The evaluation procedures are created by the Enterprise Financial Management Association of China (hereinafter referred to as EFMAC), within its approved scope of services, to comprehensively improve the capability and performance of enterprise financial management talents in accordance with the Directives on Deepening the Reform of Human Resources Development Mechanism and the National Plan for the Long and Medium - Term Development of Human Resources (2010-2020) and in the spirit of the Plan of Institutional Reform and Function Transformation Issued by the State council.
The procedures are based on the Talent Pool of Enterprise Financial Management, which is jointly developed by EFMAC and the National Human Resources Flow Center of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (hereinafter referred to as the National Human Resources Center) and designed to provide continued evaluation, education and standardized services for enterprise financial management talents to be qualified as professional financial managers.
The evaluation of enterprise financial management talents centers on the objective of cultivating a pool of professional enterprise financial managers. It is designed to provide dynamic services on the identification, education, evaluation, promotion and flow of enterprise financial management talents based on the general requirements of human resources investors and markets and the personal needs of financial management talents for professional development, and eventually create a channel for these talents at different professional grades to achieve career success.
The procedures are applicable to all enterprise financial management workers, chairpersons of boards, managing directors and other personnel related to financial management.
The following principles are complied with in the evaluation of enterprise financial management talents:
The enterprise financial management talents are evaluated in three aspects: professional ethics, capability and performance.
Professional ethics refers to the implementation of state policies, compliance with laws and regulations and adherence to sound professional integrity. One who fails in professional integrity is deemed failure in the entire review of professional ethics.
Capability refers to study and master of expertise and knowledge required by the profession, which is evaluated through the review of his or her education levels and achievements.
Performance refers to his or her competence in dealing with actual financial management work, which is evaluated through the review of his or her performance and work results.
Star rating is used in the evaluation and grading of enterprise financial management talents, which includes five star grades and fifteen sub-grades. The five star grades are, from low to high: one star ★, two stars ★★, three stars ★★★, four stars ★★★★ and five stars ★★★★★. In each star grade, three sub-grades are set from low to high: C, B and A levels. Five Star A level financial managers are Leading Talents.
EFMAC sets up the Committee on Evaluation of Enterprise Financial Management Talents (hereinafter referred to as the Evaluation Committee), which is responsible for the evaluation and grade award. Regional and sector-based evaluation institutions are set up with delegated authorities to carry out evaluations on One Star, Two Star and Three Star talents.
Conditions to be met for One Star talents include: having the basic knowledge of a specified area of financial management, having the essential skills and abilities as required by the area, being qualified for general financial management work. One of the following conditions should be met for One Star C talents, in addition to required qualification credentials:
Conditions to be met for Two Star talents include: having a strong mastery of knowledge in financial management; having certain working experiences and capability on financial management jobs; being competent on financial management jobs in related areas.
For Two Star C talents, in addition to having primary technical titles or certificates on specialized subjects related to financial management and a single case study prepared on financial management or an article published on public magazines with primary authorship that can support the qualifications required by Two Star C grade, one of the following conditions should also be met:
Conditions to be met for Three Star talents include: having a systematic mastery of financial management knowledge in different areas; being capable of teaching on bachelor degree courses of financial management or related subjects; being familiar with the nature, contents and features of enterprise financial management jobs; having strong skills and capability required by financial management posts; having achieved certain results on work; being capable of performing as a financial manager; being of good assistance to senior financial management executives in carrying out financial management work.
For Three Star C talents, in addition to having medium-level technical titles or certificates on specialized subjects related to financial management and two financial management case studies or an article published on key public journals with primary authorship that can support the qualification required by Three Star C grade, one of the following conditions should also be met:
Conditions to be met for Four Star talents include: having a comprehensive mastery of knowledge on financial management and other related subjects; being capable of instructing master degree students on financial management or related subjects; having the skills and capabilities required by various enterprise financial management posts; being capable of planning on financial management work and having achieved outstanding work results; being capable of performing in high financial management positions in ordinary enterprises.
For Four Star C talents, in addition to having high-level technical titles or certificates on specialized subjects related to financial management and a composite financial management case study or more than two articles published on key public journals with primary authorship that can support the qualification required by Four Star C grade, one of the following conditions should also be met:
Conditions to be met for Five Star talents include: having a thorough mastery of the knowledge system on financial management and other related subjects; being capable of instructing doctor degree students on financial management or related subjects; having a good understanding of developments on financial management; being capable of creatively accomplishing financial management work and having led enterprises to achieving corporate financial management objectives; being capable of performing in high financial management positions in large or medium-sized enterprises.
For Five Star C talents, one of the following conditions should also be met:
The following conditions should be met for Five Star A talents, i.e. Leading Talents: having acquired Five Star B Level qualification, having more than 25 years’ experiences on financial management jobs with 15 years in high positions (such as finance director, general accountant, vice president or other higher positions), having significantly contributed to the development and innovation of financial management, playing a leading role in the theoretical development and practice of a financial management area, having passed the evaluation by the Evaluation Committee.
If candidates are involved in one of the following cases, they shall be deprived of the candidacy for evaluation.
For initial reviews on star grading of financial management talents, a combined approach is taken where individual application (or recommendation by employers or other investors), review by authorized evaluators and verification by the Evaluation Committee are conducted.
For initial reviews on applications for two star grade and higher grades, when C level requirements are not met, the next lower grade should be awarded if the corresponding conditions are met.
One Star, Two Star and Three Star talents are evaluated by evaluators authorized by the Evaluation Committee (hereinafter referred to as the authorized evaluators) and verified by the Evaluation Committee. For Four Star and Five Star talents, evaluations are directly carried out by the Evaluation Committee.
The Following institutions can apply for the title of authorized evaluators:
Evaluations are conducted by experts hired by the Evaluation Committee. Evaluation experts should possess high-grade technical titles on financial management or related subjects.
Applicants, having met the requirements on education, work experiences or capability and performance standards corresponding to different star grades, can apply to authorized evaluators or the Evaluation Committee for evaluations, directly by themselves or through their employers’ recommendations.
The following information should be submitted by evaluation applicants to authorized evaluators or the Evaluation Committee:
Enterprise financial management talents of different star grades are reviewed once a year and promoted to higher grades once every two years, if they have successfully passed the reviews (once every three years for applicants of cashiers or those whose education level is on par with or below non-degree studies). Upgrade applications should be made by applicants themselves in written forms.
Cumulative scoring is used in grade evaluations. Applicants can be promoted to higher grades if they have gained the specified scores in a specified span of time.
Evaluation scores include two types, capability score and performance score. The full scores are 100 with 50 for each type.
Capability scores are determined according to the total hours of study or training that applicants have had in one year after the last award of grades.
Applicants can select courses from the curriculum approved by the Evaluation Committee according to their actual work requirements and personal capabilities. They can get 50 scores on 100 hours’ study each year (0.5 score for each hour).
Comprehensive written comments and specific performance scores are given by the applicants’ employers according to the applicants’ performances during the year after the last award of grades.
Employers should carry out comprehensive evaluations and give specific scores according to the criteria defined in Chapter 2 of the Procedures and performances of the applicants during the year after the last award of grades.
If applicants fail to obtain performance scores from their employers, they can apply to the Evaluation Committee.
If such applications are justified, the Evaluation Committee will carry out evaluations and give its scores.
The Evaluation Committee will evaluate the applicants’ professional capability on the basis of the following information:
The acceptable annual score is 60 in total or higher, with 30 scores minimum on capability evaluation and 30 scores minimum on performance evaluation. If scores are below the standard, applicants are recorded failures in the evaluation.
Applicants can be elevated to the next higher grades if they have records of two-years’ success in evaluations. If they have failures during the two-years’ time or the time span from the last award of grades to the time of application is shorter than two years, they will not be elevated to higher grades.
Cashiers or those whose education level is on par with or below non-degree studies can be elevated to the next higher grades if they have three years’ successful records of evaluations. If they have failures during the three-years’ time or the time span from the last award of grades is shorter than three years, they will not be elevated to higher grades.
Reviews for upgrades to Five Star A are comprised of two parts: votes by members of the Evaluation Committee and votes by talents above Three Star grade in the Talent Pool, either with a weight of 50%. Five Star grade awards are determined according to the number of votes that each of the specified candidates has got.
Enterprise financial management talents can apply for fast-track upgrades. The fast-track upgrades include time-frame fast-track and exceptional fast-track.
Time-frame fast-track upgrade refers to elevation to the next higher grades in a time-frame less than the defined number of years.
The following conditions should be met for time-frame fast-track upgrades:
One year has elapsed since the last award of grades; Capability scores and performance scores should be respectively above 45; Fast-track upgrading one year ahead of the normal time-frame can be granted, but consecutive fast-track upgradings are not allowed.
Exceptional fast-track upgrading refers to that the rules of gradual upgrading based on defined time-frame and scores are not followed when certain conditions for fast-track upgrading are met.
To get certificates of due grade award, the applicants should submit the recommendations of their employers to the Evaluation Committee for approval, attend training programs delivered by authorized training institutions and achieve acceptable training scores. They should also submit one case study on their financial management work to the committee for review.
Exceptional upgrades are only applicable to grades below Five Star C.
Candidates shortlisted for Three Star, Four Star and Five Star grades are publicized for one month in one week after committee evaluations.
Within the period of public notice, if any doubts or questions arise on the qualifications of the publicized talents, their certificates or other reviewed information, relevant proof or justifications can be communicated to the evaluation committee. The evaluation committee will make a second review on the qualifications of the publicized talents.
If applicants or employers are accused of forgery and such accusations are verified, sanctions shall be made according to penalty provisions in Chapter 6.
Enterprise financial management personnel recognized as having reached certain star grades are awarded corresponding grades by EFMAC after the review or verification of the Evaluation Committee.
The certificates are uniquely numbered for each talent and filed into the Enterprise Financial Management Talent Pool for certification control. Users can query, verify and print the certificates on the Talent Pool website.
If talents are dismissed from the talent pool as a result of penalty, their certificates shall be invalidated.
If one of the following circumstances occurs, enterprise financial management talents shall be disqualified for grade applications and deprived of the star grades and the certificates they are previously awarded, and such sanctions are to be publicized in the website of the Talent Pool:
Employers involved in deceptions or frauds in recommendations, comprehensive reviews, performance evaluations or scoring shall be deprived of their recommending rights and their financial management index shall be degraded. These enterprises shall also be logged into the blacklist of the Talent Pool and publicized on the website of the Talent Pool management system.
The right of interpretation and revision of the procedures rests with EFMAC.