You are advised to spend about 20 minutes on the questions based on the reading passage below.

Birth of a profession

As pressure grows on companies to respond to environmental issues, one of the easiest ways to do so is to appoint an environmental manager from inside the organisation, whether or not they already have a quality or health and safety manager or director.  It is another matter whether or not it makes any difference to the environmental performance of that company.

It is in response to the needs of these personnel, thrust suddenly into an entirely new role in the corporate structure, that an initiative was launched a year ago to provide a framework of key standards of competence.  It is nearing its closing stage of development but that will then lead on to further phases in creating what is intended to be a new breed of professional, capable of wielding the same authority as his or her colleagues inside the company.

The Institute of Environmental Managers was established last year to create a forum for those often in a still embryonic role to learn and exchange methods, rather than struggle in isolation with what their companies increasingly demand of them.  The Institute’s members, now numbering about 400, range from some of those in large multi-nationals, who have been developing expertise and experience over a number of years, to newcomers in the field, often in smaller organisations.  Concern that many were struggling in the deep end was confirmed in a survey, carried out by the Institute on its members, on the stature of environmental managers in the UK.

The co-director of the Centre for Environment and Business in Scotland, which provides the secretariat for the Institute, explained that these managers were looking for some sort of support.  The main problem was the attitude of other people in the company, both of the management and of the workforce, resulting in slipping priorities and difficulties in gaining access to the decision makers.

A principal factor that was identified was that there was no formal recognition of individuals’ environmental management skills and indeed, that they had no standards of competence to aim for.  One of the first things the Institute’s steering group, which oversees its day-to-day matters, therefore decided to do was to establish these.  After much brainstorming and interviews with environmental managers, six key areas of competence were defined:  strategic vision; business awareness; management skills; motivation, training and leadership; external communications; and crisis management.

The management element has been specified very strongly because a lot of environmental managers, although technically very competent people, are being pushed into a management role with very few of the required skills.  On the other hand, some experience of their organisation will remain a prerequisite, as the managers have to be aware of their own business and how it works.  People who have come straight out of university having studied environmental management will be of little use, so the environmental remit is being given to people who are already well established in the company, probably in middle management.  While some big companies may want to train their own specialist team of managers straight from university, this situation is unlikely to change dramatically.

While all decision-makers around the company will be responsible for their own areas, the environmental manager will act as co-ordinator, providing the framework.  To standardise the levels of competence for such a multi-disciplinary role, to be taken up by people from different career routes, education and training will become a matter of complementing and extending individuals’ own knowledge and expertise.

A survey of training in Scotland is currently being conducted to establish what kind of courses are provided and whether they are suitable for business people who have insufficient time to do a modular course.  A similar project is under way for the rest of the UK, identifying centres of excellence on a regional basis, so that people know they can go to at least one centre near them.  The long-term plan is to work with educational establishments to design courses in line with required competences, so providing the business community with the training it requires on a flexible, modular basis.  In the meantime, with the final consultation period for the standards and assessment procedure completed, the aim is to start inviting applicants to put themselves forward for assessment leading to full membership.

The Institute is confident there is demand, both from managers and their employers.  The aim is to empower the environmental managers and to get them professional status, so they start being considered seriously within their companies.  The growing need to be able to demonstrate this commitment through certification, and other needs, will only add to this demand.

The environmental management systems standard BS7750 In its final draft stipulates that ‘the organisation shall appoint a management representative who, irrespective of other responsibilities, shall have defined authority and responsibility for ensuring that the requirements of this standard are implemented and maintained’.  More and more companies, however, will look beyond even this.  The intention, then, is to produce a code of practice for members, to enable them to say to their employers, in difficult situations, that they have professional standards to maintain and must be taken seriously.

Far from being confrontational, the belief is that companies will become aware of the importance of having, and indeed spotlighting, someone responsible for managing their environmental policy.  It will provide their customers, financiers, insurers and regulators with greater assurance than simply demonstrating compliance.

Complete this summary of the reading passage.

Match these definitions or descriptions with the key areas of competence defined in the passage.

Decide if these statements are true or false.