This month AuSAE welcomes Rod Auton, Chief Executive Officer at Crane Association New Zealand as our Member in Focus. Rod recently spoke with AuSAE about Crane Association New Zealand's membership strategies and their biggest challenges. Plus, exciting projects underway for the Association. 

Can you tell us a bit about Crane Association New Zealand and the goals they strive to achieve?

The mission of the Crane Association is to provide one clear voice, advocating with regulators, authorities and industry partners to provide a safe and efficient crane industry for our members and our community.

The Association places a great deal of importance on training and safety and has succeeded in raising the standards of operation and efficiency across the face of the crane industry.

By supporting its members in these and other operational objectives the New Zealand crane industry has become an international benchmark of success in these areas.

The Association is the voice of the crane industry and recognised by the New Zealand government and the general public alike as the official representative on all matters relating to the safety and operation of cranes.

What are the Crane Association New Zealand's most successful membership strategies to increase engagement and membership retention? 

The not-for-profit sector is notorious for the lack of member engagement and traditionally it always the few that strive for the majority. Our philosophy is that anyone who pays their subscription is engaged whether it be overtly or covertly. There are two methods that places the Association firmly in the minds of the members, a personal call asking how they are and if they have any issues that we can help with, and a face to face meeting at their place of work. I have embedded both of these practices in the culture of the Association.

What do you personally feel has been the biggest challenge that the Crane Association New Zealand has has overcome in your time with the organisation? 

The biggest challenge has been moving the organisation from an entity that works in the shadows achieving the minimum standards to one that now collaborates at the forefront of the industry and now sets the standards. I now work collaboratively within the regulatory framework and are setting the compliance standards whereas for other industries, authorities and agencies are still having to create legislation to achieve compliance.  

How does the future look for the Crane Association New Zealand (or what exciting projects are underway at Crane Association New Zealand)?

The Association has had steady growth over the last three years in all key performance areas. In the next 18 months we are implementing a competency licencing system for crane operators, and we will be moving some of our paper based resources like the Crane Safety Manual into the digital App environment. We also have some of our key legislation undergoing reviews now that the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 has been released and we will be involved in the writing of the Terms of Reference and Scopes for those.

What would you say to someone starting out in the not-for-profit with a view to become a future leader?

Your professional development will determine where you end up. A not-for-profit leader requires far more skills than the commercial or corporate sector. One of the founding skills is the capturing and analysis of data as that provides the basis of all not-for-profit activity. It is needed for the scrutiny of finances, membership, strategy, lobbying and administration. The majority of your decisions are then made from a robust footing that can stand up to scrutiny at all levels across all sectors.