What Matters to You?

Wendy Wilson, Joseph Agnew and Tom White report on the 2019 IChemE Member Engagement survey results

Earlier this year, all IChemE members were invited to take part in a wide-ranging member engagement survey. The survey was jointly commissioned by the Institution’s Trustee-led Member Engagement Working Group and IChemE Congress.

More than 1,500 people participated in the survey and we’ve reviewed the responses carefully. You can view the full survey results at www.icheme.org/surveyreports, where you’ll also find a PDF copy of this article. Here we’ve listed our ten headline findings and recommended next actions.

When we commissioned this survey, we expected the results to show that members have different priorities and seek different things depending upon their age, location, membership grade and industry sector. We were wrong. When asked what matters most, there was widespread agreement across all groups. Your priorities are for the Institution to fulfil its role as a qualifying body, and serve as an ambassador for chemical engineering and chemical engineers. IChemE’s reputation – also very important to members – is intrinsically linked with our performance in these two areas.

You also reported the importance of a clear strategic direction and you’ll learn more about our updated strategy here and in a further report in the next issue of The Chemical Engineer.

1. You’re happy with our performance as a qualifying body

The good news is that you are largely satisfied with our performance as a qualifying body but there’s still work to do. We’re reducing the time from applying to becoming Chartered, improving the process for applicants who don’t have an IChemE-accredited degree and enhancing support for graduates undergoing initial professional development.

Programme SMART (Sustainable Membership Achieved via Robust Transactions) was initiated in 2017 and will help us deliver sustainable membership growth and greater clarity around membership structure, while maintaining and enhancing IChemE’s high qualification standards. It’s a group of four projects, with integrated marketing support, addressing process improvements and business-like thinking, flexible pathways to membership, professional development support, and sustainable volunteer support.

RECOMMENDED NEXT ACTION: Continue to deliver and provide regular member updates on Programme SMART