Engagement Starts Here

Association professionals spend much of their careers helping organizations build lasting relationships through member engagement, volunteer leadership, donor stewardship and community building. Yet one audience does not always experience those same engagement principles: professionals exploring opportunities to work with our organizations. Ironically, these are the very people we hope will go on to build lasting relationships with our members, volunteers, sponsors, donors and broader communities. If engagement is central to the work we expect them to do, shouldn't they experience those same values throughout the hiring process?

After spending time as a job candidate, I found myself reflecting on engagement from a different perspective. We know how quickly communication influences trust and how a single interaction can shape someone's perception of an organization. Yet the hiring process does not always reflect the same engagement principles we work so hard to cultivate elsewhere.

This is more than professional courtesy. Associations continue to compete for experienced talent in a challenging workforce environment. In a recent ASAE workforce report, 78 percent of association executives identified talent acquisition and retention as a top organizational challenge. The experience prospective employees have during a search can shape their perception of an organization's culture, influence its reputation and affect its ability to attract experienced talent.

Please select this link to read the complete article from ASAE's Center for Association Leadership.