2016 has been a landmark year for IEMA.
It has been a busy and productive year, and the sole focus of all we’ve done has been about making sure the organisation is future fit. It’s been the year of relevance, in terms of the membership offer, appeal for individual and corporate audiences, and our message.
Members have driven the changes, and I would like to thank you as the year draws to a close, for working with us and for your support. IEMA is now ready to move on to ensuring members reap the rewards.
I feel we now have firm foundations to take our membership and profession skyward, but only if we continue to work together. Over the next year, you will see more opportunities to contribute your knowledge, skills, experience and guidance to the membership community as it grows and diversifies.
The flip side of that is that you will soon experience as many chances to benefit from the range of learning and expertise of your fellow members. In other words, members will be able to withdraw from and deposit into our vast bank of collective knowledge on an entirely new scale.
In a year of widespread political uncertainty, from the vote for Brexit to the election in the US of Donald Trump as president, the world needs an expert voice, and experts to establish a long-term approach to the economy. The UK, Europe and the US are all in the midst of major shifts, and we do not know what the effects will be.
It strikes me that we need to stick together more than ever. If we share what we know, use our collective power to influence decisions and collaborate to innovate in the workplace, it almost does not matter what goes on around us. Together, we can steer the ship any way we choose.
All talk of ‘engagement’ may sound a little nebulous but, in practical terms, it really means joining forces with other members to develop much-needed guidance and generally tapping into the deep well of opportunities open to members. We have an opportunity here to harness the power of our worldwide alliance, to combine our collective expertise and present that expert voice to the world.
This means engagement at local and national levels, and engagement with specific areas of expertise and general business development. We will explore partnerships and stand up to bad policy.
And that is more powerful when we work together.
