Changing Professional Landscape Equals New Opportunities

Updated: Aug. 30, 2017  |  Categories: Member Communications, Goal Setting, Membership  

As new professionals join the workforce they are changing the way companies do business. No longer are corporations solely hiring full-time employees, as they can lower costs through the use of freelancers, part-timers, telecommuters, among other alternate types of paraprofessionals. These non-traditional industry members are part of the community that your chapter represents, they just may not connect with the industry in the same way the typical chapter members are used to. This will impact your membership building strategies, possibly reshuffling the way your chapter converts non-members into members.

Here are 5 strategies to realign your membership efforts with the changes in members:

1. Focus on the fact that groups are moving from the core strategies within the industry. Outside the box thinking is what is shaping the industry, and thus it should shape your chapter’s actions. These strategies and activities could vary greatly from year to year as you stay current with the pulse of the professional landscape.
2. Recognize that the stated mission of the local chapter should be priority in all activities. While it is a wonderful strategy to shift activities to accommodate new members, if it breaks from your chapter’s mission then you are not providing promised membership value that brought members to your chapter in the first place.
3. Develop new recruitment strategies to entice attendance at meetings by prospective members. People are important, so long as the chapter’s mission is adhered to. Without membership, the chapter will cease to exist, so bringing in people as potential membership must remain as a key endeavor, even if the way you go about it has shifted.
4. Employ a multi-disciplined approach for inclusion in your local chapter. Shifts in the professional world show greater reliance on inter-industry cooperation, so it makes sense that your local chapter should follow suit. This doesn’t mean changing the mission for potential new members, rather it means finding ways to show how members gain benefits from membership.
5. As a last resort, if you find that the current mission no longer works to provide membership value to new groups, then consider changing the mission, and ensure it still remains in line with the national association. Create a committee, conduct a survey, and work with national to update and ensure the value your local chapter provides to professionals.

The shifting professional world doesn’t have to be a hindrance to successful chapter activities and membership building. In fact, through patient and timely actions, your chapter’s growth rate can skyrocket, provide greater value and benefits to current and future membership than ever before. Simply stay current with industry practices and listen to member and non-members alike about what they need from your local chapter to enhance their professional endeavors.

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