Membership Survey 2008:
What do our members think?
The Institute ran a membership survey recently, where we asked members how they felt about the Institute, which services they used, and what improvements they would like to see.
Thank you to all those of you who took the time to tell us what you think! We received over 1,680 responses, with more than half of members responding online, and the rest by post or fax. The results are being used to improve and enhance our services, and also to help us attract new members.
What did we find out?
The survey aimed to help us get to know our members and what they want from us. Results in particular focused on the following areas.
1. Member Profiles
The Institute takes strength in variety, with members coming from all sectors of the hospitality, leisure and tourism industries.
The largest sector is Hotels at 30% of the membership, followed closely by Restaurants & Clubs and Cost Sector Catering.
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Members are all ages, but as expected from the professional body for hospitality managers, the majority (57%) of you are between 36 and 55 years old.
Our research inferred that 2% of members have been with us for 2 years or less, 31% between 2-10 years and a massive 68% for over 10 years.
2. Hospitality magazine
Satisfaction with the magazine remains high. Members read Hospitality more frequently than any other trade publication.
Over 90% of you read every issue, with 95% agreeing that the magazine fully or partially covers the issues you want to read about. 82% of you feel the content is relevant to your job role, and 92% would recommend it to a colleague.
The majority were happy with the current frequency of four issues per year, with around another 25% wanting to see the frequency increase to six or 12 issues. Half of you keep the magazine for reference, with 41% circulating it to colleagues.
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But we will not rest on our laurels – we aim to improve the content of Hospitality with more coverage of the hot topics influencing the industry. We are also working on production of an online version, with every article also available within our comprehensive range of eJournals.
3. Events
Over 80% of members attend industry events, many of which are conferences and exhibitions. 58% of respondents preferred events to be seminars or workshops, and networking events were also popular, with over half of those surveyed ‘interested’. Evenings are the best time of day to catch our members, with over 40% agreeing that this would be the most convenient time.
The majority of members found out about our events via email, followed by the magazine events page, and postal communication. Nearly 70% of you were kept informed of local branch events, but there is always room for improvement!
We are working on improving communications in future to make sure even more of you are aware of what is happening, on both a local and national basis. We will also be looking at delivering larger, Institute-led events which could offer greater CPD and networking opportunities.
4. Membership of the Institute
The main benefits of membership were seen as the well-deserved recognition provided by the designatory letters, as well as the valuable information we provide via the magazine and our online Information Services.
Qualifications and the pursuit of Continuing Professional Development opportunities were other important reasons for membership, followed by our events and local branch activities.
A strong 94% of you feel that the Institute remains relevant to your job and career, with the majority also feeling we are representative of the industry. However, members felt that the level of support could be improved, with equal numbers (46%) strongly agreeing we provide enough support, and another 46% in partial agreement.
In response, we will be looking at improving the benefits and the support we provide to members, whilst also continually reviewing the membership – looking to let people know if they may be eligible for an upgrade.
How will the results be used to improve our services?
We strive to continually improve our services, and will be looking at the following areas, as a result of the feedback we received:
We are planning improvements to the online login process, to make it easier and quicker to access the information you need. Also we’re looking to better communication, to let our members know what information they’re able to access, and where to find it.
We are investigating more targeted events for members, including larger, Institute-led events which could offer greater CPD and networking opportunities, as well as special interest groups.
We will develop the content of the magazine, based on your feedback and the issues you want to read about.
We will move towards more frequent communication with members, including email updates and the introduction of a regular eNewsletter, and improvements to our website.
We will make all members aware of the full range of benefits available and what they would mean to you.
Our new suite of qualifications have been developed to serve our industry, to provide today’s busy managers with the skills and development they need, to advance their career and promote business success in all sectors.
To do all this, it is vital that we have up-to-date contact information for members, to avoid them losing contact and missing out on important information! We will be introducing an online update system to make this process easier and quicker. In the meantime, members can email any changes to Rosalyn.Berry@instituteofhospitality.org.
And Finally…
Congratulations to the winners of our prize draw: Helen Cole MIH won the top prize of £150, with two runners-up prize of £50 going to Lin Williams AIH and David Winterton-Smith FIH.
If you have any more comments, or didn't have time to fill in the survey, you can e-mail the Membership Team: membership@instituteofhospitality.org at any time to give us your feedback.
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