What will associations look like post-pandemic? That’s the heart of what we asked hundreds of senior association leaders in the State of Association Workplaces Post-Pandemic Survey. The answers provide Association leaders the unprecedented opportunity to learn from their forced work from home (WFH) experiment. They can now intentionally carve out a future workforce structure that equally serves their mission, members, and employees.
Here’s what we learned
What began essentially as a two-week WFH experiment has evolved into a flexible, WFH revolution. The proof?
- 96% of associations plan to include remote work into their future workforce model.
- 79% of associations are planning on/considering a hybrid or fully remote workforce.
- 80% of associations that experienced any level of net income decrease – as well as 97% of associations that experienced any level of net income increase – plan to adopt a more remote-centric workforce model.
- 65% of associations added or updated their remote work plans in the last year.
- Less than 1% of respondents plan to purchase additional office space.
As they say “What got you here, won’t get you there.” Leading organizations will learn from their experiences over the past 18 months, and will evolve their organizations to meet post-pandemic demands. As they re-evaluate their old “Work from Office” approach, association leaders will need to intentionally devise a sustainable remote-centric workforce model for the future.
Key findings
Achurch Consulting and Association TRENDS partnered on the State of Association Workplaces Post-Pandemic report to pinpoint the complications involved in a thoughtful workforce model redesign. Our insights, derived from years of experience, illuminate a path forward for association leaders in their decision making. By adopting and applying the Key Insights detailed in the report, associations can design their own intentional workplace that is dynamic, flexible, and built to sustain their success into the future.
In particular, we found that in order to thrive, associations and their leaders will need to:
- Address concerns regarding communication and the impacts to organizational culture in a hybrid environment.
- Re-assess policies around where work takes place to understand how far they are willing to stretch the meaning of WFH.
- Consider how their current systems enable collaboration and efficiency.
- Shift their mindset from “directing employees,” to “accessing talent.”
To learn more about post-pandemic association challenges, solutions, and insights on a remote-centric path forward click here.