An Institute Coming of Age?

Some time ago, my involvement with BIFM was far greater that it’s been of late. I spent a couple of interesting years as the corporate representative on Council; was actively involved in the Knowledge and International SIG committees, and well as the Corporate sub-committee; and regularly attended events and conferences in order both to enhance my learning and to network with my peers.

More recently, I’ve been less involved than I would have liked, but my desire to do anything more that watch from the sidelines was to some extent limited by what I felt was a tendency towards bureaucracy, and a structure & public face that seemed far to entrenched in tradition. That now seems to have changed, and I for one am delighted to see it happen.

I can cite two immediate examples of this (although, bearing in mind that this is a blog, I’d be delighted to hear your views on the subject too). Firstly, the qualification framework – whilst still in relative infancy – is clearly much more fit for purpose that it’s predecessor, the BIFM Qual; the latter was to my mind singularly unsuccessful, with limited take-up and suffering from the constraints of being non-accredited. The second example is the introduction of the “Certified” status of CBIFM for individual members. For too long, I believe that members have felt that the focus on corporates has been to the detriment of the individual; however, CBIFM now means that members with tangible knowledge and experience can make themselves known. (As an early adopter and beneficiary of those post-nominals, I would say that, of course!)

Recently, I accepted an invitation to represent the Institute as one of a small number of EuroFM Ambassadors, a role I was delighted to take on in the light of my changing perception of BIFM. I’m looking forward to what will be a more direct involvement than I’ve had for quite a while, and am happy to give of my time for an organisation that seems to be heading in the right direction.