The J oy of A ssociation

There is, undoubtedly, an association for every kind o f business and activity on the planet. But I believe the best trade associations in the w orld share the same characteristics, many benefits and similar ambitions for their members. Broadly speaking, a trade association should exist to benefit its member s in three spheres: personal development, business improvement and industry strength. S hould you join a trade association? I think that if it can truly offer these three realms of benefit, then y ou should seriously consider it.

It’s essential to the future of any indus try to attract and retain talen ted people, and so it’s the responsibilit y of an association to underpin every member’s efforts t o develop the skills and careers o f their employees. Whe ther it means delivering accredited c ourses that enable people to move easily between businesses withou t leaving the industry, or providing resources f or member s t o develop and deliver their own tr aining and up-skilling material, providing positive career development potential is the key to indus try longevity and stability. Withou t the continuity and insigh t that comes from a long career in one sector, expertise and knowledge is lost, whils t l ong standing conventions can break down. Providing a strong emphasis on education, and enc ouraging members to create career s rather than simply jobs, will give young people a reason t o enter the industry and the incen tive to stay there.

Share information

Running a business is never eas y, and every step an association can take to make it more profitable, efficient, credible or well-known is a welc ome benefit. Wha tever industry you are in, you’re in competition with o ther businesses for a finite amoun t of trade. So it may seem c ounter-intuitive to ask you to ge t together and share information with all those competitors. B ut that is exactly wha t we, as trade associations, do. And because we do, we’ve been able to get members to agree on mutual standards, best pr actice, and wha t constitutes good customer service. The resul t? The growing awareness tha t association membership is a qualit y marque, an indicator to cus tomers that they can expect the best of wha t the industry has t o offer.

Association membership isn’t easy

The truth is that an association is only as effective as its members, because it is its members. The more time and effort you devote t o your association, whe ther that is sitting on working groups, leading a forum, or simply a ttending the AGM and conference, the greater benefit you will enjoy. You should support your association as much as it supports you. Evangelise, be an ad vertisement for membership, help the association to grow, because to grow the association is to add greater strength, knowledge and power to your own business.

There’s a well known phenomenon known as “The Network Effect” which applies here. It s tates that adding more users of a service has a positive effect on all the v alue of the service to all o ther users. The perfect example is the telephone. If there is only one telephone, it’s useless –there’s no-one to call. If there are two telephones, then two calls are possible, ten telephones give you ninety possible calls, and so on. Building a business network, and sharing pr agmatic solutions to common issues, becomes a powerful tool when you can do it with dozens o f competitors in a convivial and collaborative environment. It’s up to your association to crea te these opportunities, but it ’s up to you to make them a success!

When you speak as an indus try, people listen. ESSA represen ts a part of a £42 billion indus try in the UK and we exist t o enable our members to speak with one voice. Whils t association membership can benefit your business directly and po sitively, perhaps the most importan t work it can do is to represen t the whole industry at the legislative and regulatory le vel. The unintended consequences of legislation, burden some regulation, and international business conditions are threa ts that can face every business.

Withou t associations, it is very difficul t for individual businesses t o make their case to the au thorities that matter. A ssociation membership gives every member business the chance, and arguably the responsibility, t o contribute to the debate in a meaningful w ay. This is how a good association enables its member s to author their own fu ture as much as possible. At ESSA this is our ambition, helping the industry to thrive by putting the people with the knowledge and experience at the helm, providing a platform t o communicate with government, other sectors and interna tional partners, and creating an industry where people w ant t o work and progress.

AUTHOR ANDREW HARRISON