Chartered Accountants Carry the Torch - The Institute of Chartered ...

Communications Survey Results
509 members responded to the emailed
Communications Survey that was sent out in
early November of 2009, a response rate of
23%. This is what you had to say:
Overall
• Over 83% of respondents were satisfied
or very satisfied with the AMOUNT
of information from the Institute on its
activities and initiatives.
• Nearly 83% were satisfied or very satisfied
with the TYPE of information they received
on Institute’s activities and initiatives.
• Just under 80% were satisfied with the
AMOUNT of information received from
the Institute on professional news and
updates.
• About 79% were satisfied with the TYPE of
information they received on professional
news and updates.
• About 83% were satisfied or very satisfied
in general with communications from the
Institute. Another 14% were neither satisfied
nor dissatisfied while 3% were dissatisfied.
In terms of importance, Folio was considered
to be the most important communication tool
that the Institute utilized. On a scale of 1 to 5
with 1 being not important at all and 5 being
very important, the average rating for Folio was
4.08.
This was followed closely by email updates
at 3.99 and the Institute website with an
average rating of 3.95. The area considered least
important to members was MB Check-Up with
an average rating of 3.07.
In terms of satisfaction, Folio also ranked the
highest with an average rating of 4.18, with
emails at 3.93 and the Institute website at 3.90.
Media releases ranked the lowest in satisfaction
with an average rating of 3.50 while MB Check-
Up had a satisfaction ranking of 3.58.
Website – OK but could do more.
Less than 7% of the respondents visit the
website weekly while nearly 32% visit it on
a monthly basis. More than 60% visit it less
than monthly while almost 8% never visit the
website.
For those who do use the website it is most
frequently used to report CPD hours or to
obtain information about PD courses. About
half use it for news.
Folio – Paper still preferred.
Nearly 99% of members receive Folio and
most of them have read at least one of the past
three issues. 92% found it to be either very
informative or somewhat informative.
Almost 56% prefer to receive Folio in the
mail, while 42% indicated they would prefer it
to be emailed.
Emails – Not too many, not too few.
More than 81% of members indicated that
they received email reminders from the Institute
about news announcements and upcoming
courses/events.
Nearly 36% found the emails to be very
useful and another 47% found them somewhat
useful. Less than 25% indicated that they were
not very useful or not at all useful.
When asked about the frequency of emails,
almost 90% said that they received “just the
right amount of reminders”.
News to members – How do we reach you?
One of the questions asked was what the
most effective method of communicating news
or events to members when this information
did not coincide with the release of Folio would
be. Most people indicated that sending an
email to members was the most effective means
of getting this information. Very few were
interested in using social media such as Twitter,
Facebook or LinkedIn.
MB Check-Up – Worth continuing…for
now.
Nearly 88% of participants recalled receiving
a copy of MB Check-Up. When asked if they
thought it was effective in making the point that
CAs are leaders in business and do more than
auditing, tax and financial reporting, 12.9 %
felt that it was very effective and 37.2% thought
it was somewhat effective.
One-third of respondents were neutral and
just under 17% said it was either not very
effective or not at all effective in making the
point.
47% of members agree or strongly agree that
MB Check-Up should continue to be published
while nearly 40% neither agree nor disagree.
Approximately13% disagree or strongly disagree
with continuing to publish the report.
Media coverage – We want more.
Over 60% of respondents feel that the
Institute receives too little media coverage.
However, there were no suggestions as to how
to generate more.
Most recall seeing newspaper announcements
about Council and member recognition awards
and nearly 90% indicated that these were either
somewhat or very important. Again, nearly 90%
felt that these should be continued.
Now what?
The 2009 Member Communications Survey
indicates that members are generally satisfied
with the Institute’s communications.
As always, we are taking the details of the
survey into account (including the many
and varied comments and suggestions) and
considering these in our plans for the future.
Once again, thanks to the all of the members
who participated in the 2009 survey. Your input
and comments will help us to communicate
more effectively with you.
Training
Outside of
Traditional
Career Paths
In Canada, 70% of CAs work outside
public practice. Industry employers,
government agencies and non-assurance
practice areas within CA firms can now
seek approval to train CA students.
ICAM is pleased to announce that last
fall Council approved Investor’s Group
and the Winnipeg office of Deloitte
Enterprise Risk Services (ERS) as
Expanded Experience Opportunity CA
Training Offices.
Investor’s Group and Deloitte ERS
join Great West Life and over 40
other organizations across the country
currently training CA students in nontraditional
career paths.
A complete listing of CA Training
Offices can be found on the
CATO Advantage website at www.
catoadvantage.ca.
If your organization is interested in
learning more about becoming a CA
Training Office in either the Traditional
or Expanded Experience areas, please
contact Kathy Zaplitny, CA at the
ICAM office.
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