By Ernie Smith / Feb 21, 2018 (sanapadh/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

The shortages that have created some major issues for the fast food chain in the United Kingdom are being blamed on a vendor’s mess-ups. It’s a good reminder that good vendor management can be downright fundamental to your business needs.

Don’t laugh, but there’s a serious lesson to be taken from the misfortune of KFC’s British arm, which is suffering from a chicken shortage of historic proportions.

That lesson: Handle vendor transitions with care. KFC’s switch to a third-party shipper is being blamed for the headaches ailing the company this week.

DHL, the global shipping giant, was affected by a crash near one of its delivery depots on the day that it was supposed to take over the KFC contract, according to The Sun. This led to major delays and a significant backlog that prevented chicken from getting to most of KFC’s British locations. The supply-chain crisis was so serious that it forced 700 of KFC’s 870 U.K. stores to close, leading to issues that prevented employees at its stores from working.

KFC’s vendor move was controversial, with The Guardian noting that Bidvest, the company’s prior chicken supplier, was outbid by DHL, which planned to run its distribution apparatus through a single warehouse. The union that represented Bidvest employees reportedly warned of the risks of changing vendors.

But the crisis that happened to KFC isn’t unique.

After switching delivery providers in late 2015, The Boston Globe found itself in the unenviable position of having a serious shortage of drivers.

The paper, in a story on the problems, noted that the new vendor wanted delivery drivers to do more work for the same rate, which discouraged drivers from staying on board. The added complexity of the new vendor’s routes didn’t help matters, either. In the end, the problems became so serious that the company’s own journalists had to deliver newspapers.

Finger-Lickin’ Good Advice

So what should associations make of these concerns within their own walls? A 2008 paper from the Project Management Institute makes the case that working with a new vendor requires great care, as every new vendor has pluses and minuses that can affect the overall quality of the work in the end. And that requires doing your homework during the evaluation process to protect your organization in cases of failure.

Author Karen A. McIsaac notes that, even in a positive situation, vendors come with a variety of basic risks, including on issues of performance, culture, competency, capacity, reputation, and alignment with the primary organization as a whole. She recommends making sure that the contract is tightly written, that a statement of work is set up, and that someone is in charge of managing the vendor during the length of the contract.

Fara Francis, the CIO of Associated General Contractors of America, also made this point in a 2014 Associations Now article: “A good tip is to make sure that your contract is established properly, and make sure you establish a good working relationship with the vendor’s project manager.”

And that’s the case whether you’re working with chicken, newspapers, or your cloud infrastructure.

From Associations Now, a publication of the American Society of Association Executives.

As the world gets older, associations will have to take steps to respond to this demographic shift.

The world is getting grayer: The number of Americans 65 and older is expected to double by 2050. And for the next few years, baby boomers plan to stick around in their jobs, either because they want to or because economic necessity forces them to. Which is to say that aging isn’t just about age: It encompasses work, health, economics, and government, too.

Ellie Hollander, president and CEO of Meals on Wheels America, experiences that complex intersection of changes on a daily basis. It runs on a mix of private and public funding to address a senior hunger gap that threatens to keep widening. “We’re serving 2.4 million people, but we know that there are nearly 10 million seniors who are struggling with hunger,” she says. The organization is further challenged by uncertain federal funding and intense competition for philanthropic dollars.

Hollander’s proposed solution is to make the business case for companies to partner with the association. Last September, for instance, it announced a pilot program in collaboration with health insurance giant Aetna where volunteers delivering meals will help facilitate healthcare access for the seniors they serve. Meals on Wheels America benefits by becoming a more essential part of the healthcare infrastructure; Aetna gets a volunteer army that’s checking in on seniors before their health issues become serious—and expensive—saving the insurer on medication and hospital costs.

“We have an intervention that saves money, reduces healthcare costs, and improves people’s health and well-being,” Hollander says. “In addition to malnutrition, social isolation also contributes to people ending up in the emergency room and hospitals much more frequently than if they had access to nutritious meals and companionship.”

To do this, the association has reshuffled its org chart since Hollander’s arrival in 2013. It now has an executive vice president for healthcare integration and its own separate initiative, Meals on Wheels Health, focused on the issue. She says stressing the urgency of the issue with her board was a key factor: She scheduled three multiday sessions over nine months to address the rising numbers of older Americans and consider solutions.

“People said, ‘It’s too soon, you need to get your sea legs,” but the world in which we are living is changing so rapidly and the senior population is growing so quickly,” she says. “I want to make sure we’re relevant. And more than just relevant—I want us to thrive.”

Concerns about aging are relevant beyond an association’s members and customers. The issue also has an impact on association offices themselves, where boomer executives are nearing retirement and thinking about their own roles, as well as succession planning.

“There are millions of boomers who are moving from the left lane to the exit ramp,” says Tara Withington, CAE, vice president at AMC Executive Director Incorporated. “Many boomers won’t discuss their plans to retire or slow down due to the fear they will be marginalized or passed over for meaningful work.”

Exacerbating that anxiety is the fact that nonprofits are generally weak on succession planning: In one 2014 study, 38 percent of CEOs said their organization didn’t have a plan for the executive’s departure. Establishing a regular conversation about succession can put both the CEO and the board at ease, Withington says. So does a frank discussion about what role an executive nearing retirement can play.

“Boomers don’t want to just hang on until they can’t work anymore,” she says. “They want to make sure that they are mentoring and sharing their wisdom. And, quite honestly, I’ve heard from millennials that they’re not ready for the boomers to just walk out the door either. They rely on us for guidance and insight.”

From Associations Now, a publication of the American Society for Association Executives.

By Ernie Smith / Feb 16, 2018(stocksnapper/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

Why your organization should consider ways to keep passionate volunteer leaders active even if their term is over.

Even though a volunteer’s term on a board or committee may be over, that doesn’t mean they want to be done with the association. In fact, they may still be passionate about the organization they’ve been a part of.

According to Jeffrey Cufaude of Idea Architects, associations should consider redirecting and leveraging that energy and find a way to make room for them.

“Instead of talking about how to rid themselves of these people, organizations should focus on how to retain the best of what they can bring to their community,” he argues. “It yields a much richer and more respectful conversation.”

Read his full post for more thoughts.

From Associations Now, a publication of the American Society for Association Executives.

An outdated website can put your visitors’ data at risk and cause them to mistrust you.

An outdated website suffers from more than a stale design. It may also result in losing your users’ trust.

“In 2018, security is going to be a top concern of your website visitors, especially if your site requires them to provide personal or financial information,” writes Brian Byer in a recent post for MarketingProfs. “After the numerous well-publicized data breaches in 2017, your users will be especially wary of how interacting with your site could affect them.” To keep your users’ trust, make sure that you’re using HTTPS to protect sensitive information.

If you’re looking to keep up with user expectations regarding content, you need to have video. “Video is the newest component of website literacy, with more ‘stick’ value than any text or picture you might have formerly used,” says Byer. “Moreover, video is one of the simplest and most effective ways to engage site visitors at that all-important emotional level, so be sure your video is funny or touching, or else extremely useful.

A culture of learning can benefit your association in a number of ways. Employees who are constantly learning can take your organization into the future. And a learning culture promotes greater employee productivity and satisfaction.

The WBT Systems blog shares tips for creating a culture of learning at your association.

Start with getting buy-in from leadership. “Culture change has to be supported at the top,” says the post. “However, staff leadership must do more than just support a learning culture, they must model the behavior they wish to see. Leaders should talk about their learning experiences—their challenges, successes, and failures.”

From Associations Now, a publication of the American Society for Association Executives.

CMCA recertification requires 16 hours of CE within a 2-year certification cycle. 

CAMICB policy states that continuing education (CE) credit hours may be earned only for education that meets either of the following criteria:

• Pertains to community association operations or management; and/or
• It contributes to the professional development of the CMCA.

Further, CE credit specifications include:

• Educational courses are offered by approved course providers.
• One half of the continuing education credits may be obtained through in-house training courses.
• Local law seminars and local college or university courses pertaining to accounting, business practices, computers, or foreign language will count toward the continuing education requirement.
• Self-study credit must be pre-approved by CAMICB and is limited to no more than four hours every two years.
• Teaching a course related to community association management can qualify for credit.
• Courses related to the buying and selling of real estate will not be approved.
• Publishing an article in a regional or national community association publication may qualify for credit.
• One hour of credit equals one hour attended.
• Credit for a course may only be submitted one time per recertification cycle.
• Online learning must be interactive, i.e., requires proof of participation.

The CAMICB Continuing Education Review Committee has reviewed and approved a list of coursework for CMCA recertification continuing education credit.  This list can be found at www.CAMICB.org.

Coursework approved by a state regulatory agency for manager licensing requirements will be approved for CMCA recertification continuing education credit.  These states currently include: Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, Virginia.

Community association management company in-house training material must be reviewed and approved by the CAMICB Continuing Education Review Committee. Only one half or eight continuing education credits may be obtained through pre-approved in-house training courses.

CMCA prerequisite coursework is also approved for continuing education.  CMCAs may not use the coursework to meet both examination eligibility and continuing education requirements.  For example, if a CMCA used CAI’s M100: The Essentials of Community Association Management as their prerequisite education to sit for the CMCA examination, they may not submit it for CMCA recertification continuing education credit.

Coursework which meets the standard criteria may be submitted for review and approval to CAMICB. If proposed coursework is judged to meet the criteria set forth, it will be approved for a two-year cycle.

Coursework which has been previously approved by CAMICB, may be re-submitted for staff approval in consecutive years, if the coursework has not been altered between years.

A CMCA may seek approval from CAMICB for a course not provided by a pre-approved course provider.  CAMICB staff will review the learning objectives and credit allocation to determine eligibility.  CAMICB staff may consult a member of the Continuing Education Review Committee when necessary.

The changes mostly pertain to the approval of coursework.  Check to make sure your CE course providers have been approved by CAMICB by checking our online list.  If they haven’t, send over the course info (I.e. learning objectives, outline, etc.) to our office at info@camicb.org.  We will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

CAMICB sent reminder notices to CMCAs who need to recertify and/or pay their annual service fee by April 1, 2018. Here are a few helpful links:

• When to recertify
• Continuing Education
• Recertification Application

A few things to note:

1.    It is the responsibility of each CMCA to provide documentation of their 16 hours of continuing education at the time of recertification. CAMICB does not track your CEs. If you took a class with CAI, please go to www.caionline.org to print out a certificate of completion.

2.    Only courses completed between April 1, 2016 and April 1, 2018 count as continuing education.

3.    An active AMS, PCAM, FL CAM, NV CAM or NAHC-RCM satisfies the continuing education requirement. Check option 1 on line item #4 of the Recertification Application to receive credit.

4.    Credit hours may be earned only for education that pertains to community association operations or management and/or contributes to the professional development of the CMCA.

5.    The CMCA Annual Service Fee is $105.00. Oftentimes this fee is confused with CAI’s individual manager membership. While CAMICB maintains an affiliate relationship with CAI, we are an independent credentialing body: separately incorporated, governed by an independent Board of Trustees, and guided in the administration of our program by the standards of our accrediting body, the National Commission for Certifying Agencies. We are not a membership organization; we do not collect membership dues. We assess our credential holders an annual maintenance fee which is used to support the development and delivery of our core exam and the operation of our program in accordance with best practices in professional credentialing.

Still have questions? Contact CAMICB at info@camicb.org or take advantage of the March 1 webinar CMCA Recertification Notice – Free Webinar on March 1, beginning at 2:00 p.m. EST. Register Today

Below is a list from a board president on how to make successful monthly meetings. The article was published by The Educational Community for Homeowners (ECHO). ECHO is a nonprofit membership corporation dedicated to assisting California homeowners associations

Read the full excerpt from ECHO here: https://www.echo-ca.org/blogs/6-elements-successful-monthly-meeting

Tim Polk, past President of the Roundtree Homeowners Association in Calidornia identified the following elements of a successful monthly meeting:

1. Starting with a Plan
2. Priorities in Order
3. Ownership
4. Focus on Results
5. Controlled Homeowner Input
6. Fun and Enjoyable

How do you help your volunteer leads have a productive meeting? Leave some tips in the comment section below.

By Raegan Johnson / Feb 5, 2018 (olm26250/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

 Are your most highly engaged workers also your most stressed?

Employee engagement is a valuable goal, and many organizations expend a lot of effort to encourage it. After all, increased engagement often results in a rise of productivity, employee retention, and quality of work. The gains are clear, but have you paused to consider that there may be a downside?

Harvard Business Review explores the cons of being a proactive and invested employee. “While engagement certainly has its benefits, most of us will have noticed that, when we are highly engaged in working towards a goal we can also experience something less than positive: high levels of stress,” write Emma Seppala and Julia Moeller.

A recent study from the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence looks at the relationship between engagement and burnout amongst U.S. employees. The study found that two out of five employees reported high engagement and low burnout, but one out of five reported high engagement and high burnout.

“These engaged-exhausted workers were passionate about their work, but also had intensely mixed feelings about it—reporting high levels of interest, stress, and frustration,” say Seppala and Moeller. “While they showed desirable behaviors such as high skill acquisition, these apparent model employees also reported the highest turnover intentions in our sample—even higher than the unengaged group.”

The article goes on to provide guidance for maintaining engagement without burning out.

Speaking of burnout … a common phrase you use in internal meetings may be leading your team to exhaustion.

Have you caught yourself asking for your team to give 110 percent? “As a manager and leader, it is important to me that my team is operating at its best. But I never ask them for 110%,” writes Jamie Domenici in a recent Salesforce blog post. “Expecting 110 percent [of] your team’s effort and time is a great way to ensure burnout and low employee satisfaction.”

Domenici also says to cut office jargon such as “think outside the box,” “take it offline,” and “knowledge transfer” to make internal meetings more effective.