As the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Consumer Duty cements a cultural shift in how insurance and personal finance professionals deliver better customer outcomes, firms are increasingly recognising the benefit of utilising the Chartered Insurance Institute’s Professional Map as a tool for meeting the regulator’s requirements.
The Professional Map – launched in September 2022 – is a competency framework, career development tool, and an international benchmark for excellence in the insurance and personal finance professions. It identifies key behaviours, including insight, drive to deliver, curiosity, and integrity, as a way for firms and practitioners to approach work and working relationships.
Caroline Hawkesley, UK Managing Director at Progeny, reflects on using the Professional Map to inform business practices over the past two years: “As a Chartered Financial Planning firm, we are always striving towards better client outcomes. The CII’s Professional Map offers a useful framework to help us achieve this and aligns with our commitments to treating clients fairly and the Consumer Duty principles to put customer needs first.
The majority of the enablers, behaviours and technical expertise on the Professional Map should occur naturally within a Chartered firm. However, formally aligning these with our professional body, in the same way that firms commit to the CII Code of Ethics, can help us deliver consistently high standards and become a force for good for everyone who works in, and is served by, our industry.”
Ethics and Compliance
The Professional Map enables firms to standardise ethics and compliance competencies across their business, with banding, training and assessment that covers integrity, impartiality and independence, principled behaviour, organisational and professional standards, and risk.
On the behavioural aspects of employee development, Philip Greenwood, Head of Technical Consulting at EQ Investors, said: “How we behave plays a key role in shaping the future of our profession. Behaviours are as important as technical ability; however, it is far more difficult to identify and monitor this aspect of personal development.
The CII Professional Map delivers understanding and structure around the key behaviours we should all aspire to, to best serve our clients. It acts as a reference point for setting expectations, as well as a resource for developing these areas, signposting towards structured learning opportunities which can be tailored towards the individual.
The key is to embed these behaviours into organisations as a cultural reference point. Leadership should focus on incorporating these behaviours into the fabric of the business. This could be through behavioural assessments when hiring, being part of review processes, rewarding good performance in this area, and providing sufficient training resource. The Professional Map provides the framework to make this possible.”
More generally, Sarah More, Learning & Development Manager at Apollo Underwriting, said: “The Professional Map offers a comprehensive framework for organisations seeking to cultivate a high-performing and ethical workforce. Beyond technical competence and ethical judgment, the Map also emphasises innovation skills, such as creative problem-solving, curiosity and data literacy, which are essential for driving growth and adapting to a rapidly changing environment.”
Vanessa Riboloni, Professional Capabilities and Insight Manager at the CII, said: “Under the Consumer Duty, firms are required to ensure that every aspect of their business is customer-centric, providing valuable, needs-based products and services, with timely and proactive customer engagement. Continuous improvement is essential, and boards and senior managers are accountable for delivering the best possible outcomes. Achieving this requires a cultural and behavioural shift. While defining culture can be challenging, extensive research has been conducted into the behaviours that lead to positive outcomes and bridge the gap between customer needs and industry practices. These behaviours are embedded in our Professional Map, aligning with the FCA’s goals to achieve a shared purpose of delivering customer-focused results.”
More information about the CII Professional Map is available via this link.