What makes a Professional?

We find ourselves in a dynamic time for forestry. The sector is burgeoning, which brings a heightened public profile and places forestry professionals well and truly in the spotlight, including their behaviour and attitude. So what makes a professional?

The Oxford English Dictionary defines a Professional as:

Professional ► noun a person engaged or qualified in a profession. ■ a person engaged in a specific activity, especially a sport, as a main paid occupation rather than as a pastime. ■ a person competent or skilled in a particular activity.

But a professional is more than a dictionary definition. Professionalism is about attitude and conduct – a moral compass if you like – and one that is becoming ever more prominent in a modern forestry sector. In many ways it’s no longer enough to have skills and knowledge – a professional must also be able to demonstrate that they can apply it ethically to the situations they face.

The sector is supported by its professional body, the Institute of Chartered Foresters. As a professional organisation constituted under a Royal Charter, the Institute sets standards of education, competence and ethics for its members. It places a strong emphasis on the integrity and competence of its members and therefore requires them to conduct themselves in accordance with a Code of Conduct.

The Code should be considered central to the professional life of a forestry professional not only as a source of ethical guidance, but also as a guide to principles of good practice. The six professional and ethical standards that Institute members must abide by are:

• Act with integrity
• Always provide a high standard of service
• Treat others with respect
• Take responsibility
• Act in a way that promotes trust in the profession
• Have regard for sustainability throughout your work 

Of course you don’t need to be a Chartered Forester to abide by these principles but the role of a Chartered Institute is to ensure that its members follow this Code thereby providing assurance to the general public. Most people recognise that to be a chartered member of a professional body means that the individual is subject to scrutiny regarding their behaviour and that failure to maintain standards can result in a disciplinary process. A Chartered Forester is no different, with an obligation to demonstrate a commitment to follow a Code of Conduct and undertake Continuing Professional Development (CPD) activities. Our members' commitment to lifelong learning is a vital element in improving professionalism within our sector. Meaningful CPD should be high quality, challenging and serve as an outlet to improve professional competence.

Members of the Institute of Chartered Foresters may be found working in the private sector, the public sector, non-government bodies and academia. Our members work in every aspect of forestry including forest management, harvesting, operations, policy, research and urban forestry. What all members have in common is their professionalism.

Professionals stand apart because their relationship with their peers, clients and society, in general, is based on implicit trust. This notion of trust crops up time and again when considering professionalism. We believe Chartered Forester status should be a goal for all in the forestry industry who wish parity with other professionals.

Many employers pay membership subscription fees, support staff with time in lieu for chartered status applications and place chartered status at the heart of staff’s personal development plans. It makes perfect business sense. The benefits of employees that have been awarded Chartered Forester status are obvious, and employers are only too happy to trade on this badge of professionalism.

Our most recent membership survey found that nearly two-thirds of respondents (aged 25-34 year old) who had already obtained chartered status earned in excess of £35,000. By comparison, 89% of respondents who were not chartered earned less than £35,000. Chartered status, quite simply, results in an ability to earn more money and faster career progression. Which is perhaps why membership of the Institute of Chartered Foresters is greater than at any point in our 90-year history. Current membership stands in excess of 1,700 members.

Each year the Institute runs workshops to help applicants understand the chartered process. 
Copyright Rich Dyson Photography.

Whatever your role in the sector, if you believe yourself or your staff to be professional then the pursuit of Chartered Forester status is one of the best means to demonstrate this. As Member Services Director for the Institute of Chartered Foresters, my role is to ensure members get the most from their membership and support those individuals who wish to present for chartered status. If I can assist you in any way, then please feel free to contact me.

This blog post originally appeared in the April 2017 (Issue 80) edition of Forestry & Timber News produced by the Confederation of Forest Industries. 

Revitalising CPD at the Institute of Chartered Foresters

I was thrilled to be asked to present at this year's Membership Excellence conference, #MEMX15. If "Revitalising CPD at the Institute of Chartered Foresters" is of interest to you, then here's a link to my presentation from yesterday.

Huge thanks to Richard and the team at MemberWise for organising such a slick event. For me, one of the plus points of the day was meeting fellow membership professionals and gaining valuable insights and examples of best practice from them.

Revitalising CPD at the Institute of Chartered Foresters

The Professional Learning Iceberg

Members' professionalism, lifelong learning and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is an integral part of my role as Membership Manager for the Institute of Chartered Foresters. The motivation behind members' CPD is an area that interests me greatly. Earlier this year, I wrote a blog post for the Institute of Chartered Foresters entitled The Top 5 Benefits of CPD.

On Tuesday of this week, I attended the Professional Associations Research Network (PARN) Conference - CPD: Making it Meaningful. I was infinitely impressed by the opening speaker Hilary Lindsay, Vice President of The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and Affiliated Researcher at the Open University, who enthusiastically shared with us her research on CPD and her Career Adaptability Model. It was most illuminating. 

In 2011 Hilary surveyed more than 500 Chartered Accountants and when asked to record the relevance of learning activities in their current role, the Top 5 responses were as follows,

1. Accessing the Internet for information 

2. Doing your job on a regular basis

3. Reading technical material

4. Reading magazines, newspapers and journals 

5. Attending courses, conferences and seminars

However, when the same group were asked to describe learning activities as CPD, the Top 5 responses were as follows,

1. Attending courses, conferences and seminars

2. Reading technical material

3. Reading magazines, newspapers and journals

4. Studying online learning modules

5. Accessing the Internet for information

It would appear many professionals still equate formal learning activities as the premier source of CPD. We, as professional associations have an obligation to our members to communicate and reinforce the importance of informal learning, practical learning and reflection as acceptable, and indeed desirable components of CPD. 

In her presentation, Hilary used models from Illeris (2002) and Livingstone (2002) to illustrate the three dimensions of learning and the informed learning iceberg (see below). The majority of our members will readily undertake cognitive learning activities, whether it be attending formal training courses or reading technical material. 

But as professional associations we need to encourage our members to,

1. Learn with or from others

2. Learn on the job

3. Learn through reflection

Only by embracing these interpersonal and intrapersonal activities (those learning styles submerged in the ocean at the base of the iceberg) will our members be truly competent professionals. 

How best to illustrate this to members of the Institute of Chartered Foresters? The iceberg becomes a tree, obviously. 

You can read more about Hilary Lindsay's research in the PARN publication - Adaptability: The Secret to Lifelong Learning. 

Further reading.
Illeris, K. (2002) The three dimensions of learning. Roskilde University Press.
Livingstone, D. W. (2002) Lifelong learning and underemployment in the knowledge society: A North American perspective. Supporting lifelong learning. Volume 3: Making policy work. The Open University.