Livingston James Group – the employee-owned executive search and finance recruitment firm – has appointed 27-year-old Christina McLean to the board of its employee ownership trust (EOT).
Christina was voted by her peers to become one of two elected trustee directors among the firm’s team of 25 across its two brands – Livingston James and Rutherford Cross – serving in the position on a three-year term. She takes over from Jonathan Donnelly, who took on the position when the group first became employee-owned.
In the role, Christina will act on behalf of the group’s staff, ensuring Livingston James is managed in the best interests of all current and future employees. This includes voting on major decisions such as mergers and acquisitions, the company’s strategic direction, and profit distribution.
Trustees are rotated every three years, giving other members of the Livingston James team the opportunity to serve in the role and gain experience of senior leadership. Kirsty Mclardy, the other trustee director for the group, has another 12 months left on her tenure.
Christina has been at Rutherford Cross since 2022 and is a specialist recruiter in interim and contract roles for the accountancy and finance sectors. She graduated from Glasgow Caledonian University in 2020 with a degree in International Fashion Branding, before moving into a sales role after she graduated.
Christina McLean said: “I’m really excited to be taking on this position and feel honoured that my colleagues voted for me. It’s incredibly rare for someone with six years of work experience to be given such a huge responsibility and a front row seat to the governance and inner workings of a business.
“Whatever stage you are at in your career, it shows that going outside of your comfort zone can open up new opportunities. If I hadn’t left my name in the ballot, the opportunity to play such an important role in Livingston James and Rutherford Cross wouldn’t have come up. So, any other people looking at positions they’re not sure they have the right background or experience for shouldn’t be put off – just go for it.”
Livingston James Group became the first employee-owned recruitment specialist in Scotland when its management team decided to make the move in 2023.
The model gives each of the staff a vote in the election of trustee directors, as well as their name in the hat provided they have worked at the company for at least two years. It also means they are part of a profit-share scheme that is shared equally among colleagues who have worked in the business a year or longer.
In addition to reduced staff turnover, higher customer satisfaction, and a more engaged team, Jamie Livingston, co-founder of Livingston James, said that one of the positive consequences of going employee owned was that it encouraged the business to act and think in new ways.
Jamie added: “The raison d’ être of the EOT is to make sure the company is managed in a way that benefits all current and future employees. The only way it can do that properly is by truly representing the views of the team – so, it is absolutely invaluable to have different perspectives.
“Our senior leadership team have all been in the business for more than 10 years, and recruitment more generally for even longer. Someone like Christina can provide a completely different point of view, not only in terms of her age, but also her background in fashion, position within the company, and view of the world. She will ask questions we wouldn’t even think of – and that can only make us better.
“Whether a business is employee owned or not, I would encourage more boards to look at ways of gathering a diverse range of perspectives – whether it is from young people or seasoned technical experts who aren’t in C-suite positions. The way we have it set up, people who wouldn’t necessarily put themselves forward are automatically in contention, and those are often exactly the voices you need to hear more from.”
