What would the regulator think about your firm’s training and competence policies? Have they been adapted for the new world in which we work?

The impact of Covid has meant that homeworking or a hybrid of office and homeworking is going to be the norm for the foreseeable future, but training and competence requirements have not changed – how do you ensure you have acceptable evidence that your people are and have remained competent whilst working remotely?

You must be able to prove (to an intrusive regulator) that your T&C policies mitigate risk and promote professionalism.

This is about more than just compliance, it’s about genuinely improving business standards. A good T&C programme helps your firm retain its best staff and attract new talent. A poor one can expose your business to accusations of misconduct and financial penalties especially under SMCR

Gain confidence in your T&C framework.

Protect your workforce – Employees rarely set out to break the rules. More often than not, compliance issues occur because individuals are simply unaware of the latest regulation. A well-structured training regime will help keep them up-to-speed with the rules and safe from compliance failures.

Drive up standards of professionalism – A successful T&C regime is one that’s easily interpreted by both the workforce and the regulator. Introducing measurable targets will promote self-assessment among your staff, encouraging them to raise their game.

Attract and retain the best staff – Personal development is a key incentive to high- performing individuals, so a competitive training programme helps attracts new talent. And a formal T&C regime will embed a culture of learning, helping you protect and retain your best people.

Prove you put customers first – Ethics and standards of behaviour are one of the regulator’s top priorities. Your firm needs to demonstrate that customers are at the heart of its strategy, so a watertight approach to staff assessment and monitoring is essential.

At the end of this workshop you will have:

• A T&C Health Check Audit (questionnaire)
• A T&C framework
• Code of conduct examples