Screening employees should always have been an important part of a law firm’s recruitment process, but it is now more critical than ever due to the screening requirements contained within the Anti-Money Laundering Regulations and Legal Sector Affinity Group guidance.
- Topic:
- Legal
Even before Coronavirus flipped most working models on their head - from office-based to home-based/remote - for the majority of knowledge workers at least, there has been an increasing trend for work-from-home (WFH) and work-from-anywhere (WFA) offerings as employers look to increase their appeal to the global talent pool.
As things begin to return to ‘normal’ across the globe, an enormous appetite for at least some flexibility on how much time employees spend working from the office every week remains.
Though on a small-scale basis this may not have provided too much of an issue, en masse it can become a big compliance headache if not managed effectively.
So just what are these compliance challenges, and what can L&D do to ensure that not only are remote workers kept safe, but that the business complies with relevant regulations too?
Understanding the Financial Conduct Authority’s focus
We’ve all been living through a wild year without equal and now, as the tide hopefully turns on Covid-19, we find ourselves moving forward with renewed impetus, despite the pandemic and the effects of Brexit remaining a big part of the picture. With those factors and others in mind, this article’s going to think about the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and three clear areas of regulatory focus that it’s currently concentrating on:
- Governance, culture and individual accountability
- Conduct and enforcement
- Operational and financial resilience
Now, we anticipate that all of these matters will generate increased FCA scrutiny – and enforcement action – in the months ahead, so they’re certainly subjects worth discussing. To help me do so, I’m delighted to be able to draw upon the insights and expertise of Philippa Grocott, Managing Partner at the financial services training and consultancy firm FSTP.
Making people central to their success
“To me, the model of success is not linear. Success is completing the full circle of yourself.”
There’s going to be something of a circular, cyclical theme to this reflection on learning, improvement and the importance of people being at the centre of things. As the quote above suggests, circles and success are no strangers to each other and we’ve been thinking within this area lately, in particular regarding people-centric product design and a cycle for the creation, delivery and review of effective learning experiences. It all stems from a belief that it’s really important to ‘put people into products’ – to ensure that the initiatives and developments we undertake are really focused on and effective for, those intended to benefit from them.
Travelling towards simplification
The prospect of changing your HR and payroll software could be intimidating. At this point, you can choose your metaphor. Perhaps it seems like you’re going to be turning a tanker around. Maybe it’s more akin to trading in a dated but familiar, family car. Or, the perceived complexities might make it feel like you need to get a space rocket off the ground – a moonshot project. Whatever your outlook in this respect, it’s crucial to ask yourself why you need certain software now, but also to identify both your current needs and where you need to be in a few years. In short, to know where you are and where you want to get to.
The average HR and payroll software is changed somewhere between every seven to nine years and with the right people and purpose steering the project, a simplified system can be truly liberating. So don’t let the fact that you’ve always done things a certain way constrain you and do ensure you have the right people involved. Let’s take a look at some of the factors to consider and the things that can help when you’re planning to change your system.
- Topic:
- Human Resources
Living systems where everything’s linked
“Learn how to see. Realise that everything connects to everything else.”
Leonardo da Vinci
The words of a truly great, artist and polymath who pushed countless boundaries in his time. Having drawn inspiration from the time of the Renaissance, let’s move our focus to a revolution: the significance of hyper-connectivity, here and now, in our fast-changing world. What does ‘hyper-connected’ mean? A dictionary might say something about the ‘widespread or habitual use of devices that have internet connectivity’.
We’re going to look at it from an HR perspective, however, and for me the starting point is to view organisations as living, biological systems with many intricate nuances. It’s about treating your company as a complex, conscious system and making use of data and technology to ensure a personalised experience for every individual within it. Why is this concept important? Companies that want to thrive no matter what happens need to bounce back quickly as the economy recovers, which means welcoming back employees and considering all their experiences - for the good of everyone.
- Topic:
- Human Resources
Once upon a crime…
Here’s a quick story. My eldest son is a pretty typical 17-year-old. He has his own bank account, with a card, and loves finding great deals online, mostly via the family’s tablet. Recently, an advert for a well-known retailer grabbed his attention. It was selling a favoured brand of trainers at an incredible price. He clicked on the link, was taken to a site he recognised, registered the usual information – including bank details – and placed an order. The trainers should have arrived within two days, but a week later nothing had appeared. It was around then that I noticed a ‘Thank You’ pop-up related to the order, which also promised more great deals on the website. It looked suspicious so I closed it down, asked my son about it and heard about the deal. I then checked the website of the retailer directly, only to find there was no such offer. We contacted the bank, cancelled the card, performed an antivirus scan on the device and changed the passwords for all its apps and accounts. Suffice to say, the trainers never arrived. We’d been defrauded.
The reason for recounting this tale is a belief that personal stories can play a really valuable role within training, giving people the confidence to talk about and share experiences with colleagues and managers – and that matters, because now more than ever employees have a vital role to play in businesses’ resilience against the ever-growing threat of cyber-attacks and data breaches.
Law firms are facing a number of challenges arising out of the Covid-19 pandemic, including their ability to attract new clients and deal effectively with existing clients who are not 100% happy with the service they have received, for example, delays in obtaining searches in property transactions.
Some of these issues were identified in the recently published report from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which focused on how consumer access to legal services and solicitor competency could be improved and maintained; the report’s recommendations and how they should be implemented will clearly have an impact on law firms and regulatory bodies going forward.
- Topic:
- Legal
Against a backdrop of major global upheaval and unprecedented change in the workplace, it’s perhaps unsurprising that the type of aptitudes and abilities people are seeking out is changing. In tandem with this, there’s an apparent move away from more task-orientated skills, such as time management, towards more people-orientated skills instead. Indeed, recent research by LinkedIn helped to identify the top five soft skills predicted to be particularly in demand during 2021.So, a quick quiz: how many of these do you think you can guess (we’ll confirm them for you further below)?
This development hints at just how important it is to look ahead and ensure the health and long-term success of your business: in essence, to future-proof your workforce. Invariably, it comes back to the people and making sure that you’re supporting individuals, nurturing talent and navigating as a team through the usual terrain and uncertainty alike. Closing any skills gaps that your employees might have, to enable the business to grow and prosper, is a crucial part of achieving those aims.
As a consequence of the government’s stamp duty holiday and pent-up property activity from the Covid-19 lockdown, the conveyancing market has seen a massive increase in the number of transactions taking place in the last few months. However, the rise in demand also comes with increased risks for those handling them.
CQS-accredited firms must ensure that they comply at all times with the CQS scheme rules and CQS protocol, otherwise they are at risk of negligence claims being made by clients.
- Topic:
- Legal
