Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Join Your Industry Association ... NOW!

Today I spent a good portion of my time in an Industry Association board meeting, tomorrow I will do the same and for the next three days I will be attending our annual conference. Our industry association is called ACSESS (Association of Canadian Search Employment and Staffing Services). Our website has information about the association and about the content of our conference.

I choose to be active in the association because I believe in the work it does (a) to support all companies in our industry and (b) to help our industry continue to grow and evolve as times change. The staffing industry has a huge role to play in the economy, allowing companies access to the resources they need to compete in a global market and with the added demographic pressures added by the boomers retiring.

Whenever I am particularly active in these activities I am reminded that not ALL companies support their associations the way that they should.

Here are a couple of previous blog entries that talk on this subject ...

From September 2006 ... Be Passionate for Your Industry Association.
From December 2006 ... Staffing Industry Leadership.
From October 2007 ... A Trip to the Industry Association Board Meeting.

This entry is really a reminder to any company that is not paying its dues to an industry association ... stop freeloading and start paying! That is the minimum acceptable behaviour of any company ... but better still, get involved and donate time to make a difference for you industry.