The Best Practice Environment
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Outputs: Best Practice is integrated within the mainstream of member firms business planning
and management. Compliance with regulatory requirements is achieved as a by-product of
seeking competitive advantage.
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Scope
This Best Practice toolkit is relevant to anyone who is an "overseer". The term overseer applies to anyone who is responsible for providing accurate information to clients, IFA's and internal customers through their staff.
Overseers must be assessed regularly to ensure their competence is being maintained. The person most likely to have that responsibility is their line manager. The role is known as Supervisor of Overseer's Competence.
Member firms use differing structures and job titles for the staff who hold the responsibility, the examples that follow should assist in matching the roles to the responsibility.
In the continued absence of an overseer - holiday, sickness, maternity leave as examples, the jobholder's role must be covered by another. Companies, indeed departments, will opt to cover the absence in different ways. It may be delegated up  to or down to  either way the individual must be competent or developing the competency
Application
The staff who undertake the day to day work are able do it correctly, because the overseer has the appropriate skills to supervise them effectively.
The overseer regularly reviews their staff to ensure they remain competent. The overseer in turn undergoes the same process.
Best Practice structures
Procedures covering training and competency are in place and available for all staff to view.
Compliance audits are regularly undertaken to ensure that the Best Practice scheme is being met.
Best Practice in the context of the member firm
Promote awareness of the scheme to Overseers.
Promote awareness to all staff.
Integrate Best Practice activities within Personal Development Plans.
Publicise examination success.
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Output Best Practice arrangements are based on explicit standards of performance for each category of staff
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An agreed competency framework is in place - member firms use differing documentation, but all meet the requirements of the framework
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Competency
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Content
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Customer Service
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- Actively promotes a customer awareness attitude to other staff
- Manages an end to end customer service process so that a reliable service is maintained
- Initiates and evaluates changes to improve service to customer· Uses customer feedback to identify areas for improvement
- Takes a proactive approach to meeting customer needs
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Team building and development
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- Understands how to motivate self and team
- Understands the difference between leading and managing
- Emphasises objectives and creates good team sprit by building and reinforcing team values
- Builds on team strengths and addresses areas for improvement
- Encourages openness and honesty amongst team members
- Recognises and rewards contribution
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Communication techniques and skills
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- Understands the advantages of using effective communication e.g. active listening, questioning, non-verbal communication, turning a negative situation into a positive one
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Planning & Organising |
- Establishes short term objectives, prioritising resources and anticipating activities
- Allocates duties and resources to ensure the efficient co-ordination of activities
- Uses specific criteria for determining success
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Planning & Managing Change
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- Understands the need for and benefit of change· Understands how to sell change and how to communicate it successfully
- Anticipates resistance to change and is proactive in reducing this
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Identifying and meeting training needs
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- Establishes personal development plans and evaluates individual needs
- Deliveries training to individuals or groups
- Coaches staff
- Assists other to produce ideas and gain confidence
- Appraises for personal development
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Problem Solving
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- Analyses problems and solutions in order to make effective judgements and ensure resolution
- Evaluates verbal and written communication in order to assess impacts
- Agrees problem solving process with colleagues
- Manages implementations against time, risk and cost
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Monitoring
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- Reviews progress against plans.
- Sets goals for the team
- Evaluates and assesses problems and identifies solutions
- Ensures work is completed within budget, rules and procedures
- Authorises actions, checks details and monitors discipline
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Job Roles
Scope of the role covered by Best Practice. All staff should have a job description, which should state their overall purpose - this is particularly important for overseers.
The description should include:
Job title and grade if applicable, department, and who the jobholder reports to.
Minimum qualifications refer to Examinations section
Experience - likely to be 4 years in Finance Sector with 2 to 3 years in a team leader or supervisory role.
Overall purpose - for example:
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Overseeing the day to day running of the area effectively and efficiently. To assist Senior Administrators and other members of the team with the more complex and non-standard issues in line with procedures and service standards. To produce reports to the assistant manager when required and deputise for the assistant manager when appropriate.
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The department structure chart
Key Result Areas - examples are:
Personal development - to take responsibility for self development
Control and Efficiency - ensure that the service standards and compliance issues are met. Also ensure that staff adhere to set down procedures.
Control and Efficiency - undertake random audits to ensure that all administration is error free and in line with procedures and service standards. Ensure that team's resources are appropriately deployed to ensure maximum efficiency.
Competencies
See previous page
Scope and limits of authority - examples are:
Cheque signing - limit £100,000.00
Overtime authorisation
Holiday authorisation
Recruitment
Overseer must meet company agreed services standards for turnaround and accuracy.
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Output: Member firms use their resources efficiently by appointing individuals who are capable of achieving the required level of competence within an acceptable period of time.
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Procedures
Advertising should target competencies, member firms should aim to ensure that they attract, develop, retain and motivate the appropriate calibre of staff.
Opportunities for internal promotion should be available, as should transfers and secondment.
All candidates must meet the minimum standards required for the job and be subject to the same selection process.
An interview checklist should reflect the necessary competencies and evidence of exam success.
All staff should have a job description that includes relevant competencies, a copy of which should be held on their personnel file.
A development questionnaire would be a useful tool at the selection process and would help identify skills and knowledge gaps. The questionnaire would enable a development plan to be set up from day one and so help the successful applicant become competent in the shortest possible time.
Employment references must be obtained for external candidates and reflect the qualifications and experience stated by the interviewee. HR departments need to consider content of advertising and reference requests.
Successful internal and external applicants must provide original examination pass certificates; HR should make and certify copies for retention on the individual's personnel file.
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Output: Staff undertake appropriate development and have access to suitable learning opportunities to enable them to reach a competent level of performance as promptly as possible.
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Planning Training
A development questionnaire would assist the planning of training for external recruits.
A personal development plan (PDP) will aid existing staff. This should be in place on day one and the overseer should have regular reviews - not less than once a year.
All staff should have an awareness of the training opportunities on offer.
Learning Methodology
Training departments should liaise with the business to determine how best to meet the needs of the individuals.
Training needs can be met by on or off the job training and self development.
Evaluating Training
PDP activities have defined measures that should be met.
Sampling of service standard reports will show how effective the overseer is. Reviews will help identify remaining skills and knowledge gaps.
Reviewing and Updating Training Material
Training departments must review materials to meet changing needs - these can be caused by:
- Market developments
- Legal and regulatory changes
- Review of learning objective outputs
The supervisor of competence should also ensure that all on-the-job training materials and procedures meet changing requirements.
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Output: All relevant staff demonstrate their ability to perform competently before being permitted to work unsupervised. They must remain competent to work unsupervised.
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Assessment Methodologies
The overseer should be assessed using a range of the following methods:
Observation
Discussion
Reviews
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Checks on on-the-job
Performance
Role play
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Telephone monitoring
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Performance Indicators
Examples include:
Complaint levels, error rates, service standards, feedback, team morale and team satisfaction surveys
An acceptable level of competency is achieved when measured against the required standard.
Guidance on assessing knowledge and its application in respect of firms' own products, services and procedures
Existing overseers must be assessed by 31 December 2002 (MIA N2 date). Those assessed as not competent by N2 have 12 months to reach competency. Examination is optional.
New appointees have two years to attain competence and pass an appropriate qualification.
Newly appointed overseers not passing the appropriate examinations within two years of commencing study may be removed from the role.
Arrangements for signing staff off as competent
Companies should have appropriate sign off procedures in place, sign off follows a review and discussion with the overseer and supervisor of competence.
In the event of a dispute standard grievance procedures should be followed.
Outlines of standard development programmes for overseers
Development should include the core competencies listed on page 4 and be delivered using a variety of methods.
Record keeping arrangements
PDP's, skills matrices and regular performance reviews are retained by the individual and HR.
Certified copies of examination certificates should be retained by HR.
All appropriate records should be stored for at least three years after leaving the company.
A Certificate of Competence is issued with an expiry date 12 months after date of issue.
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Output: All relevant staff are appropriately supervised while they develop competence and then are appropriately monitored
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Control mechanisms ensure supervision is adequate for:
New staff and existing staff in new roles are covered in earlier sections.
Existing staff in existing roles, with new responsibilities remain competent overall. However, decision making for the new responsibilities must remain with the supervisor of competence until they have deemed the overseer competent.
When the new responsibilities result in a change of job title then a revised Certificate of Competence should be issued when the appropriate standard has been achieved.
A consistent scheme must be in place for ALL staff and not only the staff in roles affected by the scheme. The relevant data is captured by following the procedures laid down earlier.
Control mechanisms to ensure those supervising Best Practice are competent to act in a supervisory capacity
The supervisor of competency should be assessed competent in their role, to achieve the status will involve a higher level of:
Technical and man-management skills
Coaching and mentoring skills
Range of interview and counselling skills
Relevant development programmes should reflect the greater reliance on increased technical and inter-personal skills of the level.
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Output: Member firms have suitable arrangements to enable individual members of staff to have their functional knowledge independently verified.
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Approved examinations preferred by the sector for relevant staff
Qualifications must be appropriate to the job function and newly appointed overseers will be expected to gain a minimum of:
- Financial Planning Certificate Paper 1 and 2 - the LFC
or
- Financial Planning Certificate Paper 1 and the Life Office Admin or Pensions Admin Paper - the FAFC
or
- Investment Administration Qualification comprising three papers - Introduction to Securities and Investment, FSA Regulatory Environment and a paper appropriate to the candidate's job function - the IAQ.
or
- Isle of Man Certificate in Offshore Administration - must include Life Assurance subject(s). The new five paper qualification is not acceptable.
In addition to the four minimum qualifications listed here, an extensive range of FSA approved examinations can be found in the FSA Training and Competence Source book.
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