Shahid, one of our Vice Presidents, believes strongly in regulatory excellence – his 20 plus years in the compliance field is a testament to that. Shahid’s team is tasked with uncovering wrongdoings and making sure BC’s consumer protection laws are being followed to the letter.
If you were to talk to him about his work, you might expect to learn about policies, procedures, and techniques. This is where you would be wrong. When asked about what makes up an excellent investigation, you hear something unexpected. He will tell you about the people he works with and the characteristics of a great team. “Sure, your processes and a solid understanding of administrative fairness are strong foundations,” he explains. “But that drive to truly make a difference and be great – as a regulator or an investigator – starts with the people.”
He’s obviously doing something right because, in late 2018, the team received an Investigative Excellence Award from the Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation (CLEAR). Shahid believes that begins with three key elements:
- It starts with your corporate culture. Your greatest foundation is a positive corporate culture based on values that people are committed to. “If our investigative team stands for the same things as our organization – integrity, impact, accountability, trust, excellence – we can only succeed,” says Shahid. “Those shared values are our compass and they guide us when things get difficult or murky.”
- A passion for the mandate. Beyond corporate culture, he wants each member of his team to connect with the work and believe in the purpose of the organization. Here at Consumer Protection BC, the goal is to make a difference in the life of British Columbians, especially those who are vulnerable and unable to protect their own interests. “This type of work encourages you to test yourself, take risks and push you to new limits,” explains Shahid. “To thrive, the desire to achieve our mandate must be there for each of us. And it’s my job to foster that.”
- A willingness to embrace challenges and see opportunities. The more complex the case, the harder it is – on legal, human and financial resources, as well as the impact on your working relationships. The intensity escalates as new challenges come up in a case. Shahid believes that you must be willing to accept those difficulties, trust your team, stand confident in your knowledge of the law and be willing to take risks and think differently. “For example, in a payday lending case, we recognized that we couldn’t do it alone to be able to help a certain group of people,” he says. “We needed help from our colleagues to get and understand meaningful data. We shared our findings with another regulator, the Financial Institutions Commission, because we knew they had the authority and deeper knowledge in an area that we didn’t. The willingness to collaborate, both internally and externally, led to hundreds of thousands of dollars in refunds.”
The takeaways here? Champion a positive culture. Believe in what you do. Take a chance. And collaborate.
Think you might want to join our team?
Read The Right Fit, our HR & culture blog, and the careers page of our website. Any new job postings can be found on the Join our talented team menu of our careers page. To learn more about the work we do as a provincial regulator, visit the About us section of www.consumerprotectionbc.ca.