It is very easy to think that tomorrow will be a materialisation of today; a minor change here and a tweak there and everything will be fine. This has been the case for many professional institutions and clubs for the last few decades. However, over the next decade, we are likely to see the environment in which professional institutions operate change dramatically for a number of reasons:
All organisations are guided by their mission statement, vision and values and whatever pressures one faces; it is important to stay true to these. Additionally, we at the Chartered Institute of Building are lucky enough to have a Royal Charter which guides us; granted in 1980, its objectives are:
We are also very lucky to have a loyal diverse membership, enviable reputation and strong balance sheet. However, all this could be lost very quickly in today’s fast-moving world, unless we change with the times and ensure the way we operate is relevant to the third decade of the 21st Century, in particular:
Some of this is really difficult; we are in part a member’s organisation, but we also have a public role to fulfil. We are the guardians of hard earned and well-respected qualifications; sometimes these roles are complimentary, sometimes not. But the journey of modernisation can be extremely fulfilling; there is always low hanging fruit to pick and successful change leads to wider organisation buy-in and growing appetite for further change.
Fully grasping the opportunities ahead of use, will allow us to determine our own future. An agile, well respected, member focused CIOB will allow us: to remain independent and relevant, or if we so wish; to be the catalyst for bringing various construction professional institutions together to form a powerful cross discipline property and construction professionals’ institution.
Resting on our laurels is likely to result in the opposite occurring, with both our membership numbers and influence diminishing. In the language of the jungle “eat or be eaten”. The next 10 years are likely to be a both challenging and exciting time, professional institutions and all who earn their living from construction. I look forward to playing my part in grasping the opportunities ahead of us, raising the CIOB profile within our industry and above all continuing to proudly call myself a builder in all facets of my life!
An agile, well respected, member focused CIOB will allow us: to remain independent and relevant, or if we so wish; to be the catalyst for bringing various construction professional institutions together to form a powerful cross-discipline property and construction professionals’ institution
We are the guardians of hard earned and well-respected qualifications