CALGARY CONSTRUCTION ASSOCIATION
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES
As a membership based organization we exist with the sole purpose of serving our members and our industry to the best of our ability at all times.
Over the years we have done so through all the cycles and changes that have occurred in our market and we have all become stronger for the experience. Then came March 2020 and the world had to change its entire way of life overnight. Of course the CCA was no exception and the next two years provided an invaluable learning experience for us all as we sought to adapt and continue to support our CCA community through uncharted waters.
The lessons have not been wasted on us so, when in early 2022 we saw the end in sight, we felt the need to re-evaluate our role in this new and emerging postpandemic context. At the same time we also felt a strong voice pulling us away from the temptation to simply restart everything that we had been doing up until March 2020.
And so, in early March 2022, the board and CCA team convened for a full day in person strategy session so we could apply all that we had learned during the pandemic to our legacy as a 75+ year organization and begin to consider our role for the next 3 to 5 years and beyond. Maybe it was a post pandemic thing but this was not just any old typical strategic offsite session.
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES
Photo Credit: Alberta Glass
MEMBERS’ SIDE OF THE COUNTER
We wanted to approach the whole exercise a different way than in the past so we looked to a new place for inspiration. In his book “Know What You’re For” Jeff Henderson, a former marketing exec. at the Chick-fil-A organization, describes how they had to learn that, in order to truly help a franchise owner how to understand and grow their business, they needed to stand on the customers’ side of the counter and not the operators.
Not only was this a powerful analogy for us to reflect on as a customer service organization, but the two fundamental questions in the book -
-Felt like perfect lines of enquiry for such an undertaking.
”What Do You Want to be Known For?” And “What Are You Known For?”
We started with the first question and the answers that we arrived at were an important viewpoint to have at the outset of this session.
“WHAT ARE WE KNOWN FOR?”
AN ASSOCIATION OF LARGE ORGANIZATIONS - LARGELY GC’S
Considering the fact that 18 of our 30 directors are appointed from trade and professional associations this is an interesting perspective but, nevertheless, it has prevailed for many years and, as you will see on the next page “LARGE” are actually the minority!
ONLINE PLANS-ROOM SERVICE
An important and valued service that is based on our heritage as a Builders Exchange and fundamental way for our members to access opportunities.
LARGE EVENTS THAT I AM NOT ABLE TO ATTEND
Only 15-20%. Of our member companies have been regular attendees at most historic events.
MEMBERSHIP FEES THAT ARE DISCRETIONARY SPENDING
We moved from there to the second question
The best way to summarize all the various conversations that arose out of this question was the simple fact that we want our members to feel that -
“I CANNOT AFFORD TO NOT BE A MEMBER OF CCA”
We do not say this lightly because we fully understand that for this to be true, we need to earn such a statement based on all that we do for our members. But what a call to action it is!
“WHAT DO WE WANT TO BE KNOWN FOR?”
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES
Photo Credit: Executive Millwork
Then we engaged in a lengthy conversation around the question -
ARE OUR MEMBERS?”
Once again there were many aspects to the response and it is clear that our membership is diverse with -
Trade Contractors Manufacturers/ Distributors/ Suppliers
Consultants and Service Providers
General Contractors + Builders
-Overall 15% -4.5% med-large size
But by far the biggest takeaway was the fact that across all categoriesOVER 80% OF OUR MEMBERS HAVE 10 PEOPLE OR LESS IN THE OFFICE.
This is actually the profile of our industry and it is in fact the profile of all kinds of businesses across Canada. We have always been a small business association comprised primarily of owner/operator businesses as members. This was a key perspective in beginning to imagine the great opportunity that lay before us as we viewed CCA and our members through this lens.
“WHO
Armed with this key information we finally moved to the members’ side of the counter and from that vantage point we asked ourselves…
“WHAT ARE OUR MEMBERS ASKING US FOR?”
5 main buckets emerged out of this consideration and, in no specific order, we arrived at -
TRAIN AND DEVELOP MY PEOPLE SEE AND BE PREPARED FOR THE FUTURE
While many of these may be familiar and are certainly representative of the work that we at CCA have always been engaged in, this unique journey during our offsite via the steps outlined previously, provided us with an added dimension along with a renewed sense of purpose related to our role in seeking to move forward with consistency and clarity as a stronger and more aligned partner with our members.
In a post pandemic world and after three years of unprecedented change many of us are looking at our lives and our priorities differently and here at CCA we have fully embraced this perspective.
The real work is already being done and we know that we have much more ahead of us. We hope that this 5 part perspective will align well with your needs and, as we report to you on how we are working on each of these in different ways throughout the year, you will see yourselves reflected more and more in all that we do as we strive to earn the ultimate privilege of being considered mission partners with you all in building our collective future in Calgary.
