Menu

Professional Development

Certificate and certification programs can be an essential service for associations

Powering Your Members’ Professional Growth 

, , 0

Options for Professional Development That Make a Difference 

Certificates and certification programs can offer great value to association members. In fact, many members say that professional development is their top reason for belonging to an association. Whether your organization is considering adding a program, revamping an existing program or something in between, we have some considerations to think about, along with case studies. 

What Benefits Can Your Members See? 

  1. Career Advancement 
  • Job Opportunities: Certifications make someone more competitive by demonstrating their expertise in areas like, for example, portable sanitation or professional organization. 
  • Promotion Potential: Employers may prioritize certified employees when promoting internally, seeing them as more qualified for leadership or specialized roles. 
  1. Skill Validation
  • Proof of Expertise: Certification acts as formal recognition of someone’s skills and knowledge, especially in technical fields like, for example, concrete repair, project management, or healthcare. 
  • Industry Standards: Many certifications set or are based on industry-wide ANSI, ISO, or IACET standards, showing that a professional has met or exceeded the required level of competency. 
  1. Increased Earning Potential
  • Higher Salary: Certified professionals often earn more than their non-certified counterparts. 
  • Negotiation Leverage: A certificate or certification can give someone leverage to negotiate a better salary or a raise. 
  1. Professional Credibility
  • Trust and Confidence: Employers, clients, and colleagues are more likely to trust and value someone’s expertise when it is backed by a certificate or certification. 
  • Stand Out in the Industry: Having a certificate or certification enhances one’s professional reputation and distinguishes them from others in their industry, whether they are a building inspector, a financial planner, or a perioperative blood management technologist. 
  1. Personal Satisfaction and Confidence
  • Achievement Recognition: Obtaining a certification provides a sense of accomplishment and validation of one’s hard work and dedication to their industry. 
  • Boost in Confidence: It can reinforce one’s self-confidence in applying their knowledge in practical situations, such as conducting an impartial workplace investigation. 
  1. Networking Opportunities
  • Join a Certified Community: Certifications or certificates offer access to a professional community, which can lead to networking, mentorship, and collaboration opportunities. 
  • Industry Events and Conferences: Certified professionals are often invited to special events, conferences and workshops where they can continue to grow their network, including becoming certification or certificate program trainers. 
  1. Continuous Learning and Development
  • Staying Current: Certifications require ongoing education to maintain, ensuring that an individual stays up to date with industry trends and new technologies. 
  • Personal Growth: The process of becoming certified pushes a professional to learn and master new concepts, improving their knowledge base and industry-related skills. 
  1. Regulatory or Legal Requirements
  • Compliance: In certain industries, certification can be a legal requirement to perform specific tasks or hold certain job titles, including portable sanitation, healthcare, law, and engineering. 
  • Safety and Standards: Some certifications ensure that professionals meet safety or quality standards, which is crucial in regulated industries like construction or finance. 

To Accredit or Not to Accredit? 

Here are the benefits and drawbacks of seeking third-party accreditation for certificate or certification programs. 

Associations must weigh the benefits of enhanced credibility and recognition against the costs and effort involved. For some, accreditation is a strategic asset, while for others, it may not be necessary for their goals or resources.

Reasons to Become Accredited: 
  • Boosts Credibility 
    Accreditation provides third-party validation that a certification program meets industry standards, enhancing its trustworthiness among employers, professionals, and stakeholders. 
  • Competitive Advantage 
    Accredited programs stand out in the market, signaling high quality and reliability, which can attract more candidates and partners. 
  • Global Recognition 
    ANSI, for example, is internationally recognized, giving accredited programs wider recognition and increasing their appeal globally. 
  • Compliance and Risk Reduction 
    Accreditation ensures alignment with industry regulations and standards, minimizing legal or regulatory risks. 
  • Improves Reputation 
    Accredited programs reflect positively on the association, enhancing its reputation as a leader in the field. 
  • Stakeholder Confidence 
    Accreditation reassures candidates, employers, and partners that the certification is rigorous, secure, and follows best practices. 
  • Partnership and Funding Opportunities 
    Accredited programs may be eligible for partnerships, grants and other funding opportunities that non-accredited programs may not access. 
  • Continuous Improvement 
    The accreditation process encourages ongoing program evaluation and improvement, ensuring relevance and quality over time.
Reasons Not to Become Accredited: 
  • Cost 
    Accreditation can cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, both in upfront costs and ongoing fees, which may not be feasible for smaller organizations. 
  • Time-Consuming Process 
    Preparing for accreditation requires significant time and resources, from staff training to adjusting program structures, which may strain limited organizational capacity. 
  • Sufficient Market Position without Accreditation 
    Some associations already have a strong reputation or industry influence and may feel that accreditation wouldn’t significantly boost their standing. 
  • Complexity and (In)Flexibility 
    Accreditation demands adherence to specific standards, which can reduce flexibility in customizing or evolving the certification program. 
  • Lack of Regulatory Requirement 
    If accreditation is not required for the industry or doesn’t offer clear advantages in the marketplace, some associations may decide it’s not worth pursuing. 

The team at Ewald Consulting can help review your association’s situation and guide you to the solution that works best for you! Here are just two recent examples. 

When the Professional Development team at Ewald Consulting took over certification management for the National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals (NAPO), they faced a significant challenge: candidates lacked a formal preparatory course to help them succeed in the certification process. We assessed the need and guided development of a full-fledged preparatory course. After evaluating the gaps and opportunities, we recommended not only moving forward with a prep course — but also adding a practice examination to enhance candidate readiness. The newly developed prep course and practice exam have equipped candidates with the tools they need to succeed, further strengthening the certification program. 

When we first partnered with AmSECT, our team received numerous daily inquiries from candidates asking basic questions like exam schedules, requirements, application status, and renewal timelines. This detracted from the candidate experience. We assessed the process to identify areas for improvement, focusing on creating a more user-friendly system. We restructured AmSECT’s website to present key certification information more clearly, reducing the number of incoming questions. We also implemented automated confirmation and renewal reminder emails to ensure candidates are well-informed throughout the process. Candidates now experience greater clarity, convenience, and support, enhancing both the credibility of the certification and the satisfaction of those pursuing it. 

Contact us to learn how we can create a better experience for your members. 

ai-Professional-Development

Revolutionizing Content Creation: How AI Can Support Professional Development Programs 

, , ,

By Jessica Truhler, Director of Professional Development, Ewald Consulting 

Associations serve as invaluable hubs for knowledge exchange, networking and skill development within various industries. Central to their mission is the creation of high-quality content that educates, informs and engages members. However, the task of producing relevant and compelling content can be daunting, often requiring significant time, resources and expertise from already busy volunteers. Fortunately, with the addition of Artificial Intelligence (AI), associations can now harness cutting-edge technology to streamline content creation processes, enhance member experiences and drive value like never before. 

AI-Powered Content Generation 

AI offers associations a powerful ally in generating diverse and impactful content. By leveraging various algorithms, AI tools can analyze vast amounts of data — including industry reports, research articles and member feedback — to identify trends, topics of interest and emerging issues. This insight enables associations to create timely and relevant content that resonates with their audiences, whether that is articles, whitepapers, webinars and/or podcasts.  

For example, an association Ewald Consulting serves is hosting an in-person Summit event with a very specific theme. The team identified a challenge connecting the Summit theme to the organization’s overall professional development framework. What learning content could serve as a bridge between the professional development framework and this specialized Summit? We posed this question to an AI content-generating tool and designed a micro course on that specific topic. Not only did this serve as a bite-sized learning opportunity for curious members, but also a perfect marketing opportunity to showcase how that theme fits within the association profession. While AI helped with this project, humans ensured that the information generated would resonate with members and created the course. 

Moreover, AI can assist in content development by generating topic suggestions, headlines and even outlines based on predefined criteria and audience preferences. This not only accelerates the content creation process but also ensures that the produced materials align closely with the interests and needs of members. 

Conclusion 

In an increasingly digital and competitive landscape, associations must adapt and innovate to meet the evolving needs of their members. By harnessing AI, associations can transform their content creation efforts to deliver timely, relevant and personalized experiences that drive member engagement, satisfaction and professional growth. 

From generating insightful articles to curating personalized learning pathways and optimizing content performance, AI offers associations a wealth of opportunities to enhance their impact and value propositions. By embracing AI-powered content creation tools and strategies, associations can position themselves as indispensable partners in their members’ professional journey, driving lasting impact and success in an ever-changing world. We do need to maintain the human touch to verify information and create experiences that feel authentic to our members. 

patrick-perkins-ETRPjvb0KM0-unsplash

What Ewald Team Members Hope for in 2023

, ,

Happy New Year from all of us at Ewald Consulting! As we all enter 2023, it is important to reflect on the previous year and begin putting plans in place for the next. Our team has been thinking about what they want to accomplish. Here are some of the things we want to make happen in 2023:

 

My goal for 2023 is to help associations have a greater impact with storytelling through professional video and audio. Podcasts, live-streams and edited videos can help associations build greater value for their members.

-Michael McIntee, Director of Content Development and Management

 

In 2023, I hope to expand non-dues revenue through diverse professional development offerings, especially micro-content.

-Danial Davis, Professional Development Specialist

 

My hope is that as 2023 comes, associations will start to embrace the power of automation. There is so much room for automation of all kinds of tasks that it almost seems overwhelming. I am very excited to find new ways to automate tasks for our clients.

-Connor Lee, Technology Specialist

 

Over the last several months, I’ve been proposing ways for one of our clients to increase equity for international membership. In November, we received approval to develop a proposal to pilot an International Chapter. In 2023, I look forward to learning from other AEs of international associations to make the pilot a success. Another client’s chapters are interested in more creative ways they can engage; one chapter recently presented an innovative model of a new event style—I look forward to helping make that a model for other chapters in 2023.

-Veronica Croiser, Account Executive

 

My goal for the upcoming year is to better streamline operations for my clients. The easier their day-to-day experience is, the better—and that begins with mapping out our plans and processes. I believe this preparation sets our clients up for success, fulfillment, and growth, all of which we strive to achieve at Ewald.

– Kirsten Anderson, HR Coordinator and Events Coordinator

 

For my work with associations in 2023 I want to improve and update potentially outdated processes to create greater efficiency while providing members with content and resources that we are excited to produce and they are excited to attend!

– Melia Gelinas, Professional Development Coordinator

 

How can you make 2023 your best year yet? For more advice from our team, check out our podcast, Associations Next.

teemu-paananen-bzdhc5b3Bxs-unsplash

Associations Next: Get the Word Out

, , , ,

In this episode, we are joined by Lucas McCann, President, and CEO of Big Red M, an association management firm based out of Virginia. We will discuss sponsorship sales in a volatile environment and how you can make the most of your sponsors.

Takeaways:

  1. Sponsors are out there. Despite the disruption to live events, sponsors are ready to come back in person or in a virtual capacity. Many associations have expanded sponsorship options to include more virtual and hybrid events.
  2. Understand the sponsor’s value proposition as well as the members’ needs. Would each party work well for the other? It is important to consider what impacts, good or bad, could come from a sponsorship.
  3. Don’t be afraid to say no. If a sponsorship is not a good fit for your organization, it’s better in the long run to give a prospective sponsor feedback up front.
  4. Communicate well. Ask the sponsor after the event if they found it beneficial and ask your members the same. These questions will help you maintain relationships and potentially develop a fruitful partnership with your sponsor.

toa-heftiba-7--lTmTpDFA-unsplash

Efficient Leadership: 5 Ways to Take Care of Yourself

, ,

Your mental health is just like putting your own oxygen mask on before helping others. If you don’t take care of yourself, you will not be at your best for your organization. 

But, as life gets busier, and board roles get more demanding, it can become challenging to find the time and energy to do so. 

In this post, we will review how to prioritize your mental health so you are a better, more effective leader.

  1. Set healthy boundaries: You are used to being the first one in and the last one out, but it is crucial to your mental health that you set firm boundaries to limit how much you are thinking about your work on a day-to-day basis. Being able to manage thoughts can prevent burnout and build resilience. In practice, this may look like telling peers that you will be unable to respond to emails after 5 O’clock, explains WebMD. Setting boundaries does not make you a lazy leader, it makes you strong and more empathetic.
  2. Exercise empathy: Exercising empathy is not only crucial to treating your team with respect and kindness, it is also an important part of nurturing your own mental health. Demonstrating empathy fosters a sense of community in the workplace, showing others they belong and reaffirming that you belong there as well, says The Community Research Center.
  3. Have non-work goals: Your organization cannot be your only passion, explains Fast Company. Having goals outside of your position can ease the pressure of your work. Think about what you are passionate about. Do you want to run a marathon? Take cooking classes? Go on a backpacking trip? Foster your passions outside of work in order to fill your life with accomplishments more than just your position.
  4. Learn what helps you stay still: Thoughtful Leader explains that if you are not the first one to take care of yourself, no one will be. The article explains that you should take a step back when you are “too busy to leave.” It is particularly hard in the workplace to take a step back and take care of yourself, but it is crucial to practice stillness and peace for yourself. Just like sleeping after an active day, your mind needs time to reset and rest as well.
  5. Set an example: Fast Company explains that your actions are felt by those you lead. If your team sees you making a significant effort to take care of your own mental health, they will be much more likely to take care of their own. At the end of the day, your organization will thrive if those within it are taking care of themselves so they can show up and be their best.

May might be Mental Health Month but make a habit of prioritizing yourself year-round. It is crucial for you and your team to make this a habit to avoid burnout and tension within your organization. Take the time, breathe, and be the best you.

Arzu Alimohd & Katie Wallstein Earn Certified Association Executive Credential

, 0

St. Paul, Minnesota, June 28, 2021 — Ewald Consulting is proud to announce that Arzu Alimohd and Katie Wallstein have earned the Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation. The CAE is the highest professional credential in the association industry.

To be designated as a Certified Association Executive, an applicant must have experience with nonprofit organization management, complete a minimum of 100 hours of specialized professional development, pass a stringent examination in association management and pledge to uphold a code of ethics. To maintain the certification, individuals must undertake ongoing professional development and activities in association and nonprofit management. More than 4,700 association professionals currently hold the CAE credential. The CAE Program is accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA).

Arzu and Katie join eight other staff members within the company who have earned the CAE.

Goals

Associations Next: Setting Professional Development Goals

, , 0

In this episode, we got to sit down and discuss setting professional development goals with our Vice President of Human Resources and Staff Development, Becca Pryse.

Takeaways:

  1. Setting professional development goals with your staff shows your dedication to your employees’ long-term career goals by helping them engage in what they are curious about. By helping your employees become the best version of themselves, you are also helping your clients receive the best service.
  2. Measuring the progress of professional development goals is crucial. Becca explains that she does all she can to make sure goals are reached through positive reinforcement.
  3. Motivate. Motivate. Becca explained that sometimes she will help employees set higher goals because she knows they can accomplish more than they think. Be your teammates’ biggest cheerleader.

Listen to the episode: Setting Professional Development Goals

Professional Development

Professional Development Goals for Managers

0

In recent posts, we explored the ins and outs of professional development. We discussed how you can support employees’ career goals, examples of professional development goals, and professional development platforms. But how can you become the best version of yourself as a manager?

In this post, we will go over some examples of professional development goals for leaders. While these examples focus on employees, they also translate well to leaders who are working with volunteers.

Vital learning explains that managers should have six key goals:

  • Enhance communication: great communication skills can turn a manager into a coach and a mentor. Learn how to give productive criticism and lift up your employees.
  • Develop coaching skills: as Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone said, we all do better when we all do better. No one comes into an organization knowing all of its ins and outs. Your job as a manager is to make your team better and more united.
  • Work on motivating: positive reinforcement builds trust between you and your employees and it makes criticism more digestible when they know you appreciate them.
  • Be more productive: “Leading from behind” is a crucial practice that shows you are with them. Set a good example by being efficient and demonstrating care in your work, and when your employees need help, lend a hand.
  • Be more flexible: As a manager, your focus should be on supporting your employees. It is important that you are adapting to their needs and the organization’s needs in order to have a productive, unified team.
  • Improve retention: By leading from behind and working to motivate employees, you will improve your retention rate. Continuously work to be a boss your employees want to work for.

Think through which of these goals may help you become a better manager and put them into action. In a previous post, we discussed how to set a professional development goal. The Education Service Center of Lake Erie West laid out a framework (PDF) to properly set what they call IPDP (Individual Professional Development Plan). This includes:

  1. An area of focus. What do you want to accomplish?
  2. An action. What action will you take to get there?
  3. Why? Why do you want to achieve this goal?

In your case, a goal like this may look something like this:

I want to learn how to give more positive reinforcement so that I can build trust between my employees and me.

According to Indeed, setting goals for yourself shows your team the importance of developing their own goals. Professional development goals also help define the values of your organization. If you take the time to set some professional development goals, you will become an even better manager than you were before.

Hands on Computer

The Best Virtual Professional Development Platforms

, 0

You have likely settled into a new “normal.” Whether that be working from home or getting used to meeting clients on Zoom rather than in person, it seems that these changes are around for the long haul.

With increased time online, many have taken advantage of the boundless resources available online. Employees have been able to use their time to learn more about their professions and industries.

With so many options available online, it can seem daunting to narrow down these platforms. Read on for a rundown of some of the most popular online professional development platforms:

LinkedIn Learning
Powered by the professional social platform, LinkedIn Learning offers a wide variety of short and long courses such as tutorials on Excel and filmmaking.

This platform is a great resource for employees. For example, if an employee needs to edit a video but does not have experience in editing, LinkedIn Learning offers a 3-hour course on how to use iMovie.

Individuals can subscribe to LinkedIn Learning for $30 a month or $300 a year. There are also plans for teams and companies available at an undisclosed price.

Coursera
Coursera offers longer courses where you can earn certificates in things like applied project management, according to a blog post on Zapier. These courses are offered by various universities or organizations, meaning you can earn certificates from Yale or many other highly respected organizations.

While many courses are offered for a fee, quite a few can be audited for free.

edX
Zapier explains that edX can fly under the radar because it lacks the technological flash that many of its competitors have. However, it makes up in content as many of the instructors are revered professors from Harvard or higher-ups at major companies like Microsoft.

Alison
Alison also utilizes the knowledge of experts to teach its users. The company believes in the open use of information, meaning most of its courses are completely free with a small price tag to get a certificate if you choose to obtain one.

Udacity
Udacity partners with companies like Google to provide new and relevant topics. Some of the courses are free, but many need to be purchased.

The “nanodegree” program provides users very specific coursework. Udacity then can connect graduates with industry partners who tend to hire these graduates.

These are just a few of many learning platforms available online. If you are interested in learning more, Adam Enfroy’s blog has a comprehensive list of these platforms and what they do.

To learn more, check out our podcast, Associations Next on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Load More

Let's Get Started!
Loading...