attend. Notices of the  AGM shall be published three weeks beforehand.  A report on the Group’s financial position for the previous year will be made available – the AGM is the forum for discussion of accounts and other matters. Six committee members will be required for a General Meeting to take place. 

Proposals to change the constitution must be given in writing to the secretary at least 28 days before a general meeting and approved by a two thirds majority of those present and voting.

ACCOUNTS

The ERA raises funds through subscription income from its members, training plus sponsorship.  All funds are paid into a single bank account under the name The Executive Research Association. There will be 2 signatories to the account, including the Membership Secretary and Treasurer/Co-Treasurer.  Any proposed new signatory agrees to the necessary background checks to comply with current banking guidelines.

The ERA financial year runs from 1 January to 31 December.  Ordinarily, accounts will be available to members within 2 months of the end of the financial year.  

Any committee member can request sight of the accounts, access to be granted within 7 days. 

The ERA is an unincorporated association and is therefore exempt from filing accounts and from being audited.  

DISSOLUTION

The ERA may be dissolved as an organisation in the event of a failure for whatever reason/s to sustain itself as an active body.  A winding up would be effected by a committee recommendation to the entire membership of the ERA

at the time, which recommendation would require acceptance by over 50% of those responding.  Following wind-up, subject to payment of outstanding creditors, any remaining assets would be equitably shared pro rata amongst ERA members.

Signed by Co-Chair……………………………… Date……………………….

Signed by Co-Chair……………………………… Date……………………….

Signed by Secretary……………………. …   Date……………………….

Signed by Treasurer………………………. Date ……………………….

Appendix

Committee membership

The ERA committee comprises a minimum of 6 members, with a committee size of 8 plus 2 Co-Chairs.  Committee membership is open to all members of the ERA.   

Committee members are expected to act as a committee member for 4 years (although free to resign during this time), after which they can put themselves up for re-election or may step down. 

Co-Chairs act as Co-Chair for 4 years, again up for election after that period, and may act as Co-Chair for a maximum 2 terms, i.e. 8 years.

A new Co-Chair is elected by the committee members and is expected to come from the current cohort of committee members.  

Should no member of the current committee wish to stand as Co-Chair,  the Co-Chair post will be offered back to the exiting Co-Chair.  In the event of a split vote, the existing Co-Chair will have the casting vote. 

Co-Treasurers

There are two Co-Treasurers for the ERA. One is the Membership Secretary.  One of the committee members will be expected to act as Co-Treasurer for the duration of that committee member’s membership of the committee or until such time as that committee member wishes to relinquish the post of Co-Treasurer.  The Co-Treasurer is not expected to have financial qualifications but to provide checks and balances, therefore acting as an additional safeguard and support to the Membership Secretary.

Nomination and voting procedures

The Membership Secretary will be responsible for notifying all ERA members that nominations for the committee membership have opened.  Under normal circumstances, the following are suggested dates. However, in the situation where a committee member resigns before the end of their term, alternative nomination and voting dates can be agreed by the committee, with members given a minimum of 4 weeks to vote.

Dates	Activity
By 31 December	Nominations will take place.
By 31 January	Each candidate for election will have the opportunity to write a short statement of approximately 300 words stating why they are standing and what contribution they are intending to make to the committee.  This will be posted on The ERA web site.
During February	Voting will take place using an online voting platform.
March Virtual AGM	Results of the election will be announced.

Each individual member will have one vote per post.  Each corporate member will have two votes per post.  Nominees are entitled to vote for themselves.

Shadow committee

The committee may, at its discretion, appoint no more than 5 shadow committee members with the purpose of better reflecting member voices, and acting as future succession for the committee.  Shadow committee members must be members of the ERA.

The constitution and appendix was approved by the ERA Committee on 12th December 2023