Membership - Why Belong?

[chris.barry]

WHY BELONG?
I would like to explore some of the reasons to belong to a membership organisation. The first question you might ask before joining a membership organisation is “why”? Why join an association for tennis players, dog breeders, train drivers, project managers, the QANTAS Club or AIM? While each provides vastly different services, I believe that motivations to join remain the same, only varying in degrees of relevance. I have drawn this list by distilling the results of AIM's own membership research, the work of other membership professionals and my own experience. The list includes:

1) Personal Benefit – “what’s in it for me?” Membership in a club like the QANTAS Club, this is the main reason for joining.
2) Connection – a “club” brings together people with like minded ideas, objectives and interests.
3) Recognition – many clubs and associations offer recognition. For AIM, the levels of Associate Fellow and Fellow offer recognition of achievement as a manager.
4) Information – the sharing and dissemination of relevant and important information amongst the members has always been an important element for most clubs – this is a significant benefit of AIM membership.
5) Engagement – something to spark and maintain your interest. The notion of engagement is a tricky one and something that many membership organisations struggle to get to grips with. I’ll come back to this later.
6) Philanthropy – doing a good thing for your fellow person and the world.

NETWORKING - DEVELOP YOUR CAREER
AIM membership addresses all of the motivations noted above. I would like to examine the one that provides personal benefit, a connection, a chance to share information and engagement – networking.

Networking is a major benefit of AIM Membership, but before continuing I want to define the term and attempt to erase any negative connotations that it might hold. When I speak about networking, I am referring to forming real, ongoing and engaging relationships. Networking is not a business card swap, it is a reciprocal relationship based on genuine and shared interests.

While networking can and should be fun, it also offers significant benefits for your career. For a start, networking can gain you access to a large part of the hidden job market. Consider that 80% of available jobs aren’t advertised and 66% of people get their jobs through networking. While the numbers I have quoted here change depending on your source material, even at half this, I think the value of networking for career development is clear. I regularly speak with AIM members who tell me that they haven’t applied for a job in years, and develop their careers and access employment opportunities through their networks.

Conversely, the value of your networks increases as unemployment levels rise. Networking is not only recession proof, but it can recession proof your career. As unemployment rises, there are increasing numbers of organisations receiving hundreds of applications for a single job. In this situation, it is definitely who you know that will get you through the door. Having a connection within an organisation gets you pre-screened and in the best of circumstances, it gets you an ally and a referee. This dramatically enhances your chances.

Networking can also help build your career within the organisation you are working in today. The advantages of forming a network within your organisation include information exchange, collaboration, career planning and strategy and professional support and encouragement.


HOW TO BUILD AN EFFECTIVE NETWORK
Your network should definitely not be so enormous as to be unmanageable. The strength of your network lies in the strength of your relationships within the network. It should be diverse, relationship driven and influential.

My brother in law recently completed his MBA in Melbourne. He’s a consummate networker, going so far as to join clubs simply for the networking benefits. He told me that the real value in completing his MBA was in the networking opportunities it offered and the connections and relationships he built. This tends to suggest that developing a good network lies not in the size of your network, but the quality of your network.

The Australian Institute of Management offers an invaluable opportunity to develop a quality network - a diverse, influential network of like-minded individuals who share similar interests. The AIM membership includes over 6000 individuals across NSW and the ACT, with the leaders of many organisations as Fellows.

Additionally over 700 Organisations across NSW and the ACT are Corporate Partners with AIM, including many of the largest and most influential organisations from the private and public sector.

AIM offers significant opportunities to develop your network, including membership events and professional network forums, online forums and training and development programs with individuals and members from across industry sectors – members receiving a significant discount on all of these services.

During National Networking Week, on 5th August, we are holding an event for members in our North Sydney office, "Unlocking your Networking Potential" with Sue Henry. Additionally, in the current issue of Management Today (August) there is an article devoted to identifying your networking style and developing the skills of networking. Finally, this very forum is a great opportunity to network, so be sure to login and start posting.


WHAT ENGAGES YOU?
Returning to the complex issue of engagement, I would like your feedback on the following question:

“What most engages you at a club/association at which you are a member?”

Please let me know by posting your response.


I will also post my reference list for this article in a follow up post.

[chris.barry]

Regarding the question of: “What most engages you at a club/association at which you are a member?” I have some feedback from attendees at AIM's recent Open Day, which I have posted below:

• Up-to-date industry knowledge
• Peer support
• New concepts and challenging current thinking
• Membership events
• Networking
• Industry relevant discussions
• Interaction with other members
• Relevant Professional Development Sessions
• User-friendly website
• Partnership with other professional associations
• Annual conference

[Burgo]

AIM is quite a unique organisation, in that it actively helps its members, and provides benefits to satisfy the majority of its members.

Unfortunately 'work' interferes with the amount of time we as members can devote to AIM, but membership is very much worth while

Networking is possibly the single most important management tool you can develop.
There is an old saying " 'tis not what you know that is important but who you know".
Over the last 50 years I have built a number of successful business, and although I dont have an MBA, these business became successful through my networking group. I still network through different forums and not only does it help your business but the bonus is the number of good friends you make along the way