Attracting and fostering talent
We are a highly specialised organisation that requires distinct skill sets among our workforce. Recognising that it is sometimes difficult to find the very specific skills we need, we have adopted a ‘grow our own’ approach, and are building on our existing pool of expertise.
Focusing on learning and development
Over the year, we focused heavily on our own learning and development programme in order to satisfy our growing skills requirements and to invest further in the professional development of our people.
To improve our leadership and management, we have embedded a coaching culture across the JFSC, cemented by the organisation becoming an accredited Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) centre. We have successfully put a number of staff through leadership and coaching programmes / qualifications and we have also launched our own in-house Manager’s Toolkit course to support our managers.
Our dedicated Learning and Development Manager revamped our structured training programme for new joiners and introduced bespoke development days to encourage employees to further their professional qualifications.
Our next focus is to consolidate all our learning and development activities into the JFSC Academy. This will allow us to keep prioritising our staff’s development needs while helping them to achieve their full potential through on-the-job training, relevant courses and qualifications, and internal and external secondments.
Career development
During 2019, we reviewed how we help staff to develop their own skills and meet their own ambitions. Having rolled out a comprehensive Learning and Development framework, we asked ourselves if we needed to go further. We decided to set out a completely new career development framework that we will apply for the first time in 2020.
This allows members of our staff to work out a plan with us to develop their own skills and have their achievements acknowledged by us as an employer. We are turning the JFSC into not only a place to work but a place to develop. We want to be an influence for good on the lives of our staff.
"Giving staff the opportunity to commit to and fulfil their career ambitions in a structured and supported way"
Promoting diversity and inclusion
Having established a dedicated forum in 2018, we were able to further prioritise and promote equality, diversity and inclusion in our workplace and culture. In 2019, we undertook a number of proactive and positive activities, including supporting International Diversity and Inclusion Week, carrying out a disability audit, hosting a topical staff briefing presented by our Director General and hearing from Commissioner Monique O’Keefe about women in leadership. We also produced a detailed calendar of events for 2020 to promote diversity and inclusion.
It has become very clear that to recruit, retain and develop good staff, an organisation like ours needs a strongly inclusive culture, where there is a focus on giving everyone the space to contribute. This is a relentless focus of how we think about our work environment, for example facilitating charitable initiatives and encouraging staff to support each other, while making sure we leave no space for old prejudices that might have the opposite impact.
Prioritising health, well-being and the environment
We value our people’s views, particularly when it comes to what we are doing right and how we can improve. During 2019, we held dedicated workshops to get staff input and feedback to help develop our People Strategy.
A key area of focus for us is the health and well-being of our workforce and, as we strive to be an employer of choice, we endeavour to do all we can to ensure our employees are happy and healthy.
Over the course of the year, we offered free health checks for all staff, arranged talks with guest speakers on well-being, and trained up members of staff as mental health first aiders.
Our team of Staff Forum volunteers continued to be the voice of the workforce, collectively contributing ideas and planning activities and campaigns.
Celebrating success
Qualifications
Over the course of 2019, 40 members of our staff successfully achieved qualifications. This included exam success for seven employees who achieved the new regulatory qualification, the International Certificate in Financial Services Regulation, awarded by ICSA: The Governance Institute.
Mike Jones, our Director of Policy and Risk, completed the Harvard Business School General Management Programme and Tony Shiplee, one of our Heads of Unit in Supervision won the top student award for the STEP Certificate in International Trust Management.
Recognition
2019 was a positive year for the organisation as we were recognised for our continued efforts in championing well-being, learning and development, and diversity and inclusion.
We were shortlisted for the Chartered Institute of Professional Development’s award for Best Learning and Development Strategy and we were delighted to receive a commendation in the 2019 Leaders in Wellbeing Awards for Best Workplace Culture, Caring Employer of the Year, and Healthiest Workplace. Our Head of Human Resources, Susan Russell, was also recognised as our Wellbeing Ambassador.
Early in the year, one of our Commissioners, Annamaria Koerling, collected a silver award at the Citywealth Powerwomen Awards for 2019 in the Government, Regulatory and Non-Profit Organisations category. Then in December, we received the fantastic news that the JFSC had been shortlisted for the 2020 awards for Company of the Year for female leadership and our Director of Supervision, Jill Britton, had been nominated for Woman of the Year. We are delighted to report that in March 2020 Jill won and the organisation picked up silver in the Government, Regulatory and Non-Profit Organisations categories.
Making a difference
A very strong aspect of the JFSC culture is our commitment to making a positive contribution to our community and the environment.
2019 exceeded all our expectations for fundraising. We raised more than £15,000 over the course of the year, smashing previous years’ totals, with money going to the JSPCA, Jersey Hospice Care, Jersey Mencap and other charitable causes.
We actively encourage our staff to support charities and eco initiatives, and we facilitate this through our corporate social responsibility policy, which gives staff paid time off (up to two days each year) to dedicate to their chosen cause. We have dedicated volunteers on our Staff Forum and Green Team who drive forward our fundraising initiatives and environmental projects.
Whether donating their time or their money, the goodwill of our staff never ceases to impress; it equally engenders a sense of unity and teamwork across the organisation.