How to Build an AMC Culture That Retains and Sustains
This guest post is provided by Impact AMC.
Impact Association Management was a recent recipient of the 2022 Dane County Small Business Awards. This award recognizes small businesses that make a real difference in their communities and for their employees. As an association management company (AMC) that saw growth through the pandemic, we’re continuously reevaluating our work model and centering it around three main components – maintaining schedule flexibility, building and maintaining real connections, and providing professional development opportunities. We encourage other associations, AMCs, and businesses to implement these strategies to see higher retention rates, better productivity, and overall staff happiness – as we have!
Flexible Schedules and Planning Ahead
At Impact, we’ve found success in offering staff members flexible work hours and the ability to work remotely as it suits them. At the same time, we still provide a centralized office fully equipped and waiting for them whenever they may need it. The result has been several staff members coming in several days a week to converse and collaborate in-person with their coworkers while spending the rest of the time at home. This flexible model allows for our team to work where they feel most productive, which we know can change depending on the day. As long as client needs are met, our team is trusted to choose the work schedule that fits within their lifestyle and meets their needs. As a company of mostly women (many of whom are working mothers), our goal is to ensure that all of our staff members have secure employment with an understanding team in unpredicting circumstances.
We also understand that many employees may stress about missing work in any of these circumstances. We have established a system that allows for any unexpected outage to be covered. Our organized system full of detailed procedures ensures that anyone can step in to take care of business if needed. This helps us make sure that not only do our clients receive adequate coverage, but also that the only thing a staff member needs to worry about if they are unexpectedly out of the office is taking care of themselves.
Staying Connected and Building Lasting Relationships
With the hybrid world we now live in, many AMCs have staff members spread out all over the country. We ourselves have staff scattered between Wisconsin, Arizona, Texas, Illinois, and Tennessee. Impact has ramped up team-building opportunities to ensure that the team feels connected and engaged, whether they work remotely or in office. We highly recommend scheduling alternating biweekly or monthly events centered around activities that you know staff members will enjoy. For example, we offer twice monthly virtual happy hours and coffee chats where no “shop talk” is allowed. Team members are encouraged to vent, share stories or TV show recommendations, and connect with one another. Additionally, we host monthly virtual “Office Games” where we take paid time to play. Impact also offers paid monthly team experiences, such as virtual yoga classes, arts and crafts night, or a Coffee Master Class. This is all made possible by our Culture Committee, who make sure these experiences are tailored to our staff’s specific interests.
Through these activities, we have built and reinforced a real community at Impact – one that celebrates each other’s accomplishments and willingly has one another’s backs at a moment’s notice. We even have a dedicated messaging channel called our “Brag Book” where all employees give frequent shout-outs to anyone who has gone above and beyond on recent projects.
Additionally, we’ve found that our employees frequently look forward to paid group volunteer opportunities. Throughout the years, we’ve supported a variety of organizations such as Movers for Moms, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, humane societies, shelters for victims of domestic violence, and food banks across all of our office locations. This not only helps out our beloved communities, but also adds to our repertoire of team-building experiences. Staff members take pride in making a difference together.
Due to this camaraderie, we can also frequently find staff members posting photos of their families, a hobby they enjoy, or something they did over the weekend on our team messaging platform. Our goal has been to create a welcoming space that does not necessarily require face-to-face contact, yet embraces it when possible.
Continuing Education
We are continuously trying to build a stronger and more knowledgeable team to provide our clients with the very best in the industry. However, we also want to ensure our staff members achieve their own professional goals. We not only encourage continuing professional development, but we require it. Our Professional Development Committee plays an integral role in creating opportunities for the educational advancement of our team. We provide professional development presentations at monthly Impact team meetings in addition to frequent paid education opportunities such as conferences, webinars, or courses. Each staff member then writes about their experience in a blog post that is shared with their coworkers and with our clients. It’s truly a win-win all around.
Our founder and CEO, Jodi Fisher, frequently thinks about creating a work environment for her staff that she herself would want to work in. By taking the time to learn what is most important to your staff and cultivating those needs, building relationships, and encouraging growth, your organization will foster success for both its clients and employees.
