Chamber Professional Development Program attendees in Lahore, Nov. 28-29 (Photo: CIPE Staff)
CIPE Pakistan continued its capacity building efforts last week with a workshop on Chamber Professional Development, held on November 28-29 in Lahore. This workshop focused on the training and development of personnel belonging to different chambers and associations, which helps contribute to the trade, and industry of the country.
Twenty participants belonging to second-tier management (Deputy and Assistant Secretary Level) participated. Most of them were new and attending this workshop for the first time. Encouragingly, 45% of the participants were female, showing the impact of CIPE Pakistan’s efforts in advocating women’s empowerment for several years across different platforms.
Workshop trainers focused on the following key areas:
- Chamber Management
- Unleashing the Power of Social Media
- Self help
- Improving Secretariat Efficiency
Most of the participants believed that this workshop trained them to embrace business challenges in tactful and educated ways. They felt that such activities should be organized on a regular basis so as to provide more networking and learning opportunities.
They also indicated that they are now better informed to shape smoother working relationships with secretaries general and elected office holders. Participants found themselves more open to improvise in different facets of organizational behavior. They were highly committed to adjusting their priorities, setting realistic objectives, and working with trust and mutual understanding in the belief that this will make working environment of the chamber/association more encouraging for progress, growth and productivity. They are highly motivated to bring about positive changes in their direction-setting.
Most of the participants now understand the efficacy of social media as an important tool for networking, research, easy access to the members, and staying aware and informed of trends in the sector. Many are committed to creating accounts and fan pages for their chambers and associations on Facebook, which is used by millions of people in Pakistan.
Shahid Mehmood (Assistant Secretary, Pakistan Petroleum Exploration and Production Companies Association) said, “Going in to the workshop I was very skeptical about the potential benefits and outcomes of the workshop – what a big surprise it was! I enjoyed the workshop and was amazed at quality of the content.”
“I came away with many ideas we plan to put into action within our system,” he added. “I believe we can now take our systems well into the 21st century. If I am asked to share the most important take away from the workshop, it would be the personal humility of all the trainers plus a fierce resolve and will to build capacity”.
Overall, participants specifically showed full confidence with the expectations set out of this workshop and a strong sense of satisfaction about the opportunity to upgrade their knowledge and skills set, take advantage of networking opportunities, establish a clearer vision, and open themselves to new experiences.
