Does Being a Member Qualify you to Work at the Association
I belong to several networking groups and we discuss a variety of topics from board performance to member engagement to operations and everything else that makes associations work.
An evergreen topic is “should the Board hire someone from the industry to serve as the Chief Staff Executive (CSE)? But a topic came up this week that is related to this question but is not talked about as often: adding members to the staff roster.
It can create a lot of frustration for a lot of reasons. One reason that is really important, especially if you have chosen association management as your profession, is this one: IT IS A PROFESSION. Not just anyone can do it, and because you are a member doesn’t mean you know how to run your association.
Yet, as Sonny and Cher sang, the beat goes on and associations continue to add members to staff for a variety of reasons. Some of the reasons make sense, like they have a unique knowledge or expertise that is required to run a program or provide education.
However, there are members that are hired to do association management work that are not experienced or qualified. They get hired because they are a member and they seem to know what they are doing – but like many new employees you don’t know how they will do until they get their butt in the seat. When you hire a member to work at the association, and they demonstrate a lack of knowledge and skills to do the work, this seriously impacts morale among the rest of the staff.
If you have built a staff of association management professionals that are held to a high-level of performance, it is frustrating for them to see a new employee getting by because they were a member. If you are going to hire members, make sure they are qualified to do the association management work that is necessary – you may need to invest in additional training and education for this employee but don’t let them slide or get by simply because they used to be a member.
Another issue that was raised related to culture; as we all know, culture eats strategy for breakfast. If you are investing energy into curating culture, and a former member joins the staff and is not educated about the association staff culture from the beginning, you are creating problems that don’t need to exist.
What problems? A former member might assume that the association is “just like the profession.” It is just like the profession – it’s just not their former profession. It’s the profession of association management.
There is no hard and fast rule about “should you or shouldn’t you” hire members to work on staff. But if you do hire members to work at your association, make sure they are qualified for association management work – no matter what job they are doing – and make sure they understand the association’s culture is not the same as the profession it represents.
Early education and thoughtful onboarding is important when hiring any new employee, but I believe it is crucial if hiring from the membership. Too many members don’t realize that association management is a profession and a “real job” so make sure they get it before you add them to your employee roster.
Everyone will be a lot happier and your team will be more productive.
