On 26 June 2015, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) announced that it had completed its audit of anti-money laundering procedures at law firms. Early findings suggest that only a small proportion of firms require a follow-up visit.

Since September 2014, the SRA visited over 500 firms that it had identified as being at risk from money laundering attempts. It examined whether or not they had effective checks and balances in place to detect any suspicious activity, and that staff were aware of these systems and knew how to use them. This campaign was in line with the SRA’s 2014-2015 risk outlook, which identified money laundering as a key risk to the industry.

As part of this process, the SRA published a “warning note on appropriate anti money laundering processes,” “guidance on how to complete suspicious activity reports,” and a “warning notice emphasising that firms should not allow their client account to be used as a bank account.”

During this process, we heard from a number of clients who presented the SRA with AML training reports from the Learning Management System. The SRA was satisfied with the reports and the level of training all staff received from the new VinciWorks Anti-Money Laundering training.

However, it is important to note, that a Financial Action Task Force (FATF) audit is expected soon.

FATF identified 42 red flags for law firms in its 2013 report Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Vulnerabilities of Legal Professionals. These red flags focus on due diligence around clients, source of funds, choice of lawyer and the nature of the retainer. The previous FATF audit was in 2007.

According to the 2014 CIPD survey, almost a third of employees feel performance management systems are unfair. This is an uncomfortable wake up call for people managers.

From years of working with managers worldwide, we know that a worryingly large number find performance management to be a tiresome compliance issue. If that is the attitude communicated by a manager, it is hardly surprising that many employees feel cynical and distrustful of the process.

Here are 12 suggestions for you to consider which will reinvigorate your performance management:

1. Keep it SMART and simple

Performance management is an opportunity for employees to align with their manager, team and the wider organisation. The language, terminology and materials must be simple, understandable and consistent. Ensuring that objectives are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound is crucial to give employees a chance of effectively achieving their objectives.

2. Clearly communicate the process

Your performance management cycle is the foundation of the whole process and it is important that it is communicated clearly at all levels. The cycle is underpinned by the enduring view that performance management is an opportunity for leaders to integrate strategic objectives into the daily work of their employees, and achieve engagement, sustainable performance and good business results at the same time.

3. Define roles and responsibilities

Ensure that everyone understands that it is the manager’s job to communicate the business strategy and plan, and it’s the employee’s job to think about and (with some direction and support) identify the impact on his or her objectives.

4. Focus on the journey as well as the end-goal

Help managers and employers to collaborate on the basis that it is not just about the results – but as much about how they achieve them.

5. Monitor your progress

Once you’ve embraced the first part of the process, subsequent inaction will lead to failure to achieve objectives, and individual and team disengagement. Happily the reverse is true when managers genuinely strive to get it right. You don’t have to be infallible to win – but your intentions and drive to deliver need to be evident.

6. Encourage collaboration

Performance management is just about dialogue. It works when it is genuinely a collaborative process, a foundation stone for a feedback-rich culture that aligns development with individual and business performance.

7. Demonstrate emotional intelligence

Empathetic dialogue requires managers and their employees to demonstrate effective emotional intelligence, meaning that giving and receiving good feedback demands an appropriate mix of courage, clarity and discipline.

8. Own your role

Performance management isn’t an extra-curricular activity, but an essential part of manager’s role. The continuum from informal, event-driven or operational conversations to formal discussions and reviews have, at their core, the same purpose – the opportunity and commitment to helping people reflect, understand, plan and determine what they do well, could do differently or might improve.

9. Don’t be confined by norms

To some, the term ‘performance management’ has command and control connotations that suggest top down directiveness rather that the ‘top down meets bottom up’ purpose for which it is intended. Consider a rebrand to make it more accessible for your employees.

10. Get the positioning right

Heralding performance management as an HR-led process can set the process off on the wrong footing. It’s about the business. It’s led by managers, owned by all employees, and facilitated by HR.

11. Don’t make it a burden

Too many managers burden themselves with the bulk of responsibility for validating, documenting and measuring their employees’s performance. Focus on placing more responsibility on employees for: identifying qualitative and quantitative measures; gathering evidence; having the courage and skill to assess their own performance; and identifying critical learning actions and how best to act on them.

12. Adjust your mindset!

If you are introducing a new or revised approach to performance management, adopt a long-term focus with a few quick-wins up your sleeve to encourage momentum and application. It will need nurturing, marketing, training, coaching, direction and all the influence you can muster to sustain the culture change it represents.

This article is an excerpt from a whitepaper by our partner, JSB Learning and Development.

Train your firm on the SRA Accounts Rules in 30 minutes

VinciWorks – the leader in online compliance learning – has just released a new, 30-minute interactive course to brush up on the SRA Accounts Rules.

The course provides an overview of the key definitions, explains the rules that impact day-to-day work, and tests understanding with real-life scenarios. It digests the rules into concise principles and clarifies how client and firm money should be handled. The course is designed for fee earners, support staff and anyone else involved in handling client money.

Why is this important for you?

According to Rule 6, Non-compliance by any member of staff will also lead to the principals and COFA being in breach of the rules. Serious breaches will be referred to the Solicitors’ Disciplinary Tribunal (“SDT”) whose findings are published. The SDT and the SRA have the power to impose fines or other restrictions on any member of staff (not just solicitors).

Click here for pricing and more information

A large international firm with over 500 lawyers in 11 countries approached VinciWorks with a problem. Its employees are required to complete mandatory AML training every year. To facilitate this requirement, the firm set up easy online access to courses, and sent emails with login details and clear instructions for how to complete the training to everyone at the firm. Yet, despite their efforts to make compliance with this policy easy, course completion rates were alarmingly low.

After 3 months, only 13.6% of the firm had completed the training.

With this completion rate, the firm risked non-compliance with the regulatory requirement to train employees on the regulations and risks related to money laundering.

VinciWorks helped the firm implement the advanced features in the VinciWorks Legal Learning Management System Pro Edition, and after only three months, course completion rates tripled!

CLICK HERE TO SEE HOW WE DID IT: Screen Shot 2015-06-22 at 3.21.02 PM

 

It has been predicted that Augmented and Virtual Reality will be a $4bn industry by the year 2018.

And, this week at E3 (the Electronic Entertainment Expo) Microsoft’s HoloLens created a huge buzz, with many excited about how the technology will impact the videogaming industry.

We like to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to using technology to drive business performance, and believe there are a number of exciting potential applications for Augmented Reality in the eLearning industry, too. Here’s a glimpse of what we think the future may hold:

Widespread adoption

While Augmented and Virtual Reality suggests expensive new hardware, projects like Google’s Cardboard open up the technology to anyone with a compatible smartphone – meaning many existing smartphones are already capable of being used for immersive virtual reality environments.

Consequently, adoption of the technology is likely to be rapid and widespread, when compared to other emerging technologies which typically take a while to catch on. With the increasing amount of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) workplaces, it’s likely that workers around the world will be using Augmented and Virtual Reality devices in the workplace in the near future.

Simulated working environments

One of the benefits of eLearning is the ability to create an environment in which users can experiment. As people learn most from mistakes, being free to make them in a consequence-free environment means they are more likely to discover and remember the correct way to do things.

Virtual Reality will enable creation of a simulated version of a working environment, fully immersive and yet consequence-free, in which learners can discover safe, correct ways of working. Taking it a step further, Augmented Reality enables projection of holograms onto the user’s actual working environment, so eLearning will apply directly to their daily life.

Gamification

The main focus industry of the expansion of the Augmented and Virtual Reality market is gaming, and as gamification is increasingly being utilised in eLearning, these applications directly apply.

It’s not too difficult to imagine, for example, an augmented reality workplace in which employees are rewarded for performing their daily tasks correctly and efficiently, or undertaking safe working procedures as part of their training – leading to better performing, safer workplaces.

Immersion

The amount of distractions in the modern world has been widely commented upon (not to mention shared, liked, RTed, and even +1ed) – using a computer, tablet or phone for training means users battle with incoming emails, notifications from social networks, constantly updating websites, not to mention ‘real world’ distractions, to maintain focus.

It’s one of the reasons we use interactive multimedia elements in our eLearning, to make sure the content is engaging to the learner. VR eLearning would allow for 360° video, immersing the user entirely in a learning situation and further removing distractions.

Motion tracking

Gesture and motion recognition are part of the Augmented and Virtual Reality experience, commonly used for input such as selecting menu items, or interacting with video game environments.

In an eLearning context, there is no reason why people’s movements could not be tracked to ensure they are performing physical tasks in the correct way. This would enable interactive, real-time training for employees operating machinery, lifting and moving heavy items, or even performing operations – with instant feedback.

Future-proof

It remains to be seen how the business world will incorporate Augmented and Virtual Reality, if at all – but if it does become a core part of working life, we’ll be at the forefront of utilising it for eLearning.

It’s for the same reason that we have long been involved in the Adapt Learning Project and are currently making all of our courseware fully responsive: so that we can continue to offer future-proof eLearning that makes full use of the latest technology to drive business performance.

Earlier this week, the European Council reached a general approach on regulation for Data Protection, bringing a complete overhaul of EU Data Protection law a step closer.

Before the proposed regulations become law, the approach will be debated by European Parliament, the European Commission and the European Council.

If made law as they stand, there would be significant implications for businesses operating in or with companies in the EU. Described as “rules adapted to the digital era” by the European Council, they could be agreed as soon as the end of this year, so it’s not too early to start considering how they could affect you:

One-stop-shop approach

While currently there are independent watchdogs responsible for regulating data privacy in each member state of the EU, the new approach would standardise rules across the EU – in theory, simplifying doing business in the EU.

This would mean that companies within the EU, or those doing business with them, would have to refer to one single unified data protection authority and data privacy regulation.

What this means for your business: the changes to the law are expected to be relatively imminent, so now is the time to start planning for a potential overhaul of your own data protection policies with a view to complying with new EU legislation.

Increased consumer protection

The new proposals include strict regulation around the collection and use of personal data, essentially giving more control and rights to individuals where their data is concerned.

This would include making it easier for consumers to access their data, the ability to remove data from companies’ databases (the ‘right to be forgotten’) or easily transfer data between companies.

What this means for your business: when collecting any data about consumers or staff, businesses will need to be increasingly transparent about what that data will be used for. The regulation also mentions ‘unambiguous consent’, which will have implications in all instances where customer data is collected, across businesses.

Security measures

With proposed fines of up to €1m or 2% of global annual turnover, which for large corporations could amount to figures surpassing seven figures, there will be an increased need for businesses to implement security measures.

As well as the increased fines, data controllers would be responsible for notification of individuals affected by any data breaches, protecting consumers whose data is compromised.

What this means for your business: potentially huge fines for breaches, and additional requirements around data privacy are likely to increase the required investment in data protection for all businesses.

Data protection expertise

Our Compliance Essentials eLearning Suite includes a number of modules related to Data Protection which are aligned with the latest regulation. As the EU Data Protection law evolves, so too will our eLearning courses.

Implementing a programme of eLearning as part of your Data Protection policy ensures your staff have access to training on the latest legislation, minimising risk of data breaches and fines resulting from non-compliance.

Sickness absence is a thorn in the side of the UK economy, each year resulting in organisations losing an estimated £17bn and 190m working days, equating to an average 6.5 days off sick per employee each year.

Most organisations have a sickness absence policy in place to promote the welfare of employees, but the role of the manager in enforcing the policy with fairness and consistency is crucial, enabling issues to be resolved at the earliest possible moment to reduce the impact of sickness absence.

Our Manager’s Guide to Sickness Absence eLearning course includes a number of topics to help managers enforce sickness absence policies, including setting and following formalised processes, the impacts of different management styles on employees, and setting and monitoring attendance targets.

The course also details the 8 good practise elements of managing sickness absence, shown below in shortened form to help managers to manage sickness absence the right way:

  • 1: Reporting absence and staying in touch – by ensuring employees report absences at the earliest opportunity, managers can organise cover and prioritise workload, and also discuss and address any ongoing concerns with the employee at an early stage
  • 2: Recording and monitoring absence – by recording data related to absences, managers can identify and monitor patterns of absence, and in turn help businesses to understand, and hopefully remedy, the causes of absences
  • 3: Welfare contact – this contact, during the employee’s period of absence, gives managers an opportunity to discuss the nature of the employee’s absence, their potential return to work date, and any support they may need to return to work healthy, such as flexible working or a workload overview
  • 4: Return to work contact – when an employee returns to work after sickness absence, a manager should take the opportunity to ensure the employee is fit for work and that their return won’t lead to further absences, as well as identify any other potential issues before they escalate
  • 5: Absence triggers and policy stages – certain levels of absence should trigger a Formal Stage 1 meeting, in which a manager can offer support, set attendance targets and review periods, and formally raise concern over the level of absence. If absence continues to be an issue, then policies should progress the issue to Formal Stage 2 and Formal Stage 3 meetings
  • 6: Occupational health referral – by referring employees to occupational health at the earliest opportunity where medical advice is required, managers will be able to make informed decisions about dealing with sickness absences
  • 7: Special types of absence – certain types of absence, such as disability-related absence, pregnancy related absence, accidents at work and work-related illness, stress-related illness, mental ill-health and terminal illness, require managers to apply special consideration to ensure compliance with discrimination and health and safety laws
  • 8: Ill health retirement – certain levels of incapacity can result in ill health retirement, which usually need to be certified by an independent occupational health practitioner and authorised by the relevant pension fund.

Our Manager’s Guide to Sickness Absence eLearning course contains the above elements in a full detailed module, as well as an overview of sickness absence policy and modules to support managers through each of the three Formal Stages.

With over 75 minutes of high quality content, it is designed to give your managers the skills and tools they need to minimise sickness absence while promoting the health, safety and welfare of employees.

All businesses have a legal responsibility for the welfare of their staff, making Health and Safety training a necessary consideration regardless of industry.

And, while eLearning is an efficient and cost effective way to deliver that training, to fully minimise workplace injuries and risk, businesses need to create a Health and Safety culture – a culture in which staff behaviour is aligned with Health and Safety training, and correct procedures are naturally integrated rather than seen as an unnecessary offshoot of a box-ticking exercise.

Cultural change

When we produced the Concussion Awareness module which every professional rugby player, coach and official completed, a key issue we addressed was the ‘warrior mentality’ – players continuing after taking knocks to the head, in spite of the known risks and long term effects.

While this may seem to be a rugby-specific issue, there are lessons all businesses can take in creating cultural change:

1. Staff need to be shown the right way

Before the Concussion Awareness module was rolled out, players would play on after receiving blows to the head, treating feelings of grogginess and confusion as simply part of the game.

Similarly, workers will often continue despite injuries, aches or pains, which are in all likelihood entirely avoidable and caused by incorrect procedures. Although people may complain about symptoms, it takes engaging training to change their behaviours and stop exacerbating the problem.

In order to make an impact, Health and Safety eLearning must not only teach people to recognise risks and hazards which can lead to injuries, but show them the correct ways of working.

The result: behavioural changes, improved working procedures and reduced workplace injuries.

2. Making content engaging is a challenge even when potentially saving lives

The risks of brain problems and even death in those who play on after receiving a blow to the head are now well known, but that knowledge alone wasn’t enough to grab players’ attention.

Players were sometimes even encouraged to play on by team mates and coaches, making it easy for them to ignore the potential consequences. In the workplace, incorrect procedures can also often go undetected or ignored, leading to injuries, absences and reduced capability.

Our Concussion Awareness module solved this by engaging learners and showing them the potential consequences of ignoring the advice, using character-based scenarios with video, audio and graphical elements to create an emotional response in the learner – tactics we employ to make engaging Health and Safety eLearning.

The result: engaging eLearning which becomes a part of the workplace culture, with staff looking out for each other as well as themselves.

3. Enforcing completion is a must

The Rugby Football Union, Premiership Rugby and Rugby Players’ Association set a 2 month deadline for every professional player, coach and official to complete the Concussion Awareness module.

Failing to complete the module within the deadline would lead to a series of fines and ultimately suspension. Consequently, 100% of the players, coaches and officials completed the course – over 1500 in total.

Businesses must put in place procedures to ensure every employee completes their Health and Safety training. If a worker suffers an accident having been insufficiently trained, then not only could the worker be seriously injured – the business has failed to meet its legal responsibilities.

Our Astute eLearning Platform allows the monitoring of course completion rates and sending of automated chaser emails to users yet to complete the course. The penalty for failing to do so is up to the administrator!

The result: maximum completion rates and fully auditable records of staff training, protecting your workforce and business.

4. Understanding the audience is key

The goal of the Concussion Awareness module was reducing the risk of serious brain injuries in players by raising awareness among players, coaches and officials – groups with entirely different responsibilities when it comes to managing concussion.

We created a separate version of the module for each of these groups, to ensure that the content was specifically relevant to their own responsibilities and perspectives.

Creating eLearning content tailored to the audience’s requirements ensures maximum engagement and retention of information – ultimately leading to a bigger cultural impact.

When implementing a Health and Safety eLearning programme, consideration must be give to the different responsibilities of general staff, managers, and staff responsible for managing contractors.

The result: eLearning content which each audience can relate to and apply to their own daily working patterns, for the benefit of your business.

5. Content never stops developing

There have long been policies in place in rugby for player welfare, but medical advances and ongoing research means these evolve constantly as our understanding develops.

There is no ‘one-size fits all’ solution – training must be updated frequently to stay relevant and effective – which makes eLearning ideal. If and when the understanding of concussion treatment is furthered, the module can be updated and instantly made available across the sport.

Health and Safety is constantly evolving area, as changes to working practises create new potential risks and legislation. We regularly update our Health and Safety eLearning to align with legislation and best practise, and keep content fresh for learners taking courses on a recommended annual basis.

The result: a training programme which evolves with requirements and understanding, stays engaging, and creates a Health and Safety culture.

Cybercrime issues affecting solicitor firms are increasing the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has revealed.

More and more reports are being received of firms either being contacted by con artists or falling victim to fraudulent activity, with potentially serious consequences for clients buying or selling property. The SRA is urging solicitors to step up their efforts to keep criminals out and protect client interests.

The majority of recent scams fall into two categories:

  • Firms receiving calls pretending to be banks to obtain sensitive information, such as account passwords
  • Emails between firms and clients being intercepted, leading to client funds being paid into fraudsters’ accounts

This is against a backdrop of continued instances of con artists pretending to be solicitors, using either fake names or stealing the identities of genuine firms.

Read more on SRA website