CERC 2016 Member Survey

Transcription

1 CERC Member Survey January 2016

2 1 CERC 2016 Member Survey CERC surveyed its membership in order to gather input in preparation for the CERC board of director s strategic planning meeting on February 1, The last survey was completed in January The online survey was conducted between December 2015 and January A total of 103 members participated in the survey, of which 31 per cent were corporate members; 62 per cent were service members and; 7 per cent were personal members. The survey gathered important information regarding the relevance of CERC s mission in the current climate, input as to how that relevance can be supported in the future and ideas for building the CERC membership base. This report summarizes the results and findings of the survey. Overall results continue to demonstrate strong support from the membership for the activities of CERC. From the survey it is clear that members value the work of CERC, particularly in regard to efforts to improve regulations that impact mobility, and industry research. The survey also identified several opportunities to improve the membership experience and grow membership. Summary Results: Rating scale of 1 5 with 5 being excellent across all questions of the survey. Relevance Members were asked to rank how important they feel CERC s mission to impact the systems, policies and processes that enable employers to move people effectively and efficiently" is in today s environment. Overall Corporate Members Service Members Relevance of CERC today Comments from members: Very relevant, CERC is an unbiased source of research and information and a credible objective voice Employers are keen to move talent as quickly as they can, so very relevant. Does talent management not come into your mission? That is more strategic than systems, policies and processes... CERC should be an intermediary not a policy maker or system creator or process maker. I believe CERC tries to influence decision makers. I don't know however how much CERC is able to influence changes and whether the organization joins a larger group to make its concerns, suggestions known.

3 2 The mission is relevant, for the past few years the focus has appeared to be Immigration. It is important, however many members are looking for much, much more. I think CERC's mission should be higher than impacting "systems, policies and processes" that's an RMC's mission. Membership Members were asked to share their top three reasons for joining CERC. The results indicate marked differences between service members and corporate members. These differing expectations do create challenges for CERC in delivering services to the two constituencies. Top three reasons for joining CERC Service Members 1. To network with other industry professionals 85% Corporate Members 1. To remain current on industry trends 97% 2. To remain current on industry trends 75% 2. To network with other industry professionals 61% 3. To expand business opportunities 67% 3. To access research and information 58%

4 3 Importance / Satisfaction of Service Members were asked to rank the importance (value) of services CERC provides and to also rank their overall satisfaction with those services. Corporate members rank the value of survey / research services (4.6) and government advocacy (4.5) as being the top two most valuable services CERC provides, with satisfaction levels against those services at 4.1 and 4.2 respectively. Service providers place high value on member events including the annual conference (4.5) and regional meetings (4.4), with satisfaction ratings at 3.9 and 4.0 respectively. Value / Satisfaction of Service Value Service 2014 Satisfaction Service 2014 Value Service 2016 Satisfaction Service 2016 Value Corp 2014 Satisfaction Corp 2014 Value Corp 2016 Satisfaction Corp 2016 Events Annual Conference N/A* N/A N/A N/A Education CERP Information web/ magazine etc. Surveys/ Research Advocacy * This question was not part of the 2014 survey There were many informative comments from members in all areas of the services provided. Suggestions included: Continue to lobby the government on key issues The need for CERC to have a more global focus Improvements to the conference program with recognition this will be a challenge

5 4 Improvements in the CERP program, and open all levels of the program to non members More local events (Ottawa, Vancouver and outside GTA) Top three Challenges for CERC Members were asked to provide their thoughts about the top three challenges facing CERC Service Members Membership growth (corporate) and retention Promoting / maintaining the relevancy of organization Challenging economy Verbatim Comments: Complacency among some of the tenured members who do not understand the importance of what CERC is doing. To grow membership, to keep costs down on annual event, keep membership engaged throughout the year. Competing with Worldwide ERC in North America for members An imbalance of Corporate to Service Members may drive Service Members away given demand/supply and return on investment Growing membership outside Canada; Content balance: domestic / international Where you focus your activities and how you share them Increasing corporate membership. The message needs to get out that corporate involvement in relocation is very important even if using a "third party" provider. Creating an identity where corporations feel comfortable attending sessions without being attacked by service providers there is a limited amount of any form (forum?) of availability for service providers as CERC appears (at least on the surface) as being corporate centric. maintaining independence, attracting corporate participation, especially at senior levels, achieving buy in for CERC's mandate by the membership ensuring that the members voices are heard and actioned without just the board or executive team making the decisions Recognition for the work being done by CERC Getting actual decision makers to attend the annual CERC Conference, expanding corporate memberships Attendance in general increasing, delegates for the annual CERC Conference

6 5 Corporate members Increased corporate membership Government influence / Remaining relevant in current economy Verbatim comments: Influencing Government on matters related to Mobility Keeping members, and being relevant to the industry Building great relationships with new PM and Ministers. Coming up with unique and different education training sessions, strategizing in an ever changing climate, helping members move to a more strategic position within their organizations. Downturn in economic cycle (less investment by companies in relocating employees); tightening regulations around foreign workers; increasingly more complex taxation issues Lack of corporate members, overabundance of suppliers (loses value for corporate members), education is only relevant if you are new to the industry Maintaining a high level of resources & expertise to keep corporate members informed on changes/updates/trends experienced globally Getting the word outside the Mobility world that CERC exists Having the CERP Professional Designation acknowledged in all businesses Advocacy for TFWP and other immigration related questions Getting groups and events where corporate members can network and get answers to issues that they all face. The Linkedin initiative is a great first start. Promoting volunteer opportunities within CERC, either within groups or at the Conference. We as members, want to be more involved. CERC priorities in order to remain relevant (scale 1 5) Members were invited to share their thoughts about the priorities CERC should focus on in the coming year in order to remain relevant to members. There is strong consensus between both corporate and service members that research is a top priority. Advocacy remains the top priority for corporate members.

7 6 Priority Service Members Corporate Members Professional development Research projects Advocacy Network with Corporate Members Network with Service Members Verbatim comments: Corporate: As a corporate member I want to interact with other corporate members, not suppliers. Continue to represent the interests of employers on mobility related matters that are important to corporations. Service Providers: I would also add to find meaningful ways for CERC members who are located in the outlying areas (outside the GTA) an opportunity to connect with one another. Continue to represent the interests of employers on mobility related matters to the government. Is the message/results getting to the right people? How many or what percentage of CERC members are truly interested. When CERC makes a difference, do employers say thanks, lend support? Just wondering? Opportunities for members to interact and develop relationships (continue to facilitate this) Don t mind saying it again all members should be equal. It takes us all working together and sharing to succeed. Corporate members are critical to the success of CERC. Extra care must be taken to recruit and maintain corporate delegates as members. How to improve the membership experience Members were invited to share their ideas in the form of the top three things CERC could do to improve their membership experience. Corporate members More corporate focused events Expand membership Research and advocacy focus

8 7 Service Members More corporate members Research Improve conference attendance Verbatim comments: Corporate members: Greater focus on advocacy and research. We need to engage the banking and insurance industries. The financial services sector account for greater than 50% of demand for specialized skills. They must be at the table. Draw more corporate memberships and participation by having corporate focused sessions Provide more corporate only events to allow for proper networking opportunities for people with the same challenges of managing in house Mobility programs Expand website offerings, with more access to research & surveys Provide free webinars to corporate members to increase attendance levels and benefits of membership. There are a lot of free webinars available with similar content to CERC webinars. Ensure information is global in nature some topics are too Canadian/North American centric; Have policy summits; Have roundtable events with topics submitted by participants, have these conversations led by facilitators, etc. Have ERC members invited or other international companies, etc. Recertification process easier. More contact opportunities with corporate members Get more universities involved with CERC Service Members I like it just the way it is I find there is little education for suppliers or lobbying on behalf of suppliers, all geared to corporate membership. Please look at improving the certification courses! Change the conference format as I believe it is getting a bit stale and may be turning off some members. Focus on Canadian industry survey data which is difficult to find. Consider increased focus on service members which make up the majority of CERC members.

9 8 International content and more international members Make service members feel as they have some sense of worth in the group. Create an environment where corporate members feel "safe and secure" and free to float ideas Be an information resource for all members Ask organizations on the top challenges they are experiencing and to facilitate discussions on how to address them, apply best practices etc. It's been quite awhile since I took level I of CERC but it was need of a revamp. If that's still the case, that would add credibility to the organization. Education would be more attractive if it was seen as more of a benefit to employers. I enjoy CERC but my company has curtailed my attendance at conferences and even at most local meetings, due to budgetary considerations. I am in Supplier Management so the only way the CERC could improve my experience is to provide opportunities for procurement and supplier management to gather, thus hopefully showing my employer the value of my attendance. As an organization we have to address the day to day concerns that directly effect our corporate members and reduce the macro focus on global trends and political policy. The average HR professional has absolutely no influence on global strategies they are concerned about managing their department. Actively promote service members to corporate members. Actively promote needs of corporate members. Go to site for international information on Canada as it pertains to more granular information, real estate, rentals, cost of living this might be a tall order but potentially of interest to companies/hr groups outside of Canada Education continue to mentor the talent in the industry. We are going to be losing a lot of talent in the industry due to consolidation and retirement. Importance of CERC to collaborate with other industry groups There is strong support for CERC to collaborate with other organizations and industry groups such as WorldwideERC (WERC), The Canadian Council of Chief Executives, The Canadian Chamber of Commerce, The European Relocation Association (EuRA), Human Resource associations and other leading industry groups. Corporate members: 4.2 Service Members: 4.5 Members noted that it is imperative that CERC collaborate and align ourselves with other organizations in the space, in order to remain in the forefront and relevant to our members.

10 9 Verbatim comments: Service members: Being visible in a global community of various industry sectors will strengthen membership, enabling CERC to carry out its initiatives. Would also add there would be value in reaching out to industry specific groups and develop/expand these relationships (CAPP, PSAC, Manufacturing, etc.). there is no silver bullet but we need to further explore how co memberships could work with other related associations including those listed above in order to stay relevant and to grow our association. Corporate members: Mobility cannot just be about one country they need to be aligned with other international associations. Membership Growth Members were invited to share their thoughts and ideas about how CERC could increase the size of its membership: A summary of themes in the responses is listed below: Target specific groups Offer discounts and or referral rewards to members that assist recruiting new members Target decision makers in organizations with specific information about the ROI of CERC membership Offer free conference registrations to corporate (or 1 st time attendees) Increase awareness of CERC not just large companies Provide corporate members with information / resources that can be used with CHRO to demonstrate value of mobility Work with third party providers to encourage clients to join CERC Determine the type of members the organization wants in it ranks Stronger affiliations for joint memberships with other associations Verbatim comments More relevant information directed at Corporate members; Demonstrate our return on investment in our CERC memberships; Provide us with information & resources to take to our CHRO to show impact on mobility. The recent "Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement" update is an excellent example of the proactive information members are looking for. Can membership fees be reduced without compromising value? Can a two for one offer (or something similar) be entertained? Perhaps a committee could be created for that specific purpose. This is the number one issue for the future of CERC so it cannot be minimized or marginalized as we move forward. I worked for a relocation management company for 5 years and they never breathed a word about the existence of CERC. Had I known, I would have gone for my designations years ago.

11 Determine what type of member you want if you want there are 90,000 potential Realtors across the country great membership numbers but not necessarily what you are looking for CERC should outline what they want to be as a group and then identify who the target audience is Start providing information and services that help the day to day operations of a HR generalist Leverage your members to attract their colleagues. We are in a continual environment of cost containment. The Third Party Companies control relocation with 80 + % of Corporations utilizing their services in one way or another. Corporations likely feel that their Third Party Company is their advocate. Therefore they do not have to spend the money to be a CERC Member. I know CERC has tried various incentives, but, there needs to be an information/education promotions to why it is important for corporations to be members in spite of utilizing Third Party Services. This communication should depict overall benefits of membership, stressing ultimate cost savings to their company in their ability to keep up to industry trends and reap the benefits thereof. I believe that the more corporate members CERC has, the more service members will join. I think there should be extra "perks" for the corporate delegates to be members. (Coming from a service provider that wishes to see more corporate members.) Target very specific corporate organizations. Leverage current membership who have contacts in these organizations. Have them help to reach out to mobility professionals in those organizations, inviting them to join or provide a limited time, free membership (i.e. 6mts). Final thoughts Based on the challenges you see organizations facing with regards to mobility if CERC can respond to these challenges as to solutions/sources/through CERC sessions, this would elevate the value of CERC. Example was the recent immigration seminar on Dec 15 where you had representatives from Service Canada that could hear what companies are experiencing and understand their new rules this is practical applicability as these are issues that companies are facing currently. I like CERC and have always been a supporter. I do feel I am a second class member though and that opportunities and budget is in favour of corporates before the supplier group. However suppliers are the main supporters to provide the budget CERC has to work with. Corporates are not asked to support CERC financially to the extent that suppliers are and there is a risk as the corporate group gets smaller that the suppliers may decide their budgets may be better spent elsewhere. A better balanced membership would be healthier. Given the limited resources CERC has to operate with, it is truly impressive to see all that you have accomplished on behalf of your members I see two challenges for CERC in that 1) aside from the current cutbacks in the energy sector, corporations are moving employees much less than 10, 15 or 20 years ago. I have been attending these conferences (ERC) since the 1970's and the reduction is dramatic. 2) The "third party" providers (which also provides us with a lot of business) has removed the corporate client from direct involvement in the relocation process. Corporate clients need to know what is out there, beyond their service provider and often the best information comes from another corporate member. 10

12 11 Change takes perseverance, imagination and trying new things. I believe CERC Executives and Board Members have done these things. They need to keep doing them in a different way until they make change that makes a difference. In this tight economy in the west, things are difficult and it's getting harder to defend membership choices. I would like to see a focus on research, tips and other topics related to the downturn and understanding where the industry is going over the next 1 3 years. I still think the Annual CERC Conference remains among the best in the industry, but like many hope corporate membership/participation improves. I really would like to see some change with the benchmark data put out by CERC. I think for CERC to continue to position itself as the leading voice of relocation in Canada, more frequent information needs to be published about trends, benchmark data, Some awesome research... More people need to know about it... I hope that all feedback is looked at and discussed by the board whether or not it is in line with your agenda or not. Global mobility is being connected to talent management. It s starting to resonate at more senior levels. Talent management is overused these days, but any practical talent lessons around mobility best practices may get some traction. love our industry and our people