AESC Best Practices for Data Protection

Purpose

AESC is the exclusive global association representing only the highest quality firms in our profession worldwide. After meeting our rigorous membership criteria, our members agree to abide by the AESC Code of Professional Practice. By virtue of selecting an AESC Member, clients can be secure in their choice of consulting firm and can reap the benefits that only a trusted advisor can deliver.

AESC Members always respect any confidential information entrusted to them by clients and candidates. Each of our members respect the confidence placed upon them. These Best Practices improve transparency and accountability, provide some level of mitigation against enforcement actions, and improve AESC member firm standards by establishing best practices.

We encourage the adoption and use of a consistent set of privacy standards for the protection of personal data in the context of executive search and leadership consulting services, with the aim of improving the protection afforded to individuals and fostering trust in the profession as a whole.

Only AESC Members can announce their commitment to these Best Practices. Under no circumstances may any organization that is not an AESC Member Firm use these Best Practices or claim adherence to these guidelines. These guidelines are the intellectual property of AESC.

Scope of these guidelines 

AESC Data Protection Guidelines are designed to specifically cover: 

• Candidates: any candidate, or potential candidate, for a position with a Client;
• Participants: any individual who participates in any assessments provided as part of any Executive Search or Leadership Advisory Services; and
• Sources: any person that provides any view or opinion regarding the qualities or abilities of any Candidate or Participant, for any purpose, including but not limited to the suitability of a Candidate or Participant for a particular role with a Client.