Over the past few years, FIDI have been working to develop and improve the FAIM qualification in order to raise standards and improve customer service levels. The result of this is the launch of FAIM 2.0 which will become the new standard for FIDI members.

FIDI FAIM Certification is the quality standard for the international removals industry. John Mason International are FAIM accredited and have been for many years. FAIM 2.0 will replace the previous FAIM Certificate.

The FAIM Steering Committee developed FAIM 2.0 by analysing research from corporate customers with regard to the moving process. Matters examined included looking at which aspects of the move are most important to clients and critical aspects of service delivery during international removals.

FAIM 2.0 includes the following improvements:

• Environmental and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policies are now included.

Under FAIM 2.0, all companies must have an environmental policy which outlines steps which are being taken to reduce waste and conserve energy in addition to recycling procedures, in particular the recycling of packing materials.

With regards to CSR, the issues of respect for human rights and business ethics must be addressed and an appropriate policy written and complied with.

• More stringent financial requirements and financial security benchmarks are now included. There will also be more frequent financial reviews (i.e. on an annual basis) of FIDI members to ensure sound financial health of companies and therefore to provide greater peace of mind to the client / customer. Financial measurements which will be requested by FAIM auditors include gearing  liquidity ratios.  
• Business continuity plans to be included in FAIM procedure.
• Increased requirements with regard to security measures including data protection systems as well as the physical protection of a customer’s household goods when moving overseas. Data protection systems also apply to employees of FIDI member companies.
• Focus on training and education of staff and the promotion of continuous education so employees of FIDI affiliated companies are as knowledgeable and as qualified as possible. 
• Increased number of customer-focused policies such as:

1.  Improved communications with customers with a focus on time responsive communication. A fast response to customer enquiries is seen as a key indicator of quality.
2. Customer Feedback module expanded and improved. The new module will comprise of policy recommendations for recording and monitoring feedback for customers moving overseas.

Boris A. Populoh, Managing Director of the FIDI Global Alliance comments about FAIM 2.0 in a recent edition of Mobility magazine:

‘The functional focus of the new FAIM 2.0 standard will remain the progressive monitoring of evolving requirements of both the customers’ and service providers’ needs to respond to the changing needs of the ultimate consumer: the international assignee and his or her family’.

(Reprinted with permission of Worldwide ERC^®, from the June 2010 issue of MOBILITY).

In summary, the purpose of FAIM 2.0 is to ‘raise the bar’ in terms of quality in the international moving industry. It will now be more difficult to achieve FAIM meaning that FIDI members must reach and maintain higher service levels and quality controls. Ultimately, this means improved service for the customer and a strengthened guarantee of receiving a high quality service when using a FIDI mover.

FAIM is the sole requirement to be a FIDI member, therefore all FIDI members will be required to adhere to the new standard. It is expected that FAIM 2.0 will be launched later this year.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 8th, 2010 at 8:10 am and is filed under Features, Industry News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.