Conveyancing Association October Webinar: The Importance of Training, Recruitment and Staff Welfare
Lloyd Davies MD of Convey Law, The Conveyancing Academy and Director of The Conveyancing Association joined CA Members to discuss approaches to conveyancer training, recruitment, and staff welfare. The Webinar is part of the series of Zoom Meetings created by the Association to provide their Members with the most up to date conveyancing and practice support.
The Conveyancing Association Members include the top residential conveyancing companies in the UK, with Members benefiting by being at the forefront of decision making and having access to exclusive networking events.
Paul Smee (Non-Executive Chair of The Conveyancing Association) introduced the first session of the CA Webinar ‘’Training and Recruitment’’ with Lloyd Davies. Members were presented with The Conveyancing Academy’s new Level 3 Practicing Conveyancer Legal Diploma course and Convey Law’s Training Academy Pathway.
‘’Within The Academy we have trained complete novices into competent conveyancing professionals within 6 to 12 months using the Practicing Conveyancer Legal Diploma apprenticeship modules.’’
‘’The Pathway developed within The Academy leads to evolve our Trainees into skilled Conveyancers providing a highly effective service and exceed client expectations.’’
‘’Training can help you develop your staff and grow your business. Now with great new government funding initiatives available, individuals could receive up to 110% Government Funding in England and Wales to train their team until the 31st January 2021.’’
Following this, Members broke away into online breakout rooms to discuss their own training and recruitment initiatives.
Victoria Presa, Director at Simply Conveyancing:
‘’How competent are individuals in completing freehold and leasehold contracts after the 6month training period within The Conveyancing Academy?’’
Lloyd Davies explained:
‘’Trainees must complete a certain number of competencies before progressing to Live Teams. After practice and the completion of 10 freehold and 10 leasehold contracts only then they are signed off as competent. We have also created a great framework to allow us to reward the staff for their successful completion of their competencies.’’
Claire Goodridge, HR Manager at Simply Conveyancing:
‘’Are people interested in becoming apprentices regardless a low starting salary?’’
Lloyd Davies gave his insight on the matter:
‘’Trainees within a month can achieve a £2k pay rise. A clear trajectory is provided with wages reaching £23k after the 5 month period and further rising to £25k after completing their leasehold competencies. A bonus scheme is added to top up their wages based on their KPIs.’’
Claire explained the training approach followed by her company:
‘’Trainees enter as Legal Support, progress to an Assistant to the company’s Lawyers through on the job training. The process takes significantly longer than the 5 months The Conveyancing Academy Course.’’
Lloyd advised:
‘’The course gives great structure on how to audit competencies and is versatile enough to support with training a large or small number of Trainees. Within the Academy already from month 2 the Trainees get their own files and cases giving them greater responsibility and exposure.’’
Part 2 of the CA Webinar focused on the important topic of Staff Welfare. Lloyd introduced guest speaker David Atwick, Convey Law’s onsite counsellor.
David talked through his experience counselling many individuals within the conveyancing industry and the most common issues raised.
David:
‘’There is a noticeable correlation between mental health and perceived workload. This can trigger a negative mentality and thought process. A negative pack mentality amongst team members can collectively affect morale.’’
‘‘When dealing with the staff on an individual basis, in at least 40% of the cases, the increased workload was not the main factor in creating a negative mentality. Instead, factors from outside work were mostly influencing a negative thought process. Personal issues such as financial difficulties and situations from home were the root of the problem with the additional workload just exaggerating those problems.’’
The interactive session found Members discussing ongoing initiatives applied in their firms and how they are managing Staff Welfare.
Lloyd focused on the importance of monitoring capacity:
‘’Ensuring we don’t reach maximum capacity in caseloads should not be a staff benefit but a necessity.’’
Edward Goldsmith, Founding Partner and Special Advisor to the Association:
‘‘Could counselling sessions be used as a tool, allowing teams to manage more productively a higher number of cases?’’
Lloyd explained:
‘’David helped staff control their anxieties, allowing them to better manage the transition between periods leading to reaching capacity. Breaking down and compartmentalising the process helped to calm everyone down and build the team morale.’’
The next CA Webinar from the CA Zoom Meetings series will take place on Tuesday 3rd November.
For more information on the available government funding click here.
To find out more on the available government funded Academy training courses and training options offered, contact the team on 01633261295.
October 22, 2020