President’s Column
Strategic engagement
A YEAR has now passed since I had the privilege of becoming your president and what a year it has been! We’ve just had our institution annual dinner at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh and given the uncertainty of the last 18 months, the event did feel like a watershed moment.
For many of the attendees this was the first time since pre-COVID of any type of gathering and it was pleasing to see so many people catching up, exchanging knowledge and enjoying some fine Scottish hospitality. It was also a moment of celebration of achievements we’ve been unable to have and also lovely to present both the President’s and Institution Medals to our former CEO Bill Pryke in recognition of the last 11 years.
When I took office last year I had two main priorities – the creation of an online Knowledge Hub and a new and exciting strategy which will be fit for purpose over the longer term. It is with great satisfaction that I can say we have met both of these objectives; however there is still some work to be done. By now, you will be aware of our new long-term strategy and the immediate five-year plan; a plan which has been led by our members and with members at its heart.
At this point I would like to thank our CEO Ann Allen and all the team at Sale who have organised, collated and driven the new strategy over the last 12 months. The amount of workshops and engagement sessions has led to record levels of engagement and dialogue and formed many new partnerships which will help the institution flourish, which has enabled our new vision – of which I am particularly proud:
“Our vision is for civil engineering surveying to evolve, championing information management and the use of digital ways of working and technology by a diverse skilled workforce to deliver high-quality projects that serve society.”
I really believe this is a statement which represents where we are heading as a collective and our values of professionalism; integrity and honesty; being curious and brave; and having an inclusive community of membership. Again, the most important point is that this has all be co-created by you, our members, and represents what you want for our institution over the next 30 years.
Thanks to the financial discipline of the institution over the last 10 years, we have an excellent foundation in place to make the appropriate investment to support the CICES team in delivering the strategy. This investment in our future will not also grow membership organically, but see us grow our ambition and membership services to continue to give you all increased value of membership with a real focus on encouraging early career professionals to join us.
One of the themes in the strategy which resonates with me is being curious and brave.
We are now starting to see the regions developing a really good blend of in-person CPD and network events.
Civil engineering surveyors have always been at the forefront of innovation and research into new techniques and as we head into a digital world, this is only going to magnify. We now have our Knowledge Hub platform in place, and the next step is to start developing the technical content which will help support new and less experienced members and allow those of us who are looking to impart our wisdom to the next generation a place to share all that we have learned, safe in the knowledge that others will get the benefit of it in the future.
I’m looking forward to bringing more plans to you in the remaining six months of my presidency to make this a reality.
As we all know, one of the benefits of the last 18 months has been the need to get together on other platforms and keep connected. As we start to move to more hybrid ways of working, we are starting to see the continued importance of our regional committee network. We now have regular regional chair meetings across the globe and are managing to connect our members in a way not previously possible. We see the regions developing a really good blend of in-person CPD and network events as well as getting wider support from the team at Sale to deliver webinars, where we are getting close to 200 participants.
Both our Scotland and North West and North Wales regions are starting to advertise local networking opportunities and keeping those personal connections going which have been formed during the pandemic. I would encourage you all to get involved and attend these events as not only an excellent way of contributing to our institution; but also by being curious and brave you will help unlock opportunities for yourself that you never previously thought about.
Steve Slessor FCInstCES, President
president@cices.org @stevesless www.linkedin.com/in/steveslessor/
Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy
CICES has published its first Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy, aimed at both members and staff. As a professional body, CICES is committed to the protection and promotion of the mental health and wellbeing of all staff and members. The policy states that mental health and wellbeing is just as important as physical health and recognises that mental illness may be detrimental to a person, as it can impact quality of life, productivity and collaboration.