MEMBERS of the Australian Property Institute have been urged to go online and have a say in the future of the Institute at the upcoming the 2015 Annual General Meeting on May 28.
API chief executive officer Mike Zissler said it was important for all API members to become involved, and he urged members to go online – read, consider the implications of the proposed restructure and then vote on the future of the organisation.
“There are over 8,000 members in the API and over 6,000 have the rights to vote. Yet traditionally, decisions at the AGM have been made by a handful of members.
“It is imperative that all API members exercise their constitutional right to vote,” he added.
Zissler said whilst he will be recommending members vote in favour of restructure, he would not be disheartened if they voted against the motion.
“I would rather members exercise their rights under the constitution and voted no, rather than not to have voted at all.
“Whether it is a yes or no, the Institute needs a clear a message from the API members,” he continued.
Meanwhile, Zissler said it is important to restructure the API for the future.
“The API is 88 years old and as we look towards its 90th and 100th birthday, we need to reinvigorate and refresh the organisation.
“Things can`t stay the same, we need a contemporary, proactive and an engaging organisation,” he added.
If the restructure does go ahead, immediately after the AGM, the national council will meet and pass new bylaws to ensure a progressive transition.
The online voting process is open until Monday, 25 May.
All other information is accessed either via:
– Website home page http://www.api.org.au/
– Website news feed http://www.api.org.au/menuitem/about-api/news
– Website 2015 AGM information http://www.api.org.au/folder/static/2015-agm-notice
Zissler said following the meeting, the API would start consulting on the new constitution.
He expects a new constitution will be ready to go before a vote in an Extraordinary General Meeting in October.
The API`s proposed restructure is a result of the findings from two reports commissioned by the API Board following the 2014 AGM. Ernst & Young (EY) examined API’s financial governance while change management experts, Change Management Systems (CMS), reviewed API’s organisational governance and structure.
“Ernst & Young spent three months studying our finances, division by division, before consolidating the results into a single report. They made sixteen recommendations to improve our governance, which were all accepted by the API Board. Seven were implemented immediately, while the remaining recommendations, which impact whole budget cycles are in place now and they`re being done.
“The EY report found that we could do things better. There was no smoking gun, but the reality is we have structural issues and we are acting on them. I’d encourage all members to visit the website if they would like to either read the full EY report or an executive summary,” Zissler said.
The CMS report discovered three major organisational issues – a lack of trust between the members and the organisation, a lack of clarity between divisions and national council and a lack of coordinated responses to operational and financial policies.
“We received 107 recommendations from the CMS report, but we have focused on these three major issues. The motion proposed the Annual General Meeting is designed to allow us (the API executive and Board) to start a process to tackle those issues,” he added.
Zissler encouraged all members to read information relating to the reports and the motion on the API`s website.
“My hope is that we can motivate the membership to care about the future of the API and vote on the motion proposed for the AGM. The online voting system (Corpvote) is now open, so please take advantage of that as soon as you have considered your position.
“If you do have any outstanding enquiries after you have read, watched or listened to the material, please feel free to contact me to discuss,” Zissler said.
Australian Property Journal
