In support of actuaries
A new era starts on 1 March 2008, when the Profession's structure changes to reflect the needs of its members, and to continue the delivery of the support and services each of you requires as you journey along your career path.
For the past 18 months, volunteers and staff have been working together on seven work streams to deliver the Profession's strategy: to support actuaries throughout their careers. The catalysts for the strategy may have come partly from the Morris Review and the subsequent passing of responsibility for developing actuarial technical standards to the Board for Actuarial Standards, but I am sure you would agree with me that the Profession was also ready for change and a new direction.
The new structure separates the functions of the Profession into two areas (professional community and professional administration) and creates a level of autonomy and empowerment to the groups and people actively engaged in developing the Profession. This article will give you some detail on a particular change related to the professional community area. Future articles in The Actuary will cover other areas of change.
Member interest groups
Within the professional community area we have created an environment where member interest groups can flourish. These groups are designed to operate autonomously, evolving 'bottom up' from members wishing to make contact or to work with others who share a similar interest. Some of the current practice areas already have groups which will become member interest groups and we expect this list to grow. The regional societies are currently actively considering whether to become member interest groups.
A member interest group is a group of members that has a focus or area of interest that links them. For example, it could be a particular and narrow aspect of practice; a cross-practice topic such as climate change; or a geographical link such as all working in a particular regional area. The interest group must be open to all members of the Profession to join: it is not a working group or committee with a closed membership set up by an executive committee to fulfil a specific purpose. The interest group does not report (in a governance sense) to any other body within the Profession, and it determines its own organisation.
Each interest group will be expected to agree to some provisions and, in return, can expect a level of support from the Profession. The support available will be overseen by the member support executive committee - to ensure there is an appropriate use of resources and to avoid any duplication of activity by different interest groups. Inevitably the support given by different interest groups will vary depending on the activity but is likely to include the use of meeting rooms in the Profession's premises, use (through the staff) of the Profession's databases, or a section on the Profession's website. Other discretionary support for interest groups could include access to the communications division for help in producing a report or publication, holding a discussion meeting facilitated by staff support, or setting up a discussion forum on the website.
Groups are expected to provide their own intellectual capital and drive forward their own agendas, and it is important that they act in a manner to protect the Profession's reputation. The work and activity of any group is likely to be seen by the media and others outside the Profession as 'representative' of the Profession.
If you would like to join a current member interest group, please log in to the members' section of the website and update the 'Your profile' section. For more information, please e-mail audrey.cosens@actuaries.org.uk.
Staff structure
The staff structure has been reorganised to better support the new volunteer structure and ensure effective delivery of the new strategy. With effect from 1 March, the following heads of division will report to me as chief executive:
>> Communications: Freya Rodger
>> Core services: Pauline Hargraves
>> Event management: Sunita Dhawan
>> Learning: Trevor Watkins
>> Professional community support: Maria Singleton
>> Professional regulation: Richard Maconachie
>> People matters: Val Timlin.
Peter Dingwall will be retiring from fulltime work and will work part-time as project manager, reporting to the chief executive. He will also support the international committee.
Many staff have been through a reappointment exercise as a number of new jobs have been created, some responsibilities have been changed and work has been re-allocated across divisions. The main changes have been the creation of event management as a division, the grouping together of IT, facilities and finance as the core services division, the communications division taking responsibility for the website and support to the public affairs advisory committee, and the learning division taking responsibility for libraries and information management.
Support to the practice area executive committees, which replace the practice boards, is also overseen by the member support executive committee. The practice manager working with each practice area executive committee will be the initial point of contact for members and will provide a link into the other areas of staff support as appropriate. The practice area executive committees and practice managers are:
>> Enterprise risk management: Mark Symons
>> Finance and investment: Pat Rustem
>> General insurance: Peter Stirling
>> Health and care: Pauline Simpson
>> Life: Pauline Simpson
>> Pensions: vacancy created by Maria Singleton's promotion.
We have also set up a small number of focused staff teams to progress work for, and make recommendations to, the corresponding volunteer bodies. For example, the staff CPD and member-led research group will feed in to the member support executive committee and the staff professional regulation group will feed in to the professional regulation executive committee.
The success of any organisation is dependent on its ability to adapt and evolve. I am confident that the changes we have put in place will build on the knowledge, experience and expertise of our staff and volunteers; and deliver the success we all want for our Profession.
Caroline Instance
