‘Wishing you a lot of staff’

‘Say goodbye to HR headaches for good’ is the number one reason for associations to hire an association management company rather than setting up their own office. The American Association Management Company institute (AMCI) has researched this topic. A survey among clients of association management companies resulted in this number 1 and 9 other insights mentioned in the top 10 below.

Research of the AMC institute

Customer insight is the reason for companies to conduct research. Understanding and knowing the customer also provides tools to prioritize the services that your organisation offers. The AMC Institute is the North American trade organisation for Association Management Companies. Lejeune has been a member of this institute since 2010. Research among clients of members of AMCI provides great insights why decision makers prefer to outsource the management support of their association to a specialised AMC rather than rather than setting up your own office.

Top 10 reasons to hire an association management company

10. AMCs serve as headquarters — staff, files and history all live in one place.
9. Free your Board to focus on strategic direction, rather than tactical issues.
8. Remain in the know with a strong base of institutional knowledge.
7. Stop losing sleep over liability issues.
6. Tap experts and skilled specialists in a variety of functional areas.
5. Access the latest technological advances, without all the associated costs.
4. Retain skilled staff members that align with your organization’s needs.
3. Stay on top of the latest trends in the association industry.
2. Enjoy enhanced leverage with outside vendors and increased buying power.
1. Say goodbye to HR headaches for good

The list can be expanded. For instance, contrary to ‘standalone’ associations, no scarce association fees need to be invested in fixed assets. Your association is more agile and flexible because staff occupation is relatively easy to adapt in terms of size and competences when changes occur.

‘I wish you a lot of staff’

This Top 10 of AMCI shows that having little or no staff is the most important requirement for association decision makers for hiring a specialized company.

This certainly seems to be the case for trade associations that are usually managed by business executives. The old saying: “I wish you a lot of staff!” applies here.

Directors and committee members are chosen to achieve the common goals of their organization. HR is just one of the means to achieve those goals. In their role as volunteer leader, board members are often not eager serve as employer outside their own professional responsibilities. Outsourcing the management can prevent a lot of misery, worries and stress with regard to recruitment, functioning, assessment, replacement in the event of illness and even dismissal.

As an association partner we are fully aware of this need. We fulfill this role on a daily basis and for 100% of our clients, on an advisory, organizational and supportive level for our customers. It is our core business.

Customer Satisfaction Survey

As an AMC ourselves, we also ask periodic feedback from our client associations. Do the needs of our customers match the service we provide? Can we improve and/or can we develop new services? In the most recent survey we scored an 8.3 out of 10 on our core business. This makes us obviously very happy, but it is also a motivation to score even higher next year, to make improvements and to stay focused on the changing needs of our clients.

Open feedback from our customers:

Afera (the European adhesive tape association): ‘I think the Lejeune team has gained over the years a very deep knowledge of the industry, which is not a given for an association management organization. On top comes the very professional way of working’

ECSPP (the European Chemical Sites Promotion Platform): ‘It gives continuity for the organization and makes life easier for the executive committee. Without Lejeune I do not think we would have survived’

FINAT (The association for the European self-adhesive labelling and adjacent narrow web converting industries): ‘Very good identification with the association and the industry.’

FNOI (Dutch Association for the Waste Paper Industry, including professional archive- and data destruction companies) ‘You deserve our warm recommendation as a professional secretariat with a team strongly involved in the organisations.’

IGC Global Promotions (global consortium of branded merchandise and premium business gifts): ‘Because of the excellence of their service, and the great human beings not only working in the organization but also leading it’.

ILP Vegetable (international license platform for developing vegetable seeds): ‘Lejeune is a very professional organisation in managing and assisting of associations’

“I wish you a lot of staff”? I wish you a lot of staff with us!! Dedicated and committed employees, well trained and equipped with the right competences that are needed for managing associations.

Jules Lejeune

Managing Director Lejeune Association management