By Joe Rominiecki / Nov 6, 2013(iStock/Thinkstock)
Associations need staff who will always put members first, but how do you identify those people to get them on board?
At the end of July, we discussed the question of whether experience in the membership department was important in the role of an association CEO. Most of you said it is, though some external signs suggest otherwise. Either way, that debate about membership-department experience also raises another question: What kind of experience or qualities make for a successful membership manager, and how do you identify them?
What do you look for on a resume that signals member-centric behavior and work experience?
In a blog post last week, Anna Caraveli, managing partner of The Demand Networks, LLC, suggests that this is a vital question to answer, because the member-centric mindset is so crucial to the success of any association:
Last week, when I sat with the senior leadership of an association admiring the new model we had developed for the organization, I was asked about what the first steps in execution might be. I started rattling off yet another list of steps I thought would catapult them into radical innovation. … Something was still missing, though, I thought. And then it struck me: People! I hadn’t thought of people as the make-or-break drivers of success. Were there employees with strong “people skills” that were capable of engaging, motivating, bringing together, and developing customers and communities? … Were there employees with market instincts that could identify and quickly seize emerging opportunities; decipher what “keeps customers up at night” … ? [emphasis original]
So, if we all agree that we want our association staff to put members first, then there’s no question that membership-department staff should be the model citizens for that mindset. Then it’s just a matter of getting the right people on the bus.
That’s much easier said than done, of course. What do you look for on a resume that signals member-centric behavior and work experience? What kind of questions can you ask in an interview to elicit indications that a candidate will constantly strive to understand and serve the member’s needs?
