Training & Competence - The quality of performance

Training has only recently accelerated up the agenda of many in the insurance industry. The main reason for this is the emphasis placed by the Financial Services Authority on the need for competence among staff in the regulated regime that begins on 14 January 2005.

Staff are a business' most important asset; a business can not operate successfully without skilled, experienced and committed people. It follows that any efforts made to improve the quality and performance of staff will be reflected in the performance of the business.

Recruitment is another priority. If an organisation is evidently one that invests in staff development, then it will attract ambitious individuals who want to make progress.

At this year's British Insurance Brokers' Association Conference, chief executive Eric Galbraith talked about the need for 'weapons-grade talent'.

He was alluding to the fact that, if the insurance industry misses out on the best personnel, they will join rival industries instead. The argument applies just as tellingly at local business level - what business would want the best people to defect to its local rivals?

The Chartered Insurance Institute has established the Faculty of Insurance Broking to act as a centre of technical excellence and good practice.

It will encourage and support those following careers in broking to assess and enhance their levels of knowledge and skill on a continuing basis.

FIB, as part of the CII, will work to identify professional standards, benchmarks and best market practice, providing services to help with training and continuous professional development that also reflect the regulator's training and competence requirements.

For many, passing an examination or qualification will be an integral component of T&C compliance but will not, on its own, be enough.

The FSA's T&C rules stipulate that companies and the people they employ must be 'competent' and 'fit for purpose'. The onus is, therefore, on the employer, and, to an extent, the individual employee, to achieve standards that, if the FSA inspector calls, can be deemed satisfactory.

This means acquiring evidence of learning to a level sufficient to carry out the duties relating directly to a given job. And it means amassing evidence of ongoing study to maintain that level.

In devising its General Insurance Qualifications Framework, the CII was careful to take account of regulatory requirements and the need to provide a structure that encourages and facilitates career development.

To facilitate study and improve the potential for exam success, the CII has developed a range of study aids to cater for varying preferences and needs. And, with employers in mind, it has developed the broker ASSESS facility to provide firms with the means to determine how staff measure up to objective benchmarks of ongoing knowledge and competence.

The system also performs a record-keeping function so that the business has evidence to present to the FSA to demonstrate compliance as required.

These essential components of the broker's T&C tool kit are complemented by a 'pathways' approach, which offers career routes through the CII qualification framework alongside the acquisition of greater expertise and experience.

There is a need to encourage personal development and businesses have a key role to play, for example, by promoting the mentoring of recruits by experienced individuals.

Designations on completion of qualifications provide building blocks for a successful career and a clear recognition of achievement - something that is important when trying to motivate people.

Research carried out by the CII highlights the importance employers are placing on T&C. Covering the views of 141 respondents, representing 141,305 employees (almost half of the people who work in insurance and financial services in the UK), the overall theme of the CII's latest Company Education Support report is that the industry believes that standards must rise.

The vast majority of respondents (almost 93%) believed that the demand for qualifications is set to rise, and two-thirds (66.9%) felt that more staff would need higher-level qualifications, such as the Advanced Diploma in Insurance, over the next five years.

In response to a question on whether staff with no qualifications would need to obtain at least a basic-level qualification, the vast majority (89.3%) answered yes, while the need for top-up exams was supported by 86.7%. This gives a clear indication that, in addition to widespread support for more exams, these need to be focused on meeting firms' precise needs.

In line with the CII, strategy for the provision of online assessment and exams, however, were not seen as the only requirement. Almost all respondents (96.4%) believed that maintaining competence is just as important as passing exams and 66.9% wanted regular re-testing of knowledge rather than sitting formal exams.

Expenditure on T&C is an investment. Proven competence equals compliance, but it also means having staff that can perform better and to a higher level. They will commit fewer errors and achieve higher standards. It is easy to see how that will impact on the quality of service and client relationships.

Creating a culture in which training and development are a commercial as well as a compliance imperative will take time and effort. Employers will need a new kind of thinking that sees knowledge as an asset. Employees will need to embrace continual learning as a valuable part of work, not as a chore or a soft alternative to work itself.

Perhaps this is why the arrival of regulation should be celebrated.

It is forcing the adoption of a fresh perspective, which puts self-improvement at the top of the agenda for companies and individuals - and offers, as a reward, greater commercial potential and accelerated career development.