Communication, incentives, and spreading it out – just some of the tips shared by compliance manager Peter Nicholson.

It’s something that’s not going away, so it’s time to get on top of your CPD if you want to be a successful Financial Adviser. Peter Nicholson had plenty of advice to share during a recent chat with Caddie’s Content and Engagement Manager, Chris Barnett, drawing from his 45 years of experience in the industry, including 17 as a Compliance Manager for leading AFSL’s. 

Here are his top five tips to help your Financial Advisers stay on top of their own CPD:

1. Communication

An advisers job is to communicate with their clients day in day out, discussing personal and private information.

It’s one of largest components of their job, so making sure that your own communications with your advisers is personalised will help cut through the noise of their busy days, and help make an impact.

Think personalised emails, phone calls, and when needed, face-to-face meetings to stress the importance of getting CPD done.

2. Incentives & gamification

Financial Advisers can be quite competitive, so add a little gamification to your advisers' CPD by challenging them to complete a certain amount of points each month.

Make a progress leader board for everyone to see so there are no secrets, and reward those who hit their targets with something as simple as a $1 chocolate prize.

It creates a little bit of fun out of something that can sometimes not be a fun task.

3. Lead by example

Another way to encourage advisers to stay on top of their CPD is for the senior staff within an AFSL to lead by example.

If these key personal are getting their CPD done throughout the year and finishing it early, it creates a culture within the company where CPD is no longer a chore.

Peter told the story of the 68-year-old Managing Director at one of the AFSLs he works for, where the MD (who no longer gives advice), wanted to stay educated and on top of his CPD, so constantly aimed to be at the top of his Dealer Groups CPD leaderboard each month. 

4. Variety

To help financial advisers complete their CPD on a regular basis, you should be giving them plenty of variety so they don’t get bored with it!

Advisers (like everybody else) learn in different ways, so gear them with the tools to learn in a way that suits them best.

Having a variety of CPD material, such as articles, videos, podcasts, events and webinars makes the process easier. Empower advisers to learn in the way they want to.

They’ll be much more engaged, and you’ll have to do a lot less following up.

5. Spread it out

Finally, spread out the amount of CPD your advisers need to complete over the year.

Set your team a monthly targets (e.g., 5 points), supply your team with enough CPD material to meet their goals each month, and publish reports on their progress so they can track against it.

By spreading out CPD requirements over the year you can turn the completion of CPD into a routine, instead of huge chore to complete at the end of the year.  

If Financial Advisers want to be regarded as a profession, then we’ve got to make sure they act professionally and are educated professionally.

That means remaining up-to-date with all trends, regulatory issues, market issues (both Australian and International).  

Need help getting your advisers on top of their CPD? Get in touch for a free demo and trial and learn just how easy it is to administer training plans, track progress and report on annual CPD obligations with Caddie.