Adviser development plans built on evidence, not impressions

Advice firms often have something called a development plan for each adviser. Sometimes it is written once a year, from memory, with objectives like "improve technical knowledge" and a list of CPD webinars attached. By the next review nobody can say whether anything changed, because nothing was measured at the start.

An adviser development plan is far more useful when it begins with evidence of how the adviser actually works and ends with evidence of whether they improved. This guide sets out what a good plan contains, a simple template, a review cycle that keeps it alive, and how to connect it to CPD and competence reviews.

What the rules require, and what they leave to you

It helps to separate the rules from good practice. The FCA's Training and Competence sourcebook does not require a document called a development plan. It does require several things a good plan supports:

• Firms must "review on a regular and frequent basis employees' competence" (TC 2.1.12R).
• Retail investment advisers must complete "a minimum of 35 hours of appropriate continuing professional development in each 12 month period" (TC 2.1.15R), and guidance says this should include "no less than 21 hours of structured continuing professional development activities" (TC 2.1.16G).
• CPD records must be kept (TC 2.1.24R).

All three are in TC 2.1. Advisers also need an annual Statement of Professional Standing from an accredited body, and accredited bodies "carry out checks on at least 10% of advisers" (FCA professional standards).

The key word is "appropriate". Thirty-five hours of CPD chosen at random meets the arithmetic. A development plan is how a firm shows the CPD was chosen for a reason.

Where the evidence for an adviser development plan comes from

A plan is only as good as the evidence it starts from. Most firms already hold more than they use:

The adviser's view matters. A plan the adviser helped write is a plan they will work on. A plan handed down is one they will tolerate.

What goes into the plan

Keep it short enough to read at a glance. A workable structure:

1. Baseline. Where the adviser is now, with the evidence: for example, scores from recent meeting reviews, findings from the last file checks and the outcome of the last competence assessment.
2. Strengths. Two or three things the adviser does well, with examples. These are worth protecting.
3. Focus areas. No more than two or three, each tied to evidence. "Capacity for loss is discussed briefly and not linked to the recommendation in recent files" is a focus area. "Technical knowledge" is not.
4. Actions. What the adviser will do, what support the supervisor will give, and what CPD supports each focus area.
5. Measures. How you will know it worked, using the same measures as the baseline.
6. Dates. When progress will be checked, and when the plan will be reviewed.

A worked focus area

Here is how one focus area might read, as an illustration:

• Evidence: in recent review meetings the adviser explained the portfolio at length before asking what had changed for the client, and clients asked few questions.
• Action: open each review with the client's circumstances; explain one point at a time and check understanding.
• Support: supervisor reviews two meetings with the adviser, listening to the key moments together.
• CPD: structured learning on questioning and consumer understanding, logged against this focus area.
• Measure: client questions, talk share and the longest adviser monologue in the next few review meetings, compared with the baseline.

Talk share is explained in more depth in our guide to open questions in client meetings.

A review cycle that keeps the plan alive

The rules do not set a frequency for development planning. TC 2.1.12R asks for competence to be reviewed on a "regular and frequent basis", so the firm decides and records its own rhythm. In our view a quarterly check against an annual plan works well for many firms:

• Start of year: agree the plan from the baseline evidence.
• Each quarter: re-measure the focus areas using new meetings and files; note progress; adjust actions.
• When a focus area is met: record it, with the evidence, and choose the next one.
• Year end: compare with the baseline, check CPD hours and SPS status, and set the next plan.

The quarterly check is the step that tends to slip. Book it in advance and keep it short. A short conversation about two focus areas with fresh evidence beats a long one about everything once a year.

Linking the plan to CPD

CPD and the development plan should point the same way. Three simple habits help:

• Tag CPD to a focus area. When an adviser logs an activity, note which focus area it supports. Over a year this shows the CPD was appropriate to their needs.
• Separate structured from unstructured. Keep the structured hours visible against the 21 hour guidance.
• Record the effect. A line on what the adviser will do differently turns a CPD log into evidence of development.

Whether a particular activity counts as structured CPD depends on your accredited body's rules, so check those rather than assuming.

Keeping coaching and assessment distinct

A development plan sits between coaching and formal competence assessment. Coaching develops; assessment measures against a standard and decides. The plan uses evidence from both, but advisers should know which process a given conversation belongs to. Our guide to coaching financial advisers covers the coaching cycle in detail.

Gathering the evidence is the slow part. By our estimate, reviewing one client meeting by hand takes about an hour, and assessing one adviser competency takes about ninety minutes. Asclto reviews recorded meetings from Fireflies and produces a scored report with key moments, a written coaching plan and a score trend across meetings, so the baseline and the re-measure use the same measures. Freeboard scores advisers against defined skill profiles and a versioned, dated standard, built to support a structured T&C scheme. Neither writes the plan for you or decides competence: the supervisor and the adviser do that.

Frequently asked questions

Is an adviser development plan a regulatory requirement?

The FCA rules do not require a document with that name. They do require regular and frequent competence reviews, appropriate CPD and CPD records, and a development plan is a practical way to show how those fit together.

How many objectives should a development plan have?

In our view two or three focus areas at a time, each tied to evidence and a measure. More than that tends to mean none get proper attention.

How often should a development plan be reviewed?

The rules leave the frequency to the firm. A quarterly check against an annual plan is a sensible default for many firms, as long as the rhythm is recorded and kept.

To see how Asclto turns recorded meetings into coaching plans and score trends, read about Asclto or book a twenty-minute demo on Microsoft Teams with Adam Booth, run live on a demo firm with nothing to prepare.