5 Keys to Hiring the Right Association Staff

Like many of you, I’ve served on boards, chaired them and spent much of my career serving as a chief staff executive to boards.  That’s why I’m always interested to hear from volunteer board members about the qualities they look for in a chief staff officer.  Frequently, board members express an interest in finding staff members who come from their industry, even if they don’t have experience in association management.  While there can be a benefit in having a staff person who is knowledgeable of a particular industry’s issues and history, there are other considerations that are essential today in the search for key staff members.  Here are five:

1.    Does the staff member have experience working with volunteer board members?   The ability to work well in partnership with volunteer leaders requires its own skill set.  A few good traits to look for:  Effective communication skills, leadership ability, the ability to also let others lead (I like to call this “followship”) and an understanding of the time constraints of volunteer leaders.

2.    Does the staff member have a working knowledge of the myriad laws and regulations governing not-for-profits?  This is serious business.  The new 990 tax return that most associations now file is 12 pages long (without all the attachments and related returns like the 990T) and covers a lot more than just your income.  Does your board know everything it needs to about the laws governing anti-trust?  A good staff executive knows these issues and much more, and can alert you and your fellow board members to potential pitfalls before they become a problem.

3.    Is the staff member involved with his or her professional association(s)?  Association management is a specialized profession that, like others, is continually changing.  Executives that are involved in their professional associations have access to the latest information and the opportunity to learn best (or worst) practices from other association executives.

4.    Does the staff member have an understanding of basic marketing principles?  For best results, associations should be creating and communicating programming that has value for members, partners and society at large (based on the definition of marketing from the American Marketing Association).  It doesn’t matter if you build a better mousetrap (or seminar for your members), if your members aren’t aware of it.  

5.    Does the staff member have a customer-service mentality?  Is he or she committed to serving the needs of your members first, usually while juggling dozens of other projects and deadlines?  Association staff must be multi-taskers with the ability to sustain focus on the big picture while making sure all the details are tended to – including, most importantly, responding to your members.

-Kim