What can CIBSE do for your business?

JFK had American citizens in mind when he coined this phrase, of course – but many employers seem to think that this is also the cry of professional institutions. They think that releasing staff to participate in a CIBSE activity or event is a one-way deal, in which the employer donates the use of a good employee for nothing.

Is that really the case? How might it benefit you, as an employer working in a tough competitive environment? How might it give you competitive advantage and contribute to the bottom line, rather than add to overheads?

First, it may provide publicity. People notice speakers at CIBSE events – the fact that they have been asked indicates a knowledge of the subject. So it may generate new work and enhance client confidence in your business rather than your competitors. It can lead to a raised profile – through Building Services Journal, for example, when it features young engineers.

Participation in CIBSE events or other industry activities provides excellent opportunities to meet other senior professionals, pick up new ideas and approaches to problems and increase awareness of the latest innovations.

Being part of some CIBSE activities gives early insight into forthcoming developments: legislation in the pipeline, new technical regulations affecting health and safety or company registration schemes. Such early warning can be important to the strategic planning of your business. And being involved in CIBSE gives a better knowledge of the membership and registration processes, which can speed up registration of others in your business.

Representing CIBSE in industry groups can provide an important opportunity to get your views and experience of industry problems across. It won’t always achieve the result you want, but if nobody ever tells government or industry bodies where the problems are, and how they might be solved, they probably won’t be solved. And you will have to go on dealing with the problems and their costs.

For younger employees, CIBSE activities can offer significant continuing professional development opportunities, as they rub shoulders with more experienced members. And at a regional level, CIBSE offers a wide-ranging programme of events, often free of charge, where they can hear leading practitioners talking about the latest developments in their field.

CIBSE publications set out the latest professional thinking on given subjects. Contributing to publications through steering groups, or acting as a referee, not only gives early access to new guidance and enables participants to shape that guidance, but also demonstrates that the firm in question is working at the cutting edge in that area. It also brings a group of experts together and creates opportunities for cross-fertilisation.

These are all tangible benefits available to employers who enable their staff to participate in the Institution’s activities.

Of course, these participants also benefit CIBSE. Much of what CIBSE does, in fact, is only possible because of the voluntary contributions of time and effort of its members.

So next time one of your staff comes and tells you that they’ve been asked to speak at a CIBSE event, join a committee or consider a consultation document, don’t immediately think of the cost; think of the benefit to your business, and perhaps pause to reflect that one of your staff will be doing something that is highly rated by others in the industry.

In the end, it’s not a one-way deal, but a two-way relationship – what we might call a “win-win”.

Julian Amey, CIBSE chief executive