A Unique Talent Pool
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In February, I attended the AMC Institute Annual Meeting in Miami and was discussing my staffing challenges with some fellow AMC owners at a roundtable session. Apparently, I am not the only person or AMC experiencing these challenges. The discussion reinforced in my mind something that I had always felt – that we are recruiting and training for very unique positions. AMCs require individuals who can wear many hats, feel comfortable "switching" gears and roles throughout the day, and can learn about new professions and industries with very little formal training. Regardless of their level within the AMC, these individuals are going to be looked upon by our client volunteers as "experts in our field." Association clients believe what we profess – that we are the experts in association management and that we will help to guide them through any challenges and opportunities that present themselves.
We owe it to our clients, our firms and our employees to give them the skills and tools they need to be able to succeed in this environment. We should empower them to make decisions and foster the confidence they need to act. We need them to be successful and we need them to continue to grow in their positions, because the pool is limited. Having worked in AMCs for more than 20 years, and owned an AMC for the past 15 years, I realize that those employees who thrive within an AMC will probably never leave – our profession provides us with such a unique variety of circumstances on any given day, that it is difficult to find this elsewhere.
Reciprocally, it is extremely challenging to find those individuals with the right skill set, and more importantly, mindset, to thrive in this environment. As I learned from my hiring "challenges" at the beginning of this year – having worked for either a for-profit company or a stand-alone association does not necessarily give you the tools to succeed in an AMC (this seemed to be a common theme during my roundtable discussion). Being able to balance even the dual roles of being an employee of a for-profit AMC, while serving a not-for-profit client association presents its own challenges. If the employee is serving multiple clients, it becomes exponentially more challenging.
In what is already a tight labor market, we as AMC owners and managers have a difficult task ahead in finding the right people to bring into our AMCs. All the more reason to offer our current staffs the proper training and opportunities to enable them to thrive in our very distinctive, blended environments, and to truly appreciate this unique talent pool.
We owe it to our clients, our firms and our employees to give them the skills and tools they need to be able to succeed in this environment. We should empower them to make decisions and foster the confidence they need to act. We need them to be successful and we need them to continue to grow in their positions, because the pool is limited. Having worked in AMCs for more than 20 years, and owned an AMC for the past 15 years, I realize that those employees who thrive within an AMC will probably never leave – our profession provides us with such a unique variety of circumstances on any given day, that it is difficult to find this elsewhere.
Reciprocally, it is extremely challenging to find those individuals with the right skill set, and more importantly, mindset, to thrive in this environment. As I learned from my hiring "challenges" at the beginning of this year – having worked for either a for-profit company or a stand-alone association does not necessarily give you the tools to succeed in an AMC (this seemed to be a common theme during my roundtable discussion). Being able to balance even the dual roles of being an employee of a for-profit AMC, while serving a not-for-profit client association presents its own challenges. If the employee is serving multiple clients, it becomes exponentially more challenging.
In what is already a tight labor market, we as AMC owners and managers have a difficult task ahead in finding the right people to bring into our AMCs. All the more reason to offer our current staffs the proper training and opportunities to enable them to thrive in our very distinctive, blended environments, and to truly appreciate this unique talent pool.
Sincerely,
Fred Stringfellow, CAE
Stringfellow Management Group
Treasurer, AMC Institute
