The club as it expands requires more people able to become consultants and researchers, so lets look at what is involved and how you and others can get into this, should it interest them or you.
A look at the way it all runs
Lets first recap over how the services the club provides are organized. Members join an international club, the club uses a number of means of providing services including the services of New Atlantis International Service Corporation, or NAISC. We refer to NAISC as the commissioning company as it provides very little itself, but commissions services from a large network of others, who could be firms, individuals or companies, lets for simplicity here refer to them as commissioned companies. These commissioned companies are likely to also be taking on other projects for NAISC to provide services to other clubs or organizations as well, but not to others outside in the same areas or topics, so there can be no conflict of interest arising.
To the members these arrangements are transparent, they just get supported by people they know, and how these get paid and supervised is not relevant. Although a part of a large collection of entities operating internationally, the member gets a very personal and local service, and when they want to do something a little further away, find that new local people become involved to help them. From the clubs perspective this arrangement has a whole range of advantages from being expandable to meet needs, to not requiring individual clubs to have any paid directors and staff, allowing far more to be used towards meeting their objectives of providing services to members.
Looking from the position of those that set all this up, it has the ability to meet their dream, but can also reduce the risks associated with conventional structures, such as the organization growing top heavy in order to serve the people who run it, rather than the members, a common problem you will see if you take a look around, the problem of expandability to meet demand, and the problem of maintaining a trustworthy and honest collection of individuals involved.
You might think that the use of so many commissioned companies, would mean that the operation could become fragmented, but as the needs and arrangements are analyzed not from the top but from the lead consultants in each area, you will see it is very much based on providing what the member needs and in growth within an area, adding to the whole.
Most of those involved, from at least the senior area consultant, and all the central support services, are what are known as New Atlantis Trusts, this just really means that they have accepted a philosophy based on honor, where they all become a member of an honor based family. Within this honor based family, complete truth, reliability and honor is maintained, and although most try to extend this as far as they can to the outside world, in practice the world we live in is not ideal and we all accept that there is wide scale dishonesty, corruption and cheating. Dealing outside the family for example contracts are essential in many areas where inside any agreements, or handshake is absolute, and members of it go beyond what you might expect to make sure that they never fail to honor an agreement or let another trust down.
Those that aspire to become New Atlantis Trusts, and those that work around the periphery or are still growing into the philosophy, are half and half, they have contracts, but they are expected to deal honorably with the trusts.
The role of the consultant and researcher.
So much for philosophy, lets now look at what just one section of the commissioned companies do, the consultants and researchers.
There are a number of different levels of consultants, the lead consultant for the UK is H3 Search Ltd, their role is to set objectives, establish systems in relation to the property finding and member support, and monitor all that is happening, however they also act as a general consultant as well, so know exactly what is happening on the ground, what members want and more. They are also often involved in the development of a new region or area, supporting new consultants or researchers in that area.
General consultants are the local consultants members get to see, and in each area there may be a senior area consultant and several others who are running sections of the area or providing services to groups of members.
Researchers are the title for those who can range from undertaking local research, or supporting educational promotions in the area, and assistants to the consultants, to the trainee or new consultant still under supervision and getting support. The reason they are still classed as researchers rather than having an in between grade of junior consultant, is that the members need to understand who it is that they are being supported by and the level of expertise that they are getting from the individual. A researcher may for example think that a particular plot is ideal for the member, but not be aware of a joint venture project being negotiated that would give the member access to a more ideal plot at a lower price. Similarly researchers don't want to be put into the position of being expected to advise on topics that are beyond their field of expertise.
A researcher may be involved in the running of a local group, in understanding a wide range of research activities under the instruction of the consultants or may be given a fairly wide brief and list of research and left to get on with it, if they have the capability. They can report to the local consultant or senior area consultant, to H3 or directly to NAISC, and a single researcher may do different things in relation to different tasks they have to do.
Both consultants and researchers are likely to be asked from time to time to also provide help for other clubs or services that NAISC has to organize, so for example as well as looking at meeting the needs of local members they may get a request to help a member from another country, or it may be that a member of the Property Pension Club is looking for a 'buy to let' investment and needs information on the area, or that a new club or service is being looked at and the researchers help is required in working out if it is viable and how it could be provided for members. Some may get the chance to go on overseas fact finding, property searches or similar and most will from time to time become involved in helping establish new areas in the UK or in educational activities to tell more people about the topic the club is interested in.
Some may also have other specialties such as contacting companies to tell them about the trade card, or developers to explain joint ventures, or talking to local people, councilors and developers about the affordable homes project. Some may also become involved in audit activities, this is where we have some follow up on what is happening in an area, to make sure that both members are getting the highest quality service and that those we are dealing with are acting honestly.
Few will be involved in the full range of activities, as there can be conflicts of interest and audit operations are more difficult if we do not have a number of people involved in supporting a member. Naturally you will get to want to support your local members, while the opportunity you discover could well better suit a member being supported by another consultant, and similarly another consultant may discover an opportunity that would be ideal for a member you have been supporting, so working as a part of a wider team becomes not only sensible but beneficial to all.
You might think from what we have said that the roles everyone undertakes is tightly defined, while it is often not, usually the central part of their activities are defined and then the peripheral, which could involve as much as half their time, is covered by general terms like supporting others, working together towards common ends and the like, or undertaking projects on demand, so that it can become very flexible and efficient. The role may be redefined from time to time, and some will be spotted as having more potential and methods worked out to get them fast tracked to a consultant or senior area consultant stage. In some cases weaknesses will be identified and either corrected by further training or by arranging someone else to help out in that topic. At some point you are likely to be lucky enough to have the opportunity to work alongside H3 Search, and to both experience far more, but also get the chance to see many other areas that you could develop into.
The roles can be interesting, exciting, varied, give you the chance to meet people, to travel, to gain new experiences and knowledge and at the same time to be well rewarded. But it is not for everyone, its about researching, educating, and finding solutions, not about selling so many hours of your time a week. Its about being able to undertake what you undertake without tight supervision, being reliable and very honest, and perhaps for those that in the future would see themselves running their own business or as a company director, rather than those who will be happy to always work for others selling their time and allowing others to make the decisions and get the larger rewards. There is no restriction on age, sex, or other. Initially perhaps, a young person often has bags of confidence, enthusiasm and energy, while the older person may have developed better negotiating skills, but all other skills can be acquired over time.
If you were to ask a consultant or researcher what it is that they do, the best answer might be that they help to make peoples dreams come true.
Perhaps the job satisfaction is so great that we should not need to pay them, but in reality we all need money to survive and we believe one of the best ways to keep the best people and to make sure that all our people stay honest, is to reward them very well.
Many are also members or associates, and will also benefit as a part of the points programme, however the extent and arrangements in relation to this is covered in their commissioning contract. The principle usually applies, that they are either rewarded as a part of their contract for introductions or that aspect of their activities is not regarded in that form, but under the points programme, but not rewarded twice. Some times the points are split, as in the case where they are running events to encourage other members to benefit from the points programme, however a share of many is far more than a few all to yourself, so can still make a sizable additional benefit.
Getting considered for these exciting roles
The club does not publish a list of vacancies or roles it is looking to fill, its the role of NAISC to find those it can commission. It does this based on recommendations from those it has already commissioned and knows it can trust.
The existing commissioned companies therefore can make recommendations at any time that a person or company should be considered, but will clearly not wish to put their name behind you unless they know you can be relied upon, and later when you are commissioned to undertake a role you likewise would not want to introduce a weak link into the organization, and if you did it would be most likely to be you that would be asked to sort out the problem created.
Having said this the philosophy is contagious and both existing commissioned companies and you later, will delight at the opportunity to show another person how they can become involved in expanding further the ability to make loads of peoples dreams come true, and yours at the same time.
So where do you start, if you are a member already, talk to your consultant, and also get involved in helping out as a local member, although unpaid its interesting and both allows you a chance to see a little of what is involved and for the consultant to see how reliable and competent you are.
If you are not already a member or this route is too slow for you, then the route for you could be to ask if you can help H3 search out, with view to later being considered for a role as a consultant or researcher. H3 search has a policy of involving as many people as it can and developing people to recommend. Ideally you should offer to undertake anything that they feel you can help with, and this will give them the chance to fit you in sooner. To start they may ask you to help out with something that is not critical and often not that exciting, it may be helping out at a presentation, in some local research projects or may invite you to meet up with one of them to see what you are capable of doing and allow you to have more input. They start with a blank slate approach, this means that they assume little and monitor how well you do and how reliable you are. Your objective has to be to prove you are reliable, and interested in what you are asked to undertake.
You may also like to approach them about undertaking joint events or promotions with them or other consultants. If you are not a member you could do this as an affiliate and this would also you to collect points under the points programme as well as showing what you were capable of doing. This can for some also be an attractive alternative to the other roles as it involves a lower long term level of commitment and a simpler reward structure. See the articles on the points programme for more details.
When an opening occurs
Lets assume you have a recommendation to NAISC, and a role comes up that they feel that you could handle, the first thing they will do is to discuss it with the person who has recommended you, to see if they feel that you can undertake this, next they have to work out how you will be monitored and supported, and this may be through the person who recommended you or another existing commissioned company. These people then may want to meet up with you to check that they are happy to support you. Once this has been sorted out its down to sorting out the exact definition of your role and the way this is to be done, and you will be involved in this.
NAISC does not have UK employees, and we will want you to be responsible for all the commitments you take on. It may be that you join an existing commissioned company, or partnership or that a new company is formed, and in some of these cases the new company will become partly yours and partly owned by the existing commissioned company that is to support you. Normally this will not involve you in any cost at all, so can present the somewhat unusual situation of a person looking at a fairly junior role of a researcher and becoming appointed a company director. As we have support in place to support these new companies, you will find that this has few disadvantages, and many advantages.
Once you or your company has been commissioned by NAISC, and are being monitored, more opportunities will open up, new areas may be offered to you, and you will be able over time to suggest areas that be reallocated away from you. Over time you will also prove your reliability and that you can be completely trusted and yet more opportunities will develop and later you may look at acquiring New Atlantis Trust status.
The reward package that you get will reflect what you are achieving, and be usually a step behind what you have achieved. The advantage of this is that as you achieve more, you get more, but at the same time you know what income you are to have under the contract now, you are not like those on a commission structure in a position where good months are very good, but bad times can leave you unable to pay your bills.
You will get to understand how your performance is being measured, and although far from a science, it is not as hard to do as you might imagine. Much of this is often done by allocating percentages of achievements to different parts of the operation, to reflect the input from each. The results of this is then analyzed over time using a principle known as moving averages, and from this accumulated average achievements and accumulated contract payments, constantly compared. This sounds complex but is not, but what it does mean is that you should find that the more you achieve the more you get and constant achievement will result in yet more rewards while a period where less is happening does not mean that you are to be rewarded less, as long a you are still putting in the effort. The lag in the system, a step behind, and slowed by the moving averages, takes care of the shortfalls later when you are still getting a higher reward but for some reason and probably connected with reasons outside your control, or just cyclic times, you are not being allowed to achieve so much.
Conflict of interest and avoiding fraud
One of the major areas of concern for the club and you is in avoiding conflicts of interest, this is achieved in part by the way commissions are arranged and in part by setting a set of rules you have to stay within.
In the past New Atlantis has had problems in Britain with some employees of clubs and support companies while being employed by them, also working for someone else and in effect stealing business or getting business for someone else at the members expense, even using cars and expenses from our companies to go and steel business for a competitor, or in leaving and stealing membership lists and other information. The effect of this in one case in 1999 involving two people one a past employee and one at the time a current one, together with a competitor and other corruption that exists in Britain as well as large amounts of our records being stolen, was that at that time New Atlantis felt that it had no choice but to suspend all clubs it was running in Britain and suspended the operation of all companies connected with it here. There were many projects part way through and a development plan that run some years into the future, that was all running fairly well. The combined losses incurred by New Atlantis and all the other companies involved was several hundred million pounds. As there was no way that New Atlantis or the clubs could protect themselves from such corruption having similar devastating effects in the future in Britain, initially it looked as if all operations in Britain would be permanently closed.
As an attempt to reduce the risks from corruption in Britain, this is one of the reasons why it was decided to go for the commissioned and monitored approach, and to establish an international support company to handle commissioning. Now this has been done and the advantages discovered, of course we all wonder why we had not thought of it before. We are also far more careful now to make sure that our records cannot be stolen again, and to look for problems earlier.
This is also one of the reasons why the Self Build Homes Club is international and we did not set up a club in Britain and others in other countries. The chance of corruption is also a greater risk because we see that land changes from being worth around 3,000 an acre as farm land, to a million pounds an acre with planning consent, and many suspecting that not all is as it should be in these matters in Britain, as well as the very strong financial motives this can produce for grey people to become completely corrupt. We also see no serious attempts being made to reduce the corruption that exists, and the heads in the sand approach being popular, pretending it does not exist and refusing to acknowledge solid proof when offered. As no one knows the true level of corruption and we suspect is one reason it is not acknowledged.
You can see therefore how some corrupt individuals could seek to involve, or persuade via cooperation some of our people to do things which will be harmful to the club or members. Such operations are like a wedge, a little at first, widening out to the point where a lot of damage is done, so while a favor may not seem unreasonable, or a piece of information not that important, it can be the thin edge of a wedge that could have terrible consequences.
Past experience does mean that in Britain, we do now monitor things considerably tighter than before and test out situations where we feel there could be a risk. We also have very tight rules on conflict of interest. If anyone is shown to have broken these, there is no second chance, they are expelled from all clubs and classed as unreliable, never being allowed again to have anything to do with any projects or company associated with the New Atlantis philosophy. There are appeal routes to sort out misunderstandings. We also insist that everyone who works with us actively helps us to eliminate this cancer of corruption.
So what do we expect of you. You cannot work for anyone else, in any role while working with us, without specific permission. You must not undertake anything yourself without us having approved it that overlaps with any area we are involved in. If you are to become close to anyone who may be a competitor or a risk to the club, you must tell us, so we can sort out with you the protection we need to put in place. You must keep absolutely everything you know about the club, members or any other aspect confidential, you must destroy any surplus records that you no longer need, you must make sure that information you have is never allowed to get into any other persons possession. We expect you also to go far further than this and bring to our attention any potential for harm to the club. You must report immediately any approach to you that is corrupt or loosely worded that could be expanded into a corrupt operation. You must report to us immediately anyone asking any questions about the club, members, business transactions or similar, with no exceptions be it press, local authorities, police or others. If you suspect that another consultant has not been doing what he or she says she has or you hear any rumor, however silly it may seem, that you let us know. If you encounter any problem, you must tell us what is happening, even if it does not seem to have anything to do with us, as its possible you are being set up to be targeted in a way that is difficult for you to resist. The earlier we are aware of a developing problem the more we can do to protect you and the organization. You should also become security aware, this means being aware if you are followed or your phone is tapped, that no bugs have been placed in your home or office and that your mail and records are kept secure.
So what do we do when we get to hear something unusual is happening. Well we grade it, and may not actually do a lot at that point. We definitely won't go and tell someone else that you told us about it, without you agreeing to this course of action. We may ask another consultant or researcher to investigate it, or may launch a surprise audit visit. Most enquiries, approaches and actions will probably turn out to be very innocent and we definitely will not fall into the trap of either constantly suspecting all our people are corrupt or of assuming any person is guilty on anything that we do not have solid proof of. The objective is of course to not allow corrupt people to become involved in the first place and if they do slip through to spot them and failing this to limit the damage that they can cause.
Because we are now so hot on this, its essential that you are always completely honest with us, and don't allow anything to happen that could harm the clubs and ultimately you, by just turning the other way while it is happening.
This is all defined in the contract of those commissioned unless you already have new Atlantis Trust Status. You will also get additional help from time to time.
Don't however allow any of this to put you off, this equally applies to anything else that you do in Britain, and with the right attitude and awareness of potential problems will not present you with problems and may even have a game aspect to it.
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Self Build Homes Club is an international club
and trading title of Self
Build Homes Club llc. Local services
to serve members are commissioned for the club by New
Atlantis International Services Corporation.
All major commissioned companies involved, have New Atlantis trust status.