COVID-19 has pressed associations to build boards with people who are flexible and eager to lead, and who bring new perspectives to the table. Diversity initiatives offer a path to get there.

Among the many things that COVID-19 has revealed about associations is the need to rethink what they need in their boards. Of course, associations often struggle to build and support effective boards outside of crisis mode, but now matters are more urgent.

One example of that need for change comes from a survey published earlier this month by the National Association of Corporate Directors. The survey shows that, at least for the short term, the pandemic has pushed aside familiar matters like onboarding and succession planning as top concerns. Rather, the directors surveyed say that their top governance challenges involve “shaping a realistic post-crisis strategy,” “ensuring the ongoing health and safety of employees,” and “getting up to speed on all the emerging risk dimensions of the crisis.” Board leaders are confident in their organizations—92 percent are sure their firms will survive the crisis. But thanks to the coronavirus, the tools they’ll need may change.

Those challenges are likely not that much different in associations and the larger nonprofit industry. But will associations have the people they need for the task? That remains a struggle. According to BDO’s annual Nonprofit Standards benchmarking survey, more than half of the organizations reporting (54 percent) say that attracting quality leadership will be a challenge in 2020.

So new skills are necessary, but the old problem of bringing in engaged leaders hasn’t gone away. What to do?

Neither report addresses it, but part of the solution may come by solving another problem that associations have often been loath to tackle: board diversity. Race to Lead Revisited [PDF], a new report from the Building Movement Project, an organization that promotes social change in nonprofitdom, notes that many of the challenges regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion at nonprofits remain persistent, both on staff and on boards. And in some cases, the problem is worse: According to the report, “people of color were substantially more likely to state that race is a barrier to their advancement, while white respondents were more likely to agree that their race provides a career advantage. People of all races were more likely to agree with statements describing obstacles people of color face in obtaining leadership positions.”

That’s all the more frustrating because the report demonstrates not just that there is a leadership pipeline of people who are prepared to bring new ideas into organizations, but that those organizations might perform better if they were brought in. According to the report, “Both people of colour and white respondents report a far better experience in POC-led groups,” and a lack of engagement with people of colour has an impact on workers’ tenure and satisfaction. Those working for organizations that are predominantly white-led are less likely to say they’ll be happy working there three years from now, or that they feel they have a voice in the organization, or that they’re given equitable opportunities for advancement and promotion.

And efforts to close the gap are perceived differently by different groups: While more than half of white respondents (54 percent) say their organizations are developing recruitment strategies to increase diversity, only 40 percent of people of color say that’s the case. Too often, DEI is relegated to a training session that many see as “a means to check DEI efforts off an organizational to-do list,” according to the report.

A more robust approach, the authors say, “requires setting and meeting targets for bringing on candidates, instituting effective onboarding and support for new staff and board members, and being willing to shift power—that is, to listen to the observations and recommendations of staff and board members of color, and to change the organization’s policies and practices accordingly.”

That kind of power shift, in itself, will not solve the problems associations are facing today. What it can do is demonstrate a real commitment to new ideas and processes that are essential to leading through the current crises—and what comes after.

This article was sourced directly from Associations Now here, and is written by Mark Athitakis. 

While concerns of stress and anxiety remain for many young adults, the latest edition of ‌The Deloitte Global Millennial Survey finds that many are looking at the current cultural moment as an opportunity to reach for something higher.

With layoffs, mass protests, and an uncertain future facing their generation, young people may have it tough right now, but they can see the flip side of the current crises.

That’s a key finding from the 2020 edition of The Deloitte Global Millennial Survey, which also brings Gen Z into the mix. The annual report—made up of two separate surveys, one done last fall and a COVID-19-focused “pulse” update done this spring—highlighted continuing (if declining) stress and anxiety about the world at large, but an overarching sense of resilience.

“Last year’s Millennial Survey exposed a good deal of uneasiness and pessimism; perhaps surprisingly, the pandemic doesn’t appear to have exacerbated those feelings,” the report states [PDF]. “In 11 of the 13 pulse countries, respondents actually expressed lower levels of stress than they’d reported in the primary survey five months earlier. Overall results also showed greater optimism about the environment, a strong commitment to financial responsibility and saving, and favorable views of the responses to the pandemic by government, business and their own employers.”

That resilience has definitely shown itself with the pandemic—which has apparently led around three quarters of millennials (76 percent) and Gen Z (74 percent) to become more sympathetic to the world around them. Similar totals said that it led them to take positive action in their lives and a more active role in their local communities.

As far as work goes, the report finds a growing appreciation of remote work among both millennials and Gen Z workers, with more than 60 percent saying they’d like the option to continue working remotely more frequently, citing benefits for stress relief and work-life balance.

And many younger workers are less likely to leave their current roles than they might have been in the past, even if they remain critical of corporate environments in general. In the post-COVID pulse survey, 41 percent of millennials and 43 percent of Gen Zers said they felt business was a force for good, a decline of roughly 10 percent for each from the primary survey from last fall.

In a news release, Deloitte Global Chief People and Purpose Officer Michele Parmelee noted that the study underlines the need for organizations to highlight the positive impact of their work to younger staff members.

“Job loyalty rises as businesses address employee needs, from diversity and inclusion to sustainability to reskilling,” Parmelee said. “For businesses, the message is clear—young people believe in companies with a purpose-driven strategy. These are the companies that will lead in the post-pandemic future.”

This article was sourced directly from Associations Now here, and is written by Ernie Smith. 

The storm of COVID-19 is not over—far from it—but now is a good time to see what associations have achieved in demonstrating relevant value for members as the crisis continues. Here are a few success stories.

A recent ASAE webinar, “The Impact of COVID-19 on Membership: A CEO Dialogue,” featured three association leaders sharing their successes in engaging, retaining, and recruiting new members amid an unprecedented crisis. Their experiences provide takeaways for all associations to use as they continue to chart a course, often without a map, for the months ahead. Spoiler alert: Taking risks is key.

RISK-REWARD RATIO

When COVID-19 led to office closures, the Greater Washington Society of CPAs was in a good position to transition to remote work. They had begun the shift in August 2019, gave up their long-term lease, and their seamless switch to remote work allowed them to jump on member issues quickly.

They were already about 75 percent ready to launch a new online member community. Because they knew members needed to connect quickly as the pandemic spread, they accelerated the last phase of the project and launched it ahead of schedule in March.

“Taking that risk and jumping into something wouldn’t have been our preferred way of launching it, but I think taking that risk was very important for us,” said GWSCPA Executive Director Kari Bedell.

MAKE IT PERSONAL

Like many others in the travel industry, American Bus Association members took an enormous hit because of COVID-19. ABA immediately shifted to communications focused almost entirely on COVID-19. They also took a strong personal approach and reached out to each of their more than 3,000 members. Making personal connections was important, said Lia Zegeye, ABA’s senior director, because it acknowledged the pain and the struggles each member was facing.

The direct communications also gave ABA a better understanding of what members actually needed during the crisis. “This is a time for associations to lead,” Zegeye said.

MEET MEMBER NEEDS

It’s not a surprise that the American Nurses Association experienced a dramatic surge in new memberships because of COVID-19. ANA’s membership grew 12 percent in April and May, and over 23,000 new members have joined.

Carol Cohen, CAE, ANA’s director of membership development, said nurses had an acute need for information and support because of the pandemic.

“We have managed to meet those needs in a meaningful way,” Cohen said, “and that has generated this unprecedented engagement.”

ANA developed an on-demand COVID-19 webinar series free to all nurses—not just members. They repurposed existing webinars to deliver targeted content and then quickly developed new ones to address COVID-19. ANA garnered 130,000 registrants—cumulatively—for the series. A targeted membership email to those registrants, likely more receptive to a membership ask, led to approximately 2,600 new members.

“The key is the speed with which we were able to pivot to change topics and deliver relevant and timely content when the demand was at its peak,” Cohen said, acknowledging that the current demand will not last forever.

THROW OUT THE PLAYBOOK

ABA and ANA have both extended their grace period for membership renewals and have each had success with a monthly dues payment structure. ANA’s Cohen said new members, who skew younger, are opting for monthly payments and like it better because it mimics other subscription models in their lives.

There is a risk to all of these steps, she said: “We’re usually more careful but made all kinds of changes without testing them. We felt we had no choice given the circumstances.”

Thriving associations will be the ones who tap into what’s happened and go forward with the lessons they have learned in a crisis instead of waiting to go back to things the way they were before, Zegeye said. “The way we do business has changed forever.”

This article was sourced directly from Associations Now here, and is written by Lisa Boylan. 

Now more than ever, it’s important to strengthen connection, confidence and collaboration to enable us to perform well, both individually and professionally.

These recent times have affected each one of us differently. Uncertain times can be unsettling. Most of us will have spent some time worrying about our job, reflecting on our career and perhaps even contemplating the future path.

To further support the Association community during this period, and beyond, Beaumont People have expanded their Career Coaching and Transition Team to include an Associations & Memberships Specialist Career Coach.

Beaumont People is proud to introduce Louise Roper, who can provide professional advice and guidance to navigate through these changing times with practical tools and techniques. This will enable you to carve out a clear pathway for yourself, your business or your team. Louise will be familiar to many of you who have attended ACE or a Sydney networking lunch in the past or more recently, seen her smiling face on the Friday Virtual Coffee Chats. Louise is inquisitive and genuinely interested in people and business, ensuring a proactive approach in helping identify strengths and finding suitable roles.

If you have found yourself looking for a new role or even considering a change, the Career Coaching and Transition Team can help with everything from LinkedIn profiling, bio and resume writing to interviews, networking and polishing your pitch. If you are not at that stage yet or don’t know where to start, they also offer career assessment and strategy sessions, job search, selection and career coaching. Beaumont People also provide other complimentary resources and webinars that may help your job search.

It may even be the transition back to the office after the time away that needs additional support. Beaumont People recommend taking the time to ask your team members their preferences for returning to the office and planning the reunion. It is also a perfect time to review your people strategy.

Beaumont People are pleased to extend to the AuSAE community complimentary access to our many tools & resources Webinars, articles, downloadables and podcasts which include The Leadership Series for Individuals and teams.

Contact Beaumont People for more information on services by emailing Louise@beaumontpeople.com.au or rebeccarynehart@beaumontpeople.com.au or calling 02 9279 2777.

Yesterday we held our last webinar event in the Strengthening Associations Series, “Reflections and the Future of Associations”. For this special panel event we were joined by Damian Mitsch, Federal CEO, Australian Dental Association, Wes Lambert, CEO, Restaurant & Catering Industry Association Australia and Amelia Hodge, CEO, Australian Property Institute. I was able to join the panel in Sydney to facilitate this conversation and deep dive discussion into the road to recovery for our associations.

I would like to take this opportunity while my thoughts are fresh to share my key take aways from yesterday’s discussion. I think what inspired me most was that even though each of these associations have been impacted by the virus quite significantly the leaders were very optimistic about their teams, boards, member value and the future of associations as we move into the next stage. We were lucky enough to have such a breadth of representation and knowledge on this panel and the varying impacts and responses on each sector. We are still yet to see the full impact of this crisis on the economy and I know we have a hard road ahead as we move towards the end of the year but I do hope the panel discussion yesterday provided you with the insights and tools to keep moving forward.

What lessons, operational changes and team practices will we continue to keep after COVID-19:

• This crisis has highlighted the ability for associations to be agile, innovative and quick in decision making and execution. We have been forced to make decisions quicker than we are used to and our teams and boards have stepped up during this time to enable us to respond to our members and their needs.
• As restrictions came in we saw the cancellation of major events and associations’ ability to deliver training, education and networking for members. This has given us the ability and time to take a closer look and assess our member offering, what haven’t we been doing over this period and have we survived without it, did it add value and did the value outweigh the cost of delivery. Now is not the time to be saying ‘when can we go back to the old way and how we used to do it’.
• Continue the collaboration, it’s more important than ever to be collaborating with other associations, and leaders as we move into the next stage.
• Workplace flexibility is here to stay. Now we have proven that we can all work productively and successfully from home, we need to keep this option available for our employees.
• Let’s not take our foot off the pedal just yet. We keep hearing this but associations have never been more important than they are now. This period of time has highlighted to members, non-members, and the broader community the pivotal role that associations play to advocate and be the single source of truth for entire professions. We should use this time and harness this attention to continue to provide meaningful solutions to member problems.

A big thank you to our panel speakers yesterday, and all of our speakers who joined us online every week for the last three months. We are pleased that we could bring members and our community thought leaders and experts in the sector to help us navigate this new world. And finally a huge thank you to all of you for participating and joining us for each webinar – we have had an overwhelming response to this series and we look forward to continuing to bring you the information and knowledge you need as association leaders.

Warm regards

Toni

Toni Brearley
Chief Executive Officer
Australasian Society of Association Executives

Learn how to Shift Your Association’s Culture to Digital in the Coronavirus Era

In the midst of the global pandemic, nearly every organisation is trying to find the best ways to transform to a digital culture as quickly as possible while still protecting and improving the member experience.

AuSAE Premium Alliance Partner, Advanced Solutions International (ASI) is pleased to share with AuSAE subscribers this insightful whitepaper ‘Your Association’s Digital & Member Experience Guide’ written by ASI partner, Causeis.

ASI is sharing this important whitepaper with permission so you can benefit from the helpful 10-point plan author Michelle Lelempsis, Director of Causeis, has developed. The report will show you how to:

• Manage data and security
• Measure digital engagement
• Increase your financial control
• Track multi-channel communications, and more

Get your complimentary copy at www.advsol.com/ausaemxguide

About ASI

Advanced Solutions International (ASI) is a leading global provider of cloud-based software to associations and non-profits. We're the company behind iMIS Cloud, the Engagement  Management System (EMS)™ that empowers you to engage your members anytime, anywhere, from any device. Since 1991 we've helped thousands of clients grow revenue, reduce expenses, and improve performance by providing best practices, pragmatic client advice, and proven solutions.  ASI is proud to be an AuSAE Premium Alliance Partner.  Learn more at www.advsol.com/ausae. 

From the top down, resilience is key to surviving the crises of 2020. Here are just a few ways to firm up your foundation for better days.

If you’ve spent the last couple of months battening down the hatches, don’t feel bad. It’s going around. The secret to surviving this tough time is your ability to hang on, adapt well, and re-emerge on the other side.

In a word, you need resilience. It’s a quality that you should encourage at all levels of your organization. Here are a few ways to nurture a resilient spirit at your association:

Make sure the organization’s vision is solid. While a good technology backbone is important, it won’t be effective without vision, LumApps founder and CEO Sébastien Ricard writes for CMSWire. An organization’s vision should be broad and flexible, he says. “For instance, a company can have the core value of ‘Put the customers first’ or ‘Embrace and champion change.’ Overarching philosophical mantras like these don’t stand in the way of major organizational change. In fact, they make the process easier. Leaders need to emphasize these goals and make it clear that these objectives are what drive every other consideration.”

Develop organizational intelligence. In a recent article for Harvard Business Review, authors George Yip and Nelson Phillips say leaders need organizational intelligence (OQ) to drive the performance they want. OQ has multiple components, they say, but “one key OQ competency is sending messages that reinforce the strategy. The simpler and clearer, the better; organizational members at all levels suffer from information overload, so leaders need to be selective about what messages to send.”

Communicate regularly with staff. In an article for Forbes, Northwestern University’s Erald Minga, a human capital management and workforce strategy leader for the school, says regular messaging with your team will strengthen resilience by ensuring everyone is in the loop. “Regularly scheduled weekly all-staff presentations with updates on current events and creation of a strategic plan will help connect employees toward a shared mission and instill trust toward leadership,” Minga says. “The information should be clear, concise, and shared in a kind manner. HR can help close information gaps through pulse surveys and check-ins and provide additional support to leadership by creating follow-up training.”

Build your own resilience as a leader, too. A focus on positive emotion can help ensure that even if you feel the extremes of these tough times, you can find your equilibrium as a leader—and your team needs that. “Positive emotion broadens our cognitive repertoire. Positive emotion increases almost every factor of human performance and makes us more receptive to new ideas and feedback,” Scott Taylor, an associate professor of organizational behavior at Babson College, told Babson Thought & Action recently. “Positive emotion renews us in terms of immune system functioning as well as the ability to persist in an endeavor that we’re involved in.”

This article was sourced directly from Associations Now here and is written by Ernie Smith. 

Government relations is typically done with a handshake, but the Direct Selling Association has found ways to connect virtually with legislators and regulators.

Advocacy is traditionally shoe-leather work at associations. Government relations staffers are experts at relationship-building—meeting with legislators, regulators, and their aides to make an association’s case clearly and efficiently. It’s a job practically defined by handshakes and face-to-face meetings. But so much, thanks to COVID-19, for that.

The Direct Selling Association, like most other groups, has had to adjust to the new normal, pivoting its meetings and events online in a hurry. DSA President and CEO Joseph N. Mariano says that in March DSA began ramping up its webinars and shifting its member content to “all virus, all the time.” (Last year, DSA hosted three webinars, Mariano says; this year, it’s hosted around 30.) That’s proven to be successful, especially in terms of its annual meeting, which was originally scheduled to be held earlier this month in Phoenix and instead was held entirely online.

But COVID-19 hasn’t changed DSA’s advocacy policy priorities, and in some ways it’s made them more complicated. DSA represents companies that sell household goods and health supplements, sometimes through multilevel marketing (MLM)—a structure that some critics equate to a pyramid scheme. Because DSA is mindful of the reputational issues related to the industry, it’s kept a close eye on how COVID-19 has affected it, and how government has responded.

Some of that work means maintaining ties with legislators from a distance. Many state legislatures cut their sessions, which in some ways was beneficial for DSA, Mariano says: “We didn’t have to deal defensively with anything that we might’ve seen in terms of legislation that we had to react to.” But, regardless, it’s held virtual town halls with U.S. congresspersons and senators to discuss member issues as a way to maintain connections—and find opportunities for deeper ones. “We wanted to take advantage of the willingness and ability of people like the senators from Arizona [it hosted virtual meetings with Senators Martha McSally and Kyrsten Sinema] to get together on webinars and virtual town halls in a way that they would not have made themselves available for prior to the virus,” he says.

That tactic applies to regulators as well. The Federal Trade Commission has sent two sets of warning letters this year to health-supplement MLMs about claims they’ve made about how their products can treat the coronavirus. In turn, DSA released a statement condemning false claims made by companies. Beyond that, it worked to both connect with the FTC and to get its guidance in front of DSA members in as personal a manner as possible, hosting a virtual conversation in May between an FTC representative and Mariano. Conversations between DSA and the FTC are nothing new—“we’ve been agreeing and disagreeing for 30-plus years,” Mariano says. But the context and the virtual environment were by necessity different.

It was the best-attended webinar DSA has done—approximately 500 members Zoomed in. “Our members are keenly interested in what the regulatory officials have to say because of the history of the industry and in some issues that these companies have faced,” Mariano says. “Interestingly, we did not talk about some of the issues that we’ve talked about historically with the Federal Trade Commission continually—things like what constitutes a pyramid scheme versus a legitimate direct selling company. That’s one of our key issues, but rather, and we agreed with the commission, we both wanted it to be focused on representations related to the virus.”

That’s a way for DSA to maintain connections that have the chance to sustain themselves once the pandemic crisis is over. “We already have enough questions about reputation in the marketplace and that we don’t need to have our companies doing distasteful things, much less potentially misleading things about products,” Mariano says. “So it was really important to hammer that message—the commission’s message, amplified by the association.”

This article was sourced directly from Associations Now here and is written by Mark Athitakis. 

Business meetings held in virtual settings come with some familiar rules and some different ones. Be sure you follow them to maintain your professional polish—even if you’re secretly wearing shorts.

Even though you’re probably working in a more casual environment these days, when you’re in a remote meeting, don’t forget your professional etiquette. Here are a few rules to brush up on before your next video call:

Don’t get too casual. Working at home, your instinct might be to dress down. But FlexJobs CEO Sara Sutton Fell, speaking to PC World, argues that your attire should match what would normally be expected at the office. “Your appearance should still be professional and reflect the organization you work for,” she said. “My company is fairly casual, so it’s OK to be in casual attire as long as you look presentable. However, if the people you are meeting with will be in suits, you should dress the same.” Just ask the lawyers in Broward County, Florida, who recently got an earful about dress code from a state judge: “Let’s treat court hearings as court hearings, whether Zooming or not,” Judge Dennis Bailey wrote in a letter published by the Weston Bar Association.

Minimize distractions. If you’re meeting with someone in person, it’s usually considered rude to be looking at your phone or laptop instead of listening to what they’re saying. These distractions don’t go away during remote meetings, and there are additional ones to worry about, too, including background noise or poorly considered visuals. “Distractions make a significant impact on a video conference,” Vast Conference’s Jamie Davidson says. “It’s tempting to think that just because you aren’t in the same room as your fellow attendees they won’t notice you scrolling through your phone or composing an email on another screen.” But often they will. And speaking of technology, take time to ensure your gadgets are working before the meeting, rather than wasting people’s time with testing when the meeting should be getting started.

Be prepared. It’s bad form to take remote meetings without being prepared for the format or doing your homework in advance. “Be proactive and ask ahead of time about expectations if the organizer hasn’t provided upfront information,” Davidson says. “You want to be as prepared as possible.”

Show your human side. But all of this professional talk has its limits in the COVID-19 era. “The lack of real-world relationships is amplifying our need for human connection. Build in extra time for heartfelt people-to-people check-ins,” personal branding expert William Arruda writes for Forbes. “Add it to every agenda to ensure enough time and to show how important it is to the participants. And remember to shower others with praise that is due to them.” 

This article was sourced directly from Associations Now here and is written by Ernie Smith.