FMJ.CO.UK INTERVIEW FOCUS
APRIL 2022 41
Matrix in the UK to represent the younger
generation.
“It’s all very cosmopolitan,” says Murphy.
“And with a total of 15 on the group
including me, it isn’t unwieldly, so we can
get together once every couple of weeks.
We have a clear programme we work with
as we go through proposals and how we
operate, given the global nature means
some of our meetings are at strange times.
“Even with governing council members
in the group there is no hierarchy and by
including the world regional board leads
they’ve a connection to their regions
and can feedback our progress to their
member’s groups. The working group also
includes local board leads who are closest
to rank and file members, so we’re very
member led.
“We also have a good relationship with
the exec team who I work with directly, and
approach it as a partnership. Also, the RICS
sta§ have been brilliant and they’ve been
really good in picking this mantle up and
running with it.”
Murphy is keen to point out that the
group has anchored its activities to
concentrate on responding to member
feedback which guards against the group
determining its own agenda. The group
is also carrying out a gap analysis based
on the RICS most recent survey of the
profession to check that what people were
commenting on a year ago is still applicable
now.
Says Murphy: “All of the work we would
focus on is 100 per cent anchored on
whatever feedback we get and part of my
role in ensuring that when these 14 people
get together we concentrate on what the
membership has told us, what we’re going
to do to solve it and what is the output.
“It isn’t a group to which people address
queries, we’ll respond to the feedback
we’ve had and how to address that.
It’s broad in its initiatives but knows its
boundaries, which are areas that relate
to the experience the members have, the
value for money they perceive and how
engaged they feel. That’s the frame of it and
what we’re not trying to do here is address
concerns about how the organisation is
governed or what is its purpose – that is not
for this group.”
MEMBERSHIP ENGAGEMENT
According to Murphy the biggest
feedback they’ve had is regarding events,
engagement and members coming
together, whether they are social or more
formal strategic conferences. A lack of
interaction is due to a variety of issues, not
least the huge impact of the pandemic. But
alongside this, the number of professional
boards had diminished prior to COVID
and the stripping back of resources by the
former CEO and the exec team in the early
part of the pandemic took away much of
the regional support.
Says Murphy: “A lot of the feedback
is that people can’t develop and host
local events as we don’t have people
on the ground, which they feel cuts
into the value as it’s a people industry
and they want to get together to share
experiences.”
The biggest frustration he says
has been the inability to
see fellow members,
and the resources
not being there
to make this
happen.
“This is why
the main
thing now is
resourcing
and rebuilding,
within the
right financial
constraints.
Rebuilding the
resources around
events and finding ways
people can communicate in a
meaningful way with each other. There’s
a sense that the RICS was getting in the
way of things happening, so this group
is very much ‘how do we facilitate these
events happening, how do we make sure
we can all get together and how do we
do that in the way that has the lightest
touch?’”
To manage this fine balance, the MEEV
has announced RICS will formally support
a number of free local engagement events,
leaving members to play the leading role in
the selection of the topics being covered.
RICS will play an ‘enablement’ role, helping
the local members with organisation,
logistics and promotion of the events.
“One of the things we’re trying to develop
is more open conversations around what
is feasible and what isn’t, given local
membership numbers” says Murphy.
“The challenge the RICS has, like many
organisations is in cutting a lot of sta§
during the pandemic it now has to top that
number up which is di§ icult to do in the
current recruitment marketplace.”
Learning and Development is
an area that goes straight to the
value of being a member of the
institution. This is why a new
CPD Member Support Package
has been launched that o§ ers
free CPD to members as part of
their membership subscription.
Murphy was particularly pleased
with how quickly the RICS were
able to deliver this change so that
it was ready for the start of the 2022
membership period.
He explains: “When you go into the
member value hub you can start your
own CPD package to work across your
number of required hours as part of your
subscription. It’s a real recognition that you
have to have something of value for your
fees.”
Another key area of concern for members
was transparency, so the group has
worked with RICS teams to produce a chart
depicting how the revenues generated from
All of the work we would focus
on is 100 per cent anchored on
whatever feedback we get and part of
my role in ensuring that when these 14
people get together we concentrate
on what the membership has told
us, what we’re going to do to
solve it and what is the
output.”