Form Over Substance?
Box-ticking,
form-filling without paying attention to the real underlying performance of
service. We can be so busy documenting
that we forget to think (or don't have time to). Have we become too fixated on paper?
We use checklists to make sure that things are/have been
done, we write reports or fill in questionnaires. During my time with large organisations, our
appraisals were filled with documentary evidence of what we had done.
Often, it’s to ensure that, if something goes wrong, we can
prove that we “ticked the box”. Just
because we have doesn’t mean anything. Anti
Money-Laundering rules require banks to obtain and have certified copies of our
passports, marriage certificates, proof of address. If they don’t, our accounts can be closed as we might represent a threat to national security…
Thanks to more and more work being heaped onto fewer people
in the name of “productivity” or “shareholder value”, we’ve lost the ability to
do our jobs effectively. As a result, we
can’t trust each other (sometimes for good reason) unless there’s a “form” or
“certificate” stating that things are as they should be.
In the “Enron Scandal”, the eponymous company was brought
down through false accounting. Some of
its top management were (rightly) jailed.
The real result, though, was the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation in the US,
which requires CEOs to take written accountability for their business’ accounts.
In turn, this meant a rash of documentation, certification
and attestation down through the ranks for everyone to say that they had done
their bit. If something went wrong, the
CEO could hold up the certificate that someone else signed. That way he/she might avoid fines/imprisonment/both…
Certification and documentation have increased the cost of doing business. Who pays? The customer.
And for what? Mainly, to enrich
legions of in-house and external legal advisors and compliance managers. It has certainly added to the number of
regulators out there. Who pays for them? The customer.
We do it all for “form’s sake”…
Has it actually meant that things are now done better and/or
more honestly/ethically? I strongly
doubt it. People have simply learnt to
“game the system” as far as documentation is concerned.
So what’s the answer?
I did my banking exams in the 90s and was finally
certified as an Associate of The Chartered Institute of Bankers in 1994. A recurrent theme in all my study texts was
the fiduciary duty that one had as a
banker to one’s customers: one was a guardian and trustee of their wealth. One had to act accordingly.
Nowadays, people have to be reminded of their duty not only as bankers, but as company
managers, directors, etc. They are asked
to sign certificates saying that
they:
- Will act honestly;
- Won't divulge secrets;
- Will let anyone know if they do something wrong (or see someone else doing something wrong);
- Have checked that everything's in order ("to the best of their knowledge").
If we sign on as customers to any retail website, we certify that we’ve read the Terms And Conditions as part of the process - and we’re
not allowed to sign on until we do. How
many of us actually read those Terms?
To me, this is a searing indictment of our society. Things have come to pass that nowadays almost
everyone takes what amounts to a presidential Oath of Office - and signs to say that they’ve read it!
I have spent more than half my life
delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to
“emerging” economies. With more than 20 years in international financial
services around the world running
different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to
offer solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk
management. I work with individuals,
small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across
the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be
contacted by email . My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of
services. For strategic questions that
you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.
Labels: Customer Care, Financial, Regulation, Strategy
posted by William Martin @ 11:03
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