We recently undertook our largest ever member survey and I wanted to let you know a little about what it told us, and to be really open about how we’re going to respond.
Before I do that I wanted to thank the thousands of you who completed it and also welcome nearly 2,000 of you onto our member panel. The aim of the panel is to bring you into the heart of how we do things, and to use your feedback to deliver direct improvements to the services you receive as a member. Get in touch with us if you’re interested in joining the panel.
It was a lengthy survey, but I can assure you that every bit of feedback has been useful. I spent years running employee surveys and I know the (fair) challenge is always whether the time you spent communicating with us will be matched by our commitment to taking action. In this case I'm really positive that we will make good progress and that our actions and investments will be informed by your feedback.
We’re still working through and analysing the results, but already it’s clear that we have some notable opportunities for improvement that will help support our members. The first of these is simply to communicate better with you the value that you get from your membership. This may seem obvious - but the survey was clear that we have some great things that we aren't shouting enough about. We have widely varying usage of our benefits - and satisfaction with them - and we need to make sure that every member knows the sources of support available to them. We want you to feel the benefit of your membership and the results show that currently members often want us to offer services or support that we already offer - but have failed to communicate effectively. We'll be running a campaign on this over the coming year, but if you have read this far, I'd urge you to visit our website and see what you get as a member. There are benefits, from helplines to community support, that can be invaluable resources - but only if people are aware of them. We'll also be reviewing all of our communications to make sure that member-only areas and member-discounts are clearly highlighted.
The survey also gave us excellent insight into what type of content people value from us. The opportunity here is similar in that we need to make it easier for members to access our knowledge base on the job, or for learning. We have an enormous amount of high-quality research and practical materials, but we don't always make it easy for you to use or find them. We have been improving this, but we got a clear message that there’s more to do - and that when we get this right it really makes a difference to how positive you feel about us. Our resources, for instance, are highly regarded when they’re used, but too many people aren't aware of them. Take a look at our recent joint publication with MIND on supporting mental health at work. We’re already working on how to structure and make available materials and tools based on your feedback.
The other thing that became clear in this space is that those of you who make use of the Community area of our website or our LinkedIn member group really get value from that. These resources give you access to a community of peers who are facing the same challenges and together you can learn and explore.
You told us that we do a lot of things well - and that you consider our purpose of Championing Better Work and Working Lives to be important and relevant. You also let us know where we could get better for you and that's exactly what we plan to do. The results vary by membership levels, but there is a consistent theme around communicating more effectively. In depth results have been shared across the organisation as we all have a part to play in giving you a great member experience.
We've also been communicating openly with our branches and Council members about the progress of our membership strategy. We’re all focused on making sure you get the most from your membership.
Over the next year we’ll commit to:
- communicating more specifically with you about how you can get the most value out of your membership
- being open and transparent about the investments that we make to support your member experience
- reviewing our content to make sure it meets your needs.
From April we’ll publish a quarterly summary so you can track the progress and improvements that we’ve made.
We really want to support you in having a positive impact on people's working lives and as your professional body, we’re proud to do so. Thank you once again for your feedback - and please do watch this space.
Many thanks,
David
Want to get involved?
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A little about the author: I've been CIPD's Director of Membership for just over six months now and before that I spent my entire career in HR. I'm really proud to do this role - and as most of my friends work in HR, I'm lucky to get regular and relentless feedback on how I'm doing.
David D’Souza
CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development www.cipd.co.uk<http://www.cipd.co.uk/>
LinkedIn<https://uk.linkedin.com/in/daviddsouza180> - @dds180<https://twitter.com/dds180>
