Data Considered Important for Meeting Association Challenges

BY GEORGE LEE
The PEGG

An APEGGA opinion survey conducted earlier this year will play a key role in helping the Association envision and prepare for a challenging future, says President Ron Tenove, P.Eng. It's a future that promises significant impacts on the relevance of the engineering and geoscience professions, he says. "To be effective in our mandate, we must listen to our various stakeholder audiences and ask their opinions, because they have the controlling influence on our relevance and value as professions."

On Sept. 13 Council received an overview of the survey, which Mr. Tenove classes as "very meaningful." Made up of the three sections - one for members, one for employers and one for the general public - the survey was conducted earlier this year by E.M. Ashmore and Associates Inc. of Calgary.

In the 2002 member opinion survey portion, titled A Myriad of Diversities, 550 members responded on-line to detailed interviews, which is a larger number than expected. The survey was designed to compare and contrast the three major member segments - professional engineers, geologists and geophysicists. Many of the questions were open-ended, which means much of the survey's value lies in the depth and detail of responses and how APEGGA puts those responses to use, says Sherrell Steele, public relations manager.

Members responded thoroughly and thoughtfully, providing useful benchmarks and a wealth of information for Council and staff to consider, Ms. Steele says. "We were very, very grateful for the detailed and incisive feedback. We were impressed with the level of interest there was in the process, and with how enthusiastically members participated.

"The very clear outcome of the survey is that we have huge diversity. There is not a clear call to action in all of APEGGA roles and activities. Additional feedback and more segmented analysis is required."

Some of that analysis, which will zero in on the different sub-groups and professions within APEGGA, could take place in the short term, through such vehicles as focus groups. Some will be part of the next on-line survey, slated for 2005.

Member opinions were last collected in 1998, and before that in 1993. But the questions weren't segmented at all in the past surveys. That would have allowed the three professions to be compared and contrasted against each other, to obtain a degree of confidence in their similarities and differences. Not having the segmentation made it difficult to measure changes in perception and whether APEGGA's strategies were having an effect.

This survey, however, begins a new and improved benchmarking process, says Ms. Steele. It segments responders by their profession, geographic location, permit holder status, employment status, employer status, industrial segment and number of years in their professions.

For executive summaries of the member, employer and public surveys:

• 2002 MEMBER OPINION SURVEY FINAL REPORT ..... view in PDF
• 2002 EMPLOYER RESEARCH SUMMARY REPORT ..... view in PDF
• 2002 GENERAL PUBLIC SURVEY FINAL REPORT ..... view in PDF