Chair’s Message
The evolution of the Institute
L
ike any business or organisation within Canada, or North America, or even on a global scale, CIQS continues to evolve in this seemingly rapidly changing world. But is CIQS keeping pace with change, leading the chase, or staggering behind the pack, and are we evolving in a positive way? Is the Institute better than it was last year, or five years ago or, when the Institute started 55 years ago? It is safe to say the Institute has evolved since the early years when it began with 39 members and a willingness of volunteer members to build an organization from essentially scratch. We owe a great deal of gratitude to these hard working pioneers for their efforts and dedication. But how much have we evolved in say the past five to 10 years and have the changes impacted the Institute in a positive way? As a follow up to my previous message on consistency, I am pleased to announce two further initiatives CIQS is implementing to enhance the services we deliver and at the same time allowing our organization to become much more efficient and consistent. The first initiative is a continuation of our marketing strategy that began following the 2010 Whistler AGM. One simple request from the membership set us down a path of evolution that has become far more reaching than anyone might have imagined just four short years ago. Following the Whistler AGM, CIQS engaged the marketing firm Parcel, to assist us to develop a marketing strategy that CIQS could implement to both attract new members and to promote quantity surveying to industry and government. It was through the early process of understanding who CIQS was, Parcel recognized the inconsistencies in our
image, brand and messaging. Parcel made it quite clear, that trying to market the quantity surveying profession with a national association and six affiliates, all with very different names, logos and images would be not only be a colossal effort in time and resources, but would also break the bank. So we evolved. The affiliates changed their names to align with CIQS, and we now have a fantastic brand with the new logo that projects a much more consistent image across Canada. And with the new image, came a new website encompassing the national website, six new affiliate websites, plus a new content management system. Only now, are we finally ready to do what was asked at the Whistler AGM and embark on a marketing strategy to promote quantity surveying in Canada. By the way, the two original objectives have not changed since Whistler nor have they changed since the Institute’s inception. How would I know? Just read the CIQS mission statement and you will find the answer. In the coming months, CIQS will commit significant human and financial resources to implement a new marketing campaign that tackles these two objectives head on. I am excited to be part of the team that will deliver this initiative and share the results and successes with you. The second initiative involves the human resources of our organization or more specifically, the lack of human resources CIQS and its affiliates continues to operate with. The plan to deal with this issue puts the Institute’s evolution into high gear and will make our organisation function much more efficiently and with the consistency we strive to achieve.
4 | CONSTRUCTION ECONOMIST | www.ciqs.org | Spring 2014
Mark Gardin, PQS
The days of operating a 2,000 member organisation with two part time staff are coming to an end. A HR/Staffing Plan has been developed and based on the list of tasks required to operate the Institute on a daily, monthly and year basis, it is clear we simply need more paid staff. I was in a state of shock and disbelief to understand how much Lois and Ishrat really do – it was truly mind blowing. And the review of tasks did not end at the national level. Each CIQS Affiliate is charged with a multitude of tasks that require human resources. Some tasks are completed by paid staff but most are routinely completed by a small group dedicated volunteer members in each Affiliate. This created a chain reaction that led to more questions about duplication of resources. Why does each Affiliate assess new membership? Why does each administer the education policies by reviewing diaries, TPE, encourage members to write exams? Why does each expend resources administering and collecting membership fees? Too much time is spend at the Affiliate level draining the volunteer and financial resources on routine administrative tasks when in reality, the Affiliates’ time should be more focused on promoting quantity surveying regionally. It is time to adequately and properly staff the national office and take the administrative load off the Affiliates and volunteer members. This will in turn lead to a more consistent and efficient delivery of services and will benefit everyone. More information will be presented in this magazine detailing the HR/ Staffing plan and how we will undertake Continued on page 30.
