Touching Tomorrow Together Today
"Tying the Knot With Our Members"
Steven C. Millwee, CPP (2001 Vice
President)
"Till death do us part" is our
members expectation of a world class professional society. Do our chapters have the knowledge,
resources and tools in place to embark on the lifetime relationship journey
with our members? The future of our
society depends on it. Many chapters
are no longer focused on winning anymore.
They are simply hanging on in a survival mode. The game is not over, but the rules have changed. It's time for us to take some risks, a time
to win with our chapters and members.
A 15-year member recently said, "My chapter is
at times out of touch with me. There
are other professional organizations that not only know where I itch, but they
scratch it."
Our three-year objectives for the regional vice
presidents and chapters will be outlined with a focus on consistent and
continuous long term, strategic and global strategies. We recognize an
opportunity to help chapters create improved educational opportunities and
leadership development so future members will say, "ASIS International is
in touch with me, as the world class professional and educational society that
is committed to security excellence."
Focusing on the Future as We Change
You will learn the details of
our 2001-2002 innovative model chapter program, Touching Tomorrow Together Today. Absent our vision as ASIS leaders, chapter membership will
continue to erode and minimize the potential for developing leaders both at the
chapter and volunteer leadership levels.
Worse yet, so as the chapters and return on investment to our members go
will so go our Society. It is time to
act, rather than try to hang on for survival sake. We must remember there is
good change. It is time to create a new market place for our members by
renewing chapters and creating the 2000+ Model Chapter and the 21st Century ASIS Virtual Chapter.
The Challenge
"I don't have time to
attend a chapter meeting when there is little educational value that I can take
back to my employer. Our chapters need
CPR, an infusion of excitement, because they are dying."
Too many members are dissatisfied with the quality
of our chapter meetings. They complain
that too much time is spent on unproductive discussion of chapter business that
they believe should be handled by chapter officers.
Other members complain that programs are stale and
redundant. They explain that local prosecutors, law enforcement or members of
the judiciary consume a disproportionate amount of chapter programming. The
message is that crime is bad and the good guys are working hard to catch the
bad guys. These members do not give
this feedback with any animus or disrespect to law enforcement, as many are
members of ASIS, their chapters and valued colleagues. They simply suggest there must be something
more to offer its members of an educational value and direct benefit to their
security or business functions. We need
"how to" programs that focus on the current and future needs of
members today.
Pessimism that paralyzes some professionals today is
causing many to quickly becoming obsolete.
As leaders we must be focused on what is going to happen next in ASIS
and security as a profession. We need
to create a vision ten years out and then plan backwards. Our chapters and
members need provocative stimulating and immensely valuable visions and tools
that will equip them for the 21st Century.
Enter ASIS Member Relationship Management
Successful leaders never
look at their customers from a single viewpoint; instead they view their customers
as opportunities for lifelong relationships.
We need to look at our customers, ASIS members, as they see us. Perception is reality for most, despite our
best pitch at telling them about the benefits of membership and involvement in
their Society.
First, we must learn
everything there is to know about our members, and most importantly, listen to
them. Have we, the leaders, taken our
members for granted? Unfortunately, some
leaders will lose their focus on meeting the needs of their customers or
members. Yet, a true strategic
partnership requires both the leader and customer to identify their needs and
develop visionary opportunities for each to achieve their mutually agreed goals
and objectives.
People buy relationships
before they often buy-into any organization.
There is a competitive marketplace trying to capture the time and
talents of professionals. The average
member's workload has increased, along with the pressures of budget constraints
and demands on their attention from personal commitments.
It seems that we often break
one of the most basic rules of business: "Your best customer is your
existing customer." Yet, some
complain that we fail to resell the Society to existing members, in place of
trying to attract new members. We must
do both! Reselling to someone who has
already identified us as the premier professional security organization is far
more profitable than trying to reach new prospects. Make no mistake, we must always reach out to prospective members,
but we simply can't forget our current members, as they will create growth
along with other proactive and "pre-active" programs.
An organization that does
not view its members in terms of a career-long relationship has its days
numbered. We must take a 360-degree
view of our members. In other words, we
must know what our members want and give it to them. No more excuses. We must
take the leadership initiative; else the competition will eat us alive.
We are a professional
and educational society with over 32,000 members, 200 chapters, with a myriad
of educational, security, and management expertise that should be commonly
available to ASIS Chapters. In the past
many quality programs have been unavailable to chapters because of budget
constraints due to poor member participation.
Additionally many of the Volunteer Leadership have effectively been
taken out of the mainstream of chapter involvement because of their often-exhaustive
volunteer roles for ASIS. However, this
may contribute to a cloak of secrecy or mystique that has never been the intent
of the leaders or the desire of the members.
Moreover, members want greater access to its international leadership
team and more interesting and timely programs for chapter functions. Therefore, the time is ripe for a major
initiative to help chapters reach out to new members and improve its
educational programming. As the
committed leaders we must first take time to understand and then support with
one voice the initiatives of this forward-thinking process. Here is our assignment:
·
More
aggressively identify the needs of our members. The RVPs, as a group, will create chapter leadership and member
questionnaires to help collect updated data for future innovative programming
from the ASIS leadership team.
·
Establish
additional methodologies for identifying programs to help revitalize chapters
by servicing members' needs. These
programs must be timely, unique, educational to the security practitioner, and
designed to develop increased interest in the local chapter. Create improved
forums for feedback from the chapters about new and innovative programs.
·
Promote
quality speakers that are willing to volunteer their time to speak at chapter
meetings, workshops, and seminars that will bring new, interesting and
innovative information to the membership.
Asisonline has a list of quality speakers that can be used as one source
for chapters. These speakers have received outstanding ratings and have been
previously vetted by members at various educational offerings.
·
Develop
global strategies that will have broad-based application to all our members
regardless of their location. Programs
for members outside and inside the United States must meet the unique needs
that modern security and management professionals bring to the chapter
experience.
·
Study and
develop updated chapter incentive and recognition programs that incorporate 21st
Century tools and programs, such as web-enabled training, newsletters and Model
Chapter initiatives.
With a focused
commitment to revitalize chapters with innovative programming, we can embark on
an aggressive course that is best described by the by-word
"activism." This program will
allow chapters to make a voluntary commitment to a three-year program. The
purpose of the program will be to identify and evaluate specific performance
levels that improve chapter education that meets the needs of the modern
security, business and government professional that reach out to new and
existing members to create enhanced member services.
Here are some levels that are based on specific
performance that chapters must undertake in this initiative.
·
Participating
chapters will submit for the I.B. Hale Chapter of the Year or Patricia C.
Manion International Chapter of the Year.
The focus of these awards for chapter excellence has never been on
winning, but the lessons learned by submitting applications for the
awards. Moreover, incoming chapter leaders
use the comprehensive applications as a benchmark of chapter
accomplishments. The awards committee
gives a detailed analysis of each application so those chapters can continue to
improve member services.
·
Participating
chapters will also submit for Newsletter or Internet Communication of the Year
awards. Similarly, chapters learn how
to remain on the cutting edge of communication with its customers, the members
of their chapter.
·
On
written authorization and oversight by the Regional Vice President [Procedures
4005 (I)] Chapters may have six meetings or more per year with the focus
being on giving the speaker 60 minutes to present more in-depth content and
member participation that can be directly applied by the modern security
professional. Chapters will submit
executive summaries of its efforts to create innovative and educational
programming that enhanced membership development and education. (Chapters need not be
encouraged to meet less often, as their members needs may require monthly
meetings. Networking is the second key
to developing successful chapters. Thus
chapters can enhance member participation through inclusiveness over divisiveness. Members want quality programs and collegial
networking.)
·
Chapter
officers will need to commit to attending, including off-line and on-line, the
regional chapter officer workshop to fully understand the program. Moreover,
they must have at least one representative at the Chapter Officer Training
Workshop held at the Annual Seminar and Exhibits in 2001 and 2002 to provide
feedback. This insures that every chapter executive has the tools, talents and
resources to deliver a better educational product to the members.
·
Chapters will submit two names per calendar year of qualified
educators (speakers) who they felt provided excellent management level
information and education. The names
must be accompanied by an executive summary that details the presentation and
speaker qualifications. ASIS
educational staff for inclusion into the speaker's bureau database can review
the submitted names.
·
Lastly,
chapters must submit the Chapter Activity Reports after its meetings on or
before the deadline so that its best and brightest practices are highlighted in
ASIS International publications. We
will look at updating this form that streamlines reporting.
Enter 21st
Century ASIS Virtual Chapter
Future focus recognizes that many organizations will
deliver most of its future training by use of modern technology tools, such as
web-based, interactive computer and video conferencing. The 21st Century ASIS Virtual Chapter allows
ASIS to be on the leading edge not the bleeding edge of these technologies.
Using the ASIS Virtual Best
Chapter Practices chapters will have take back tools to deliver to
their members. Members can also access
these tools when they are unable to attend chapter meetings. The cost of the virtual chapter can be
subsidized by sponsorships, thus adding value to being a member of one's local
chapter.
An integral part of this initiative is to create a
virtual chapter. It will help us
deliver pre-packaged programs for chapters, create networking by sister
chapters around the world, and provide a forum for discussion of the topic for
the upcoming or most recent meeting.
This interactive participation will help globalize our society at the
grassroots. Chapters will promote quality WebPages
that highlight their last educational program (content specific) and chapter
best practice.
RVP Training and Oversight
The champions of this initiative must be you, our
regional vice presidents and your assistants.
Coupled with the 2000 educational CD-ROM/web-based tool kit developed by
the Standing Councils and RVP Jeff Spivey, CPP, the 2001 and 2002 RVPs will
develop additional training models and implement this program to volunteer
chapters. Moreover, sponsoring training
organizations will become an invaluable resource in developing, implementing
and administering our programs.
Member Benefits
·
Members
will have increased participation in other ASIS educational offerings, such as
its various seminars, workshops, the Annual Seminar and Exhibits, and most
importantly the local chapter.
·
Members
will be able to add value to their employers by having interesting and timely topics
that enhance their skills and body of knowledge relating to the professional
security practitioner.
·
Chapters
will have additional resources for speakers on a myriad of topics that promotes
the educational objectives of ASIS, and quality presenters with a successful
track record as presenters in other ASIS educational offerings.
·
Cost
of member communications and other expenses will be substantially reduced, thus
helping chapters maximize local member participation and budgets.
Ramp Up Strategy
2001 Nine-Step Initiatives
1.
Develop a "blue ribbon" group of seasoned
experts to write a 1 to 2 page template of successful chapter events, e.g. law
enforcement appreciation, seminar, Internet communication, motivational and
education speakers, golf outings, and security officer of the year appreciation
to name a few. These templates will
help update the Chapter Best Practices developed a few years ago. Rather than publish another expensive book,
this information will be available at Asisonline in the leadership section.
2.
The second strategy is to develop a new and improved RVP
training module so that 2001 RVPs have a template with expectations for
training their chapter officers.
3.
The third strategy is to develop a training template for
chapter officers. Using the materials
developed in strategies 1 and 2 above, we will revitalize chapters. They have innovative tools with appropriate
accountability for making every year a stellar year.
4.
Develop the computer platforms for roll out of the
virtual chapter in 2002.
5.
Develop
and implement models to increase student membership.
6.
Develop
and implement strategies that globalize our Society, even at the local chapter
level.
7.
Revitalize
our chapters with innovative leadership and programming strategies with
measurements and accountability models.
8.
Create
strategic relationships with other leadership groups, e.g. Councils,
Foundation, and PCB to give participants in this program credit to help bring
CPPs back to the local chapter with additional credits for those CPPs who act
as speakers or facilitators of the program.
9.
Identify
other groups that can help ASIS multiply, such as government security
professionals, student members, global security professionals, and allied
professionals.
2002
Initiatives
1.
Roll out the 2000+ Model
Chapter
and the 21st
Century ASIS Virtual Chapter. This will
be the primary focus of Steve Millwee's comments to the membership at the 47th
Annual Seminar and Exhibits as we Touch Tomorrow Together Today!
2. Develop focus groups and feedback questionnaires to measure the programs.
Winning Together
The natural competitive
spirit that drives leaders will help us touch tomorrow today. You, the regional
leaders, will create the measurements and tools, with our help, to identify
your collective and individual successes.
Thus, you must be willing to stay on the field of play and become an
active participant of one team. We will
create some awards for 2001 and 2002 to help identify those that have taken the
leadership vision and initiative to help revitalize our chapter leaders and
members with this program.
Though some might first
resist the idea of change, as proven leaders we are committed to professional
development and member excellence. This
initiative will demonstrate that ASIS is ahead of the curve by taking the
forefront of leadership by enhancing educational opportunities to the
individual member, from the chapter, regional and global marketplace. Together
we will touch tomorrow today!