Investing in your team’s professional development by sponsoring them to complete a STEP qualification is a strategic move that will strengthen your organisation’s reputation, client service, and competitive edge in the trust and estate sector. Becoming a Full STEP Member by completing the STEP Diploma and gaining the ability to use the TEP designation is respected internationally as the ultimate marker of quality for a trust and estate professional, and having one (or more!) STEP Members on your team will reflect well on every single employee.
Why consider sponsoring a member of your team to complete their STEP Diploma, or even hiring a TEP? Here are five great reasons:
1. Enhanced reputation
Investing in your team’s development to complete a STEP qualification will signal to your competitors and clients alike that you are truly committed to achieving excellence and best practice, and willing to put in the work to get there. Clients often look for those three letters after a practitioner’s name – TEP – to reassure themselves that they are in the best and most trustworthy hands.
It will position your firm as a trusted, forward-thinking employer in the industry. The best and brightest candidates want to work with a firm that invests in their employees, so it will attract more top talent – and that will further reinforce your credibility with clients.
2. Improved client service
Completing a STEP qualification will mean that your employees bring an advanced level of knowledge and expertise, so that your firm can deliver a higher standard of service to your clients. Stewart Gibson TEP, a CLTI tutor and partner at Brodies LLP Solicitors, says of his STEP-qualified colleagues: ‘Every day they impress me with the things they know, and often the reason they know these things is because they have done their STEP exams’.
Delivering a higher standard of service, of course, means you’ll have greater client satisfaction and loyalty – and that leads to new and repeat business!
3. Increased business development
Having STEP Members on your team is a powerful differentiator when marketing your services in a highly competitive industry.
The TEP marker is internationally recognised as a badge of quality. It demonstrates your commitment to technical excellence and to investing in your employees, and can help attract new clients who value specialist knowledge and in-depth expertise.
4. Competitive advantage
Benchmarking your organisation’s learning and development against rigorous industry standards will ensure your team remains at the forefront of best practice. The globally-respected TEP designation may be the most visible demonstration of this, but the benefits of STEP membership are much wider – for example, the employees that are STEP Members are able to list themselves in the STEP Member Directory, allowing potential clients to find them easily.
Committing to your team’s training will both strengthen your internal capabilities and provide a clear competitive advantage, positioning your firm as a trusted leader in the industry.
5. Knowledge and skills development
Sponsoring your employees to undertake a STEP qualification will ensure they stay up-to-date with evolving legislation and best practices in trusts, tax, and estate planning – all things that are critical for maintaining compliance and client trust.
And it’s not just good news for themselves. ‘When faced with a particularly complex problem for a client, quite often, you’ll find that STEP-qualified colleagues are really good at finding what might be otherwise obscure pieces of law,’ says Stewart Gibson TEP. The learning that STEP qualifications provide will make your STEP-qualified employees a valuable resource for the whole team, helping to solve problems.
So what does this mean for your organisation?
By sponsoring someone on your team to complete a STEP qualification, or hiring a TEP, your firm will invest in the training and development of its most valuable resource – its people – and position itself to deliver an enhanced professional service to clients all over the world, while ensuring that its services are marketed effectively.
It’s an investment that will help your organisation align with best practice standards in the industry. Not only that, but it will raise the knowledge and capability of your workforce, and safeguard and strengthen your reputation on the market at home and abroad. Building a trusted team starts with trusted credentials, and STEP membership is the benchmark credential for the trusts and estates industry.
About the author
Ellie Blow is Editorial Manager at CLTI. A specialist in legal and financial content, she has a degree in English Literature from the University of Edinburgh and regularly writes about CLTI courses and other topics of interest for potential STEP students. She lives in Chorley, Lancashire, where she can see horses from her office window.
If you are interested in this article and wish to learn more, or would like to contribute an article to CLTI Insight or CLTI Spotlight, contact Ellie via email.