Training and competence and TCF

To demonstrate that you've embedded TCF into your Training and Competence requirements it’s a good idea to have in place procedures demonstrating how competence is being maintained in areas such as:

• technical knowledge
• advisory skills
• changes in markets, product legislation and regulation

Ways you might do this could include:

• ensuring continuing professional development by encouraging reading of the trade press, FSA website newsletters and attendance at roadshows and industry training events
• regular file checking, and records to show how often this is done
• use of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to assess employees' performance against the firm's standards, eg in relation to persistency, complaints, compliance monitoring, standards of Fact Find completion and of general record keeping
• regular product knowledge tests and accompanied calls in order to monitor employees' continuing competence

You could include some of this key information on your Staff Training Log and/or a separate Product Training Log.