Strand B — Financial Coach Onboarding Handbook
DOCX handbook. Read end-to-end before a coach takes a first session. Signed acknowledgement on the final page goes into the coach's HR file.
Who this is for
Every MEM financial coach — internal employee, contractor, or affiliate delivering 1:1 financial coaching to corporate clients or justice-leaver cohorts. No coach delivers a 1:1 session before they have signed page 12 of this handbook.
Chapter 1 — What MEM financial coaching is (and what it isn't)
MEM financial coaching is:
- Education — helping the learner understand how UK money systems work
- Behavioural support — habits, automations, conversations
- Signposting — the warm hand-off to FCA-regulated advisers, free debt charities, benefits services, and crisis lines
- Emotional containment — sitting with shame, fear, scarcity, family pressure, without flinching
It is NOT:
- Financial advice
- Therapy
- Accountancy
- Tax preparation (route to Strand D / MEM4PT)
- A sales channel for any product
If a coach finds themselves giving advice, therapy, or selling, they have crossed the line. The line is in Chapter 3.
Chapter 2 — The standards we coach to
| Standard | What it looks like in a session |
|---|---|
| Plain English | No jargon without translation. No "diversified portfolio" — "spread your money across different things". |
| UK-specific | Every example uses UK pay, UK tax, UK benefits. No US 401(k), no €. |
| Numbers honest | Real numbers, real dates, real URLs. Never "around" or "approximately" when the truth is in front of us on gov.uk. |
| Behaviour > knowledge | A learner who automates £20/month beats a learner who knows the dividend allowance and does nothing. |
| Shame-aware | Money shame is the silent disease. Name it. Don't add to it. |
| Signpost before advise | The default move is signposting. Advice is what you give when nothing on the signpost list fits — and even then, you stop short of regulated territory. |
Chapter 3 — The FCA boundary (this chapter is the job)
Read the FCA Boundary Card (sprint file 01) in full before continuing.
Three rules govern every session:
Rule 1 — Never recommend a specific product
You can explain that ISAs exist. You cannot recommend a specific provider, fund, or amount.
✅ "An ISA might be relevant — speak to a qualified adviser before choosing one." ❌ "You should open a Vanguard Lifestrategy 80."
Rule 2 — Never recommend a specific debt solution
You can explain that DROs, IVAs and bankruptcy exist. You cannot recommend one. Route to StepChange or National Debtline, who ARE FCA-authorised to recommend.
✅ "A DRO might be on the table for someone in your position — StepChange will tell you in the first call." ❌ "You should apply for a DRO."
Rule 3 — Never manage anyone's money
You don't see bank logins. You don't move money. You don't hold money. If a learner offers to give you control "for now", you refuse and document.
The two test questions (memorise these)
- "Am I recommending a specific product?" If yes → stop, signpost.
- "Could this be quoted back to me in a regulator's letter?" If you're not sure, signpost.
The phrase to know cold
"That's a regulated-advice question. I'm not the right person — but I can introduce you to who is. Want me to walk you through who to call?"
Chapter 4 — Session structure
Every 1:1 follows the same 6-step shape. Length is 45 minutes by default; 60 minutes for first session.
| Step | Time | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Settle | 0–3 | Greet, set boundary, confirm what's confidential |
| 2. Catch-up | 3–8 | What's happened since last session — behaviour, wins, sticking points |
| 3. The work | 8–35 | The session's main topic — driven by the learner's priorities, never by a script |
| 4. Decision | 35–40 | What ONE thing the learner will do before next session |
| 5. Signpost | 40–43 | Any URLs, charities, or services to bridge between sessions |
| 6. Close | 43–45 | Booking next, confirming the boundary, confirming wellbeing |
Chapter 5 — The intake (first session only)
The first session uses the intake template (05-strand-b-session-templates.md). Goals of the intake:
- Establish the learner's priorities IN THEIR WORDS
- Surface any debt, crisis, or safeguarding signals that need escalation BEFORE coaching begins
- Set the boundary card explicitly
- Agree the cadence, format, and what success will look like
You do not coach in the intake. You listen. You name. You signpost where signalled. You set the next session.
Chapter 6 — When to stop coaching mid-session
Stop coaching and signpost immediately when:
- The learner discloses active suicidal ideation → Samaritans 116 123, EAP, GP. Money conversation pauses.
- The learner discloses domestic financial abuse → Surviving Economic Abuse 0808 1968845, refuge.org.uk.
- The learner discloses forced labour / modern slavery debt → Modern Slavery Helpline 08000 121 700.
- The learner is in immediate eviction / utility disconnection within 72 hours → escalate to the 24h SLA pathway in Strand C.
- The learner asks a regulated-advice question that cannot be answered with education + signposting → stop, signpost.
In every case: document the trigger, the signpost given, and the date/time. Notify the MEM Programme Lead by end of working day.
Chapter 7 — Documentation discipline
| DO document | DO NOT document |
|---|---|
| The behavioural commitment | Specific financial recommendations |
| Signposts given (date, organisation, reason) | Bank balances unless the learner volunteers AND there's a clear coaching reason |
| Crisis triggers + escalation path used | Speculation about the learner's emotional state |
| Cadence + attendance | Anything that could be used in a regulator's letter against you |
Notes are stored in the platform under the learner's hashed ID. Not joined to the learner's name without their explicit consent.
Chapter 8 — Supervision
Every coach attends:
- Monthly group supervision (90 min) — case-based, anonymised, peer learning + Head of Coaching
- Quarterly 1:1 supervision (60 min) — caseload review, FCA-boundary stress-test, professional development
- Ad-hoc on-call supervision — any time a Strand C 24h SLA case is triggered, or when the coach feels out of depth
Supervision is not optional. A coach who misses two consecutive sessions is suspended from delivery until supervision is back on track.
Chapter 9 — The MEM impact line (every coach carries this)
Every coach knows and uses this in the close of any first session:
"Something you might not know: every employee seat that a company buys for this coaching also funds a free seat for someone leaving prison. Your session today helped fund a session for someone restarting their life. That's a deliberate choice and it's been independently audited."
It's not a marketing line. It's a line that grounds the work in the bigger context — for the learner AND for the coach on a heavy day.
Chapter 10 — Pay, time, and admin
(Operational chapter — client-specific. Covers session rates, time-tracking, expense policy, late-cancellation policy, professional indemnity insurance held by MEM, GDPR data-handling. Filled by Head of Operations per engagement.)
Chapter 11 — Continuing development
Required within first 6 months of joining:
- Read all 6 Strand A workshop scripts in full
- Shadow 2 live Strand A workshops
- Shadow 3 1:1 sessions with an experienced coach
- Complete safeguarding refresher (MEM internal course)
- Complete the LEC-awareness training (lived-experience co-facilitation context)
Annual:
- FCA-boundary refresher (90 min)
- Safeguarding refresher
- One peer-observed live session per quarter
Page 12 — Coach acknowledgement (signed before first delivery)
I have read the MEM Financial Coach Onboarding Handbook in full, including:
- The FCA Boundary Card (sprint file 01) and the two test questions
- The session structure and intake protocol
- The escalation triggers in Chapter 6
- The documentation discipline in Chapter 7
- The supervision commitment in Chapter 8
I understand that MEM Academy is NOT authorised by the FCA, that I am NOT authorised to give regulated financial advice, and that crossing the boundary exposes me personally, the company, and the learner to serious harm.
I commit to:
- Signposting any regulated-advice question
- Never recommending specific products
- Never managing a learner's money
- Attending supervision
- Escalating safeguarding and crisis signals on the day they arise
Name: __________ Signature: __________ Date: __________
Cross-cutting promise Every UK employee seat in MEM funds a free seat for someone leaving prison. memacademy.org/corporate/financial-wellbeing-employees