The Association Executive Committee of the National Association of Realtors is planning an upcoming magazine issue themed on building a bond of trust between the staff and the members. I’m looking forward to that issue, as it’s a dynamic which greatly interests me in the association management profession. In my experience, I’ve seen association execs come and abruptly go, and I’ve heard a number of stories which are shocking—from both sides of the aisle.
Trust is a difficult component of the equation which leads to successful association management: it’s hard work to build, and devilishly difficult to maintain. Even if you are the most scrupulously honest association exec in the world, the members need to be convinced of that fact and that requires proactive image maintenance (to put it nicely).
No matter what the cause of member distrust of the AE, and no matter whether or not the skepticism is deserved, the fact is that credibility is missing. And when it is, so is the effectiveness of the AE.
In my experience, the lack of trust in the AE and/or staff will manifest itself in one of two ways: accusations of financial mismanagement or questionable voting practices. In either case, the members will ‘win’ this discussion, so the AE needs to practice preventative medicine—not in ounces, but it pounds.
Fortunately, prevention is not too difficult. Here are some suggestions for good practices in building trust:
In finances,
1. Always encourage transparency. Members should be able to see budgets and financial reports
whenever they want. (I’ve written a previous blog on how to present this information so that it’s meaningful to members and they don’t waste energy worrying about the ply of the toilet paper).
2. Make sure you have internal controls in your operations, and advertise that you have them. Let everyone know that you are scrupulous about maintaining good practices. Get advice from your CPA, or SCORE, or your association legal counsel--or all three.
3. Establish and follow a sound and thorough financial policy manual. Educate the directors and staff about the contents of the manual, and don’t accept friendly amendments to it.
4. Things like expense reports and credit cards for members and staff should be carefully controlled. Be uniformly nasty about usage, reporting, and approval, if you have to be.
5. When coming into a job where financial abuse has taken place previously, conduct a complete organization inventory--every bank account, every stick of furniture, every napkin in the kitchen. Ask the directors to sign an acknowledgment, and then move on, again with transparency, integrity, and complete paper trails.
In the case of voting, either for candidates or on issues,
1. Follow every date, mandate, and every bylaw scrupulously. Conduct a training session with your staff so that they understand the procedures, Make it clear that you will not tolerate any deviation from these rules, or heads will roll.
2. Have the vote count verified by a third party. Your CPA firm, or an affiliate
member committee are good options.
3. Follow the same procedure as your local government elections, if you can. Sign
for absentee ballots, use numbered ballots, and set up online voting with a system
that crosschecks member records.
These procedures are just as important in small associations as in larger ones, and it's ok to be adamantly against any suggestions for departure from them, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant. Always insist on a formal process of changing the rules, one that is public and transparent.
A behind the scenes look at organized real estate--what works in an association, what doesn't, and what a long time AE sees as challenges facing the industry from the viewpoint of its professional organization.
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