benefits from a Professional Organisation

[BAJR Host]

Given the recent...ahem... situation. I thought it might be interesting to discuss what it is that people want / expect from a professional organisation.

Free tickets to the cinema? A voice in parliament? accreditation? that sort of thing... :face-huh:

Please look at positive benefits ...

"No job worth doing was ever done on time or under budget.."
Khufu

[Digger]

Respect...?
Positive benefits to society as a whole.
Increasing the profile of archaeologists-what we do and why we do it.
Again on a public profile- the benifits (specifically what the profession contributes to society. Govt departments go on about this all the time when they are after money....
Career development with an EMPHASIS on the employeer to assist/provide training. Not to the extreme, but would be nice to undertake training in the expanding resonsibilities that we are required to do as part of our 'other duties as required' job descriptions.
Damn.. moaning again.

[Sparky]

A set of fully comprehensive minimum standards to cover all fieldwork and post-excavation activities.

In-house company standards and guidances to comply with the above, accredited by the IFA.

Monitored training programmes with minimum expectations and career development.

Increase in minimum wages for lowest paid workers.

Greater protection for short-term workers (i.e. sticking to the existing law)

Regulation and protection of wages against unscrupulous companies, i.e. no under cutting on low wage tenders

Regular policing of the above.

Legal discussion with units or individuals who break employment law.

Serious discussion and moves of improvement or expulsion of individuals or units who break the codes of conduct or bring the IFA into disrepute, particularly those who hide behind the cloak of the IFA while operating unfit practice.

Integration of standards with EH, HS, Cadw and EHS with assurances that they would be followed.

Integration of standards and with Country Archaeological Services throughout United Kingdom.

Vetting of the above national and regional archaeological bodies by the IFA.

Independent arbitration arising from disputes, i.e. No old boys club.

Arggg?I dunno...

[BAJR Host]

arrrrrrrrrrrg sounds like a start!

"No job worth doing was ever done on time or under budget.."
Khufu

[oldgirl]

Standards and guidance for curatorial staff on a similar par to that for the commercial sector, as opposed to the difficult and (as far as I can see) pretty useless 'Historic environment professional' stuff that came out. Woolly doesn't even begin to describe it.....

[BAJR Host]

Good solid guidelines that are not so restrictive as to allow for no professional input, but not so wooley as to be possible to interpret in diametrically opposite ways and still be within the guideline!

I agree...

"No job worth doing was ever done on time or under budget.."
Khufu

[oldgirl]

Indeed!
I think much of the stuff that they do is good, despite the issues. A lot of hard work goes into things from both the office team and the committees and council. The problem is often a lack of understanding of the processes both within and without the organisation, as well as a slow and difficult to administrate set of disciplinary systems which were set up a long time ago and are almost impossible to undertake without bankrupting the organisation. But are a bit difficult to change when the organisation struggles to be quorate at AGMs etc!

I have also found that there is an issue with critisism, from within and without the membership, that doesn't suggest possible solutions.

[trowelhead]

To play a good game and not just talk it.. actions speak louder than words!

Close enough for a country job!

[1man1desk]

It is important to have a realistic idea about what the limits are on the remit and powers of a professional association like the IFA.

I am very heartened to see that most of the responses on this thread are about professional matters. One of the biggest problems that I see in perceptions of the IFA is that many people seem to want it to perform the functions of a union, as well as those of a professional association, and the two are very different things.

It is also important not to expect the IFA to perform the functions of an official regulator (some sort of 'Off-Arch'). Very few professional organisations have any such powers, and only then where the powers have been delegated to them by government in special cases (e.g. the General Medical Council).

1man1desk

to let, fully furnished

[BAJR Host]

An interesting choice - the GMC - showing what a powerful organisation can do (we have to remember though that archaeology is not (often) a matter of life or death - "for gawds sake this development is gonna die if you don't get that eval report in!")

quote:The General Medical Council is the independent regulator for doctors in the UK. Our statutory purpose is to protect, promote and maintain the health and safety of the public by ensuring proper standards in the practice of medicine.

We do that by controlling entry to the medical register and setting the educational standards for medical schools. We also determine the principles and values that underpin good medical practice and we take firm but fair action where those standards have not been met.

We have strong and effective legal powers designed to maintain the standards the public have a right to expect of doctors. We are not here to protect the medical profession - their interests are protected by others. Our job is to protect patients.

Where any doctor fails to meet those standards, we act to protect patients from harm - if necessary, by removing the doctor from the register and removing their right to practise medicine.

strong stuff... and you feel confidence.


compared to

say ... Chartered Surveyors.. RICS

quote:Why should we back down, if we think we are right?
If you genuinely believe that the client?s complaint is ill-founded, or even malicious, then of course you should stand your ground.

Don?t forget that every complaint costs you money ? you will have to spend time corresponding with the client, and perhaps with the RICS Professional Conduct Team, if it cannot be resolved, and this is time for which you will not be paid.

The longer the complaint goes on, the more it costs and the more likely that complainant is to become embittered and entrenched in their position.

It is almost always cheaper and more practical to settle a complaint, even if you don?t believe that you are at fault.

Learn from the experience, and adjust your procedures to prevent this arising again.

fab... even if you are not in the wrong... agree you are [:p]
as it will take time and effort to prove you are not...


A Professional organisation should lay out exactly what it will and will not do... no wooly ifs or buts... but solid practical this is what we do.

For example... If the IFA is not going to be a Union, then should it be setting payscales for RAOs? should that not be up to Prospect and SCAUM for example?

Discipline.. Is it a process that anybody actually knows what happens? what to expect? what to do? And if there is a disciplinary case - is it possible that the same line in the COde of Conduct can be read 2 separate ways?

Is there a body that can provide not just over the phone advice.. but solid guidance to an individual or group who are about to undertake a project?

Professional guidance has to be both workable and accepted.. a professional organisation must have a mandate from the members to act for them... and for their members interests.







"No job worth doing was ever done on time or under budget.."
Khufu