In the January edition of T-C News I wrote about “Empowering the Supervisor” in which I looked at the role of the Supervisor and the need to put people at the forefront of a T&C Scheme. Firms may put customers at the forefront of their business, but behind the scenes this can only really happen if our people have the right skills, knowledge, and tools.
My T&C Scheme this year placed it’s primary emphasis on people, starting with the Supervisors who, in this year’s scheme, have been given greater empowerment to not just oversee and monitor their people, but also to demonstrate that this is being done so that action can be taken as appropriate and, most importantly, the T&C Supervisor has wider oversight and therefore can provide the right level of support.
So that all areas and processes are covered, the T&C Scheme this year (and for the first time) not only included the Supervisors, Advisers, and Para-Planner, but also the Administrative Support team as well. Total oversight is therefore achieved.
Whichever way you do yours, key to the success of this process is that 1-2-1 meeting with each supervisor
Each Supervisor has the same specific set of Key Performance Indicators focussing on checking and work outputs, ensuring that every individual has a local, not company, development plan, and that every individual has a monthly 1-2-1 meeting which documents the discussions on these KPI’s, together with any feedback from other information sources from the T&C Scheme Supervisor, and any actions taken or required.
With over fifty members of the T&C Scheme, there is a lot of information flowing, and it needs to be centrally recorded so that the T&C Supervisor can understand what is happening and where the Supervisors need support. Again, this is structured so that the T&C Scheme will collate all the information for the previous month within the first two weeks of the following month, then hold a 1-2-1 Meeting with each Supervisor before they have their own 1-2-1 meetings with their people.
Some firms may do this as routine. Other may be do this less frequently. Whichever way you do yours, key to the success of this process is that 1-2-1 meeting with each supervisor. The system we use to record the information allows a review, not just of the current KPI outputs but also the historical outputs immediately. So, for example, should a Supervisor want to review an adviser’s file check records for the last six months, or if the T&C Supervisor wanted to discuss a specific trend that may warrant a training need, this information is available almost instantly.
Supervisors are by nature busy people. Often they do not have the time to run their teams effectively across all requirements by themselves, and this is where T&C can provide the support. A framework is important as it provides consistency across the board, so the Supervisors just have to follow the agreed process. No point in creating additional work as they will not buy in. Ensuring that you do not take up more time than is necessary when you hold your T&C 1-2-1’s with the Supervisors is also appreciated. Finally, make sure that whatever support they need can be delivered, whether this is additional training, focused CPD events, or assessments.
Apart from the feedback we provide from the T&C KPI Outputs, which is delivered by individual by KPI by result and reason for that result, other support that has helped our Supervisors, particularly this year, includes providing updates on those individuals personal CPD targets. Attendance figures for CPD events. Arranging training sessions from other providers. Collating MI from sources such as adviser feedback on para-planning draft reports, feedback on errors and omissions, complaints, NTU’s, and client terminations. Facilitating new starter inductions. Tracking SPS renewals and exam results. All standard records but this is done for the Supervisor so they do not have to themselves, which, in my experience, is often the case in smaller firms.
We have been running this process for some years, although this year is the first time we’ve been able to properly facilitate, record, and deliver the MI to the Supervisors through our new cloud-based T&C system. The Supervisors, for the most part, have bought in and accepted the support provided to the point where T&C is now much better informed on what is going on around the business.
Supervisors cannot do it all themselves, although some try. They need support and providing the T&C Scheme is correctly positioned, we can deliver what the Supervisors need.
