CIP Society Highlights

Results from our 2016 membership survey are in.

Each year we survey you, our members, to benchmark your perceptions of the programs and services that we deliver and that you receive as a benefit of your graduate membership in the Society.

This year, we included questions to specifically (a) gauge your level of engagement with the various Society programs and services we currently offer and, (b) ask what more we can be doing.

In terms of your level of engagement with the various Society programs, we were pleased to learn that 80% of respondents have recommended the designations to people in the industry as appropriate to their career development; that 72% of respondents have read at least one trends paper, and 57% have read one of our emerging issues research reports (cyber risks and automated vehicles are been published to date; sharing economy is coming spring 2017). Sixty-three percent are aware of the Institute’s Career Connections and 53% are aware of the Society’s ongoing column on ethics.

In terms of the second, what more can we be doing: the majority of respondents (approximately 50%) didn’t have anything to add – responses included “No,” “N/A,”  “Nothing at the moment,” and “All looks good”. Other respondents provided comments that correspond to these three main themes:

1. Access to webinars and seminars and requests for soft skills offerings.

Our Feedback: The Society is proud to offer national webinars so that every graduate can partake in an educational opportunity regardless of where they live, and particularly for those not in major centres. We focus on emerging trends and hot topics that are national in scope, and leave the regulatory content particular to each province to your local Institute or chapter to deliver. Our ADVANTAGE Live webinar series has offered some soft skill webinars previously (for example: on mentoring, on social networking), and while they tend to attract fewer attendees than the requests would suggest, we can incorporate into our planning for future offerings.  

2. Frequency of emails – many members are feeling inundated by emails from the Society, your local chapter and national Institute.

Our Feedback: We are cognizant of the fact that the Institute sends a lot of emails. We are working internally to determine better ways to communicate with members that would add value not volume. Regarding the Society’s ADVANTAGE Daily specifically, please note that we have as many members who say they value the email daily, as we have members who say daily is too much. Members have the option to ‘unsubscribe’ at the bottom of the emails. As well, perhaps it helps to know that: just as your organization is likely grappling with the digital and data issues to meet customer expectations, so too is the Institute. We appreciate your patience as we work to find solutions.

3. MemberPerks – some are unaware of the program, some are disappointed it seems too Ontario or Toronto centric and/or the same as is available through Airmiles or Groupon.

Our Feedback: We appreciate all the comments we receive about the MemberPerks program. We have had a longstanding partnership with Venngo, well before other programs have surfaced.  We continue to believe that the program offers a robust and reputable service, with more than 1200+ perks, with nearly half of them from national brands that the majority of members should be able to access – especially online. Unfortunately, our survey question on engagement revealed that only 20% of respondents “benefited from discounts and saved money through the MemberPerks program.” We’ll work with MemberPerks to communicate better about the program, help you get their app which gives you geo-sourcing of perks, and to articulate the scope of offerings available to all members.

We thank you for taking the time to complete the survey. As we continue to review the results – determining what works and what needs work – we’ll ensure that this feedback from members continues to inform the planning and development of current and future programs and services of your CIP Society.