Introduction of Volunteer Awards at CIEEM

By CIEEM’s Volunteer Engagement Officer

At the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management, we are extremely fortunate and grateful to have the support of over 350 volunteers, who collectively contribute the equivalent of over 11.5 full time staff hours annually. Whilst a huge part of the our sector relies on the dedicated work of volunteers, time donated to CIEEM by the majority of CIEEM’s volunteer community is largely given by those still working in the sector (or by those who at least began volunteering for CIEEM while still working!).

Given the demands of holding down a full-time job, plus the potential additions of balancing family and social lives, CIEEM volunteers are already going above and beyond simply to meet the expectations we ask of them in their volunteering roles and for that, we simply cannot thank them enough. Volunteering for CIEEM is usually remote working and semi-autonomous in terms of support from the Secretariat, so the initiative it takes from volunteers to motor on with their role and deliver successful outcomes despite the challenges of daily life is truly admirable.

We were finding however that some volunteers were performing exceptionally well against the criteria asked of them in their role, and often across multiple roles they had taken on for the Institute! The commitment it takes to do this is without question no easy task, and yet we were finding these particular volunteers, their passion and focus, we would not be able to do everything we do. The need as an institute to recognise and celebrate this we evident, hence the creation of the CIEEM Volunteer Achievement awards.

We designed a carefully assembled list of criteria, a system for volunteers to be nominated by staff and a thorough and impartial judging process. The decision was made to offer multiple awards each year to volunteers to give us the maximum opportunity to include volunteers across all areas of the organisation, including those performing roles that might typically be in the background and not initially obvious to see. It also increases our chances of providing credit where it is due and in essence, striking while the iron was hot. The criteria to assess nominations were designed to access real impact to the institute, the Secretariat, CIEEM members and the wider sector but also take context of the volunteers and the expectations of their roles into account.

The winning volunteers were given the offer of attending the annual CIEEM awards event in person to accept their awards, and enjoy the excitement and celebrations of the day. The award winners and their contributions were also showcased on the CIEEM website and in our In Practice magazine. The whole process was a joy to be involved with and it is something we are building into annual routine. It builds awareness of our volunteer roles and hopefully builds on CIEEM’s strength of being an organisation that supports and values its wonderful teams of volunteers. 

You can read more about the awards here: https://cieem.net/lets-celebrate-volunteers-volunteer-awards-2023/

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