Category: Association CEO Best Practice Interviews
Are your board members laser focused on their mobile devices during board meetings? Is there a sense of restlessness at your executive committee and full board meetings? Odds are high that your board members are either preoccupied with business challenges or just plain bored with discussions on Association strategies. One way or another, they might be tuning out and if they are, your board meetings might be perceived as association “bored” meetings.
If your members face top line growth challenges, generational transfer issues, and evolving consumer expectations, how can your Association support member success? Through a strategic planning process that transforms your organization from an inside out focus to an outside in focus. The process starts with a highly engaged and strategically focused board and concludes with a strategic plan amplifying industry growth objectives.
What capabilities should your association have in order to deliver revenue growth and strong retention? In the Strategic Member Engagement Survey, Associations & Professional Societies reporting upward 3-year operating results are far more likely to have a very high level of board understanding and strategizing about the business and professional outcomes members seek, and actively engage members in creating new solutions. For IARW, the International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses (Global Cold Chain Alliance Partner), these new and innovative capabilities are serving as an accelerant to revenue growth and retention.
“Together we achieve a return on member engagement” reflects a six month strategic planning mantra employed by Corey Rosenbusch, President and CEO, GCCA (of which IARW is a key partner) and the Association’s Board of Directors. Collaboratively they determined their industry’s strategic business outcomes and developed an innovation focused strategic plan to drive worldwide top line growth.
Throughout the process board members keenly focused on capabilities and priorities they wanted from their industry association. Their Board Task Force surfaced opportunities to broaden strategic alliances that will extend the industry’s visibility and global reach.
Identifying member industry “up-at-night” issues and positioning IARW as a strategic partner to drive business growth is already showing results through recovering former member dues, membership and sponsor growth, and a potential windfall through a new Global Cold Chain Expo to be held in Chicago in 2016.
Although Rosenbusch understood the risks of utilizing a different planning process he focused on a different path based on innovation and member business outcomes. To date he reports over $200,000 in new revenue and sees opportunity to grow substantially more and help the industry IARW serves achieve its business growth objectives.
Free eBook “Accelerating Strategic Member Engagement” is available for all Association Executives at www.potomaccore.com.
Can an Association transform itself and become a strategic business partner to the very members they serve? The International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses (IARW) did as much through an intensive strategic planning process. Seeking to understand their impact on their member business outcomes, the Association initiated the process with Board Interviews and a Member Impact Survey.
The Member Impact Survey is forward looking by design and focuses on desired future outcomes that members seek to address their “up at night” issues. The results also generate focused conversations among senior managers and Board Task Force Members.
The decision to move past the traditional member satisfaction survey format reflected a strategic and important departure says Corey Rosenbusch, President and CEO of the Global Cold Chain Alliance, of which IARW is a key partner.
At IARW, the results shifted perceptions and thinking about the Association and how it could be utilized to actively promote the industry in key markets. (“Survey uncovers members’ “up-at-night” issues”) It also generated significant dialogue about the future of the industry while it drive culture shifts at the staff and board level.
Although the survey results played a critical role in the update of IARW’s Strategic Plan, Rosenbusch utilizes the impact survey results in member meetings and also in conversations with industry partners. The data helps him paint a picture of the industries’ key opportunities and concerns.
The journey starting from an “inside out” focus to an “outside in” focus is nearing completion. According to Rosenbusch, “IARW is entering a new arena” and it’s one in which the Association, his staff team, and board are building a more and compelling future for their industry.
Free eBook “Accelerating Strategic Member Engagement” is available for all Association Executives at www.potomaccore.com
When is the timing right to embrace innovation and change at your Association? Some argue that with an improved economy its best to leave well enough alone. Maybe, no. The real question? How well are you positioned to help your member’s achieve their business outcomes in a time of dramatic innovation and change?
Recently reported economic expansion reflects only one part of an evolving and complex business environment. Cyber threats, disruptive technologies, innovations and social media, an aging workforce, and talent gaps weigh heavily on corporate bottom lines. According to a McKinsey December 2014 Global Survey, “geopolitical concerns remain paramount as a risk to growth for executives whose optimism for the global economy in early 2014 has faded over the course of the year.”
Moving away from selling and testing satisfaction with Association “outputs” to engaging members in knowledge sharing and collaboration is crucial. The process begins with a highly engaged and strategically focused Board.
Understanding the complexities and realities facing Associations Christopher E. Laxton, CAE, Executive Director, AMDA, www.amda.com,The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine, uses a strategic board approach.
Associations really get into trouble when internal discussions infer “we know what’s best for our members.” When members don’t feel that they can impact something that they care about, they form their own coalitions, forums, and online communities outside of the association. Knowing these pitfalls; Laxton and other CEO’s utilize a strategic board focus to ground their organizations in member outcomes:
Highly engaged and strategically focused Boards have a very high correlation to Association’s operating results. Organizations with upward trending 3 year operating results report strategic boards and their CEO’s have strategic conversations about the needs of average members.
For Laxton, strategic member engagement is a potent resource that positions his Association for long term impact. Notably, the member outcome focus sets the stage for AMDA members to contribute and collaborate in developing new solutions to achieve their objectives.
Does Member Engagement drive the Association’s business model? Although just eighteen months in his tenure, Laxton reports 6 years of operating deficits were replaced with a 6 figure surplus.
What happens when members don’t feel that they can impact something that they care about? They form their own coalitions, new Associations, and their own on-line communities. Since members care about “outcomes” for themselves, their organizations, their constituencies, and customers, the conversation will need to be changed. Strategic member engagement begins when Associations redirect the discussion from “outputs” to member “outcomes”.
The process of moving from Association “outputs” to member “outcomes” begins with a highly engaged and strategically focused Board. It sets a considerably different context for strategic dialogue between the senior staff and board. This approach requires that Associations have sufficient insights into the external and operational challenges and opportunities of members; segment by segment.
High level boards that approach member outcomes as a convergence point accelerate an Association’s impact. At NIRI, , the National Investor Relations Institute, the board is all about strategy and outcomes, says Jeff Morgan, FASAE, CAE, President & CEO.
Board focus on the needs of the average member. Partnership with staff and conversations related to where the Investor Relations Profession connects NIRI to “member outcomes.”
“Outcomes” Trump “Outputs.” Providing a certification program at a crucial time in the Investor Relations profession makes NIRI that much more relevant to its global membership.
Other CEO’s employ a similar approach. Christopher E. Laxton, CAE, Executive Director, AMDA, www.amda.com,The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine, believes time focused on cultivating strategic boards is well spent. From his perspective, every minute that Association CEO’s invests in the Board can help deliver increased engagement and revenue growth.
Highly engaged & strategically focused Boards have a high correlation to Association operating results as noted in February 2014.
Durability: Association Strategic Member Engagement. In a dynamic and rapidly changing global economy, Associations face competition and unpredictable business cycles. Rather than leverage short term sales cycles, some organizations are instead leveraging a longer term value added approach.
Strategic Member Engagement is an important resource helping Associations develop long term strategy and effective competitive positioning. For Jeff Morgan, President & CEO of NIRI (National Investor Relations Institute) www.niri.org, building for the long term means “durability.” His focus is to consistently position his organization as a strategic ally and a more essential member resource.
It’s essential to understand how an association is currently impacting member objectives. This requires securing actionable data about member perceptions of their environmental and operational challenges. Through this process Associations obtain actionable data, understand member “up at night” issues, and assess culture to formulate products and services to address member outcomes.
NIRI utilizes three strategies to accelerate Member Engagement:
Actionable Data. Conducts impact surveys to understand its Association’s impact on key member outcomes.
“Up at Night” Issues. By member segment, learns desired future member outcomes and provides solutions matching these outcomes.
Culture. Over a six year time frame, NIRI transitioned its’ culture from a “me/you” focus to a “we” focused highly engaged solutions community.
Morgan reports accelerated member engagement in key segments, 6% operating revenue growth, annual conference attendance 15% higher than 2013, and 20% international membership growth.
Strategic Member Engagement is not about short term revenue growth, it’s about Long Term Association Strategy & Competitive Positioning. Through NIRI’s experience and our research http://bit.ly/1g8g1J2 ,we’re learning just how much of a driver strategic member engagement is for an association’s business model.
New Engagement Opportunity for Associations? Global Competition, political turmoil, and the digital economy are creating new opportunities for Associations and Professional Societies. Some organizations are leveraging external challenges to partner with their members to help them achieve business and professional outcomes. This type of “shared outcome” approach can help Associations move the conversation away from “what do I get for my dues?”
A Highly Engaged Solution Community
ACCA, the Air Conditioning Contractors of America, www.acca.org, works through ANSI (the American National Standards Institute) to develop industry standards for heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and building performance. They collaborate with members, engage experienced small business owners, and consistently recognize volunteer thought leadership contributions in their standards setting process.
The organization’s engagement practices help reinforce a “we” focused & a “highly engaged solution community.” Recognition of Air Conditioning Contractor Expert Contributions throughout the process in a target member segment also increases member “connectivity” to the Association.
Paul Stalknecht, ACCA President & CEO, says the Standards Program is “effective because it’s driven and led by accomplished small business owners.” He emphasizes that their standards setting initiative has influenced how the organization structures their offerings to Air Conditioning Contractors across multiple platforms.
A “shared outcome” focus similar to ACCA’s will motivate more members to contribute and be connected if they believe that the outcomes they care most about will be achieved. The Association reports upward trends in retention, annual operating revenue, and fee for service offerings.
Organizations who most often reported (http://bit.ly/1g8g1J2) upward 3 year business trends were the ones who reported an understanding of member “up at night” issues and then engaging members in becoming active on those needs.
For a free copy of the “Accelerating Strategic Member Engagement” eBook, request your copy at www.potomaccore.com.
