An organization is only as good as its people. This is also true for associations that, not only employ staff, but also attract volunteers for it to promote its work and advocacies. As a chief executive of an association, I embody the aspirations of my staff and volunteers. I call it by its acronym, “IF U CARE”, and here is what
it stands for:
“I” is for initiative. I always value initiative as an essential trait of a fellow worker. Having initiative is doing one’s work beyond the call of duty, in fact, working extra without being told or asked to. The aim is to always constantly improve on the status quo. Initiative also equates to resourcefulness that spawns innovation within the organization.
“F” is for feedback. It is difficult to manage an organization without a feedback culture, which refers to the staff’s conscious effort to let their supervisor know the status of their assigned job. This communication channel allows for better interaction and engagement among everyone in the workplace.
“U” is for utility of ideas. Creativity and invention are the ultimate results of the sharing of ideas in the workplace. I aspire that each staff must be open to and ready to offer new and fresh ideas to improve productivity and excellence in service, especially in the case of associations where service is paramount to its very existence.
“C” is for concentration. Focus on the organization’s vision and mission and concentrate on how to fulfill them.
Without persistence and the passion to deliver results, your association will be like a ship without a sail that wanders aimlessly in the ocean of uncertainty. Doing one’s job doggedly with the goal of continuous improvement is certainly a “must” behavior of a staff.
“A” is for accountability. While everyone has the responsibility and the authority for their respective roles in the organization, there is a need for being accountable for their actions. Accountability means being responsive to the tasks at hand and being sensitive to the implications that may occur in their performance.Being accountable, however, does not mean to suffer from consequences of their actions, but to be aware that it is always better to prevent a miscue before it happens.
“R” is for reliability. Being there when needed and being able to lend a helping hand always is what reliability connotes. The essence of timeliness and orderliness also comes to mind. When you have no sense of time and order, you cannot fulfill what is expected of you to undertake at very crucial moments of the organization’s day-to-day operation.
“E” is for ethical behavior. Habit builds character and character builds ethical behavior. As they say, you cannot put a good person down. Such is the case in organizations made up of people. Ethics is one’s passport to credibility and credibility is the association’s asset to sustainability.
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The column contributor, Octavio Peralta, is concurrently the secretary-general of the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP) and the president of the Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives (PCAAE). The mission of PCAAE—the “association of associations”—is to advance and sustain the work and advocacies of associations and other membership organizations, set industry standards and policy guidelines for associations, and help further professionalize their ranks.
PCAAE is holding the Associations Summit 4 (AS4) on November 23 and 24 at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), which is expected to draw over 200 association professionals here and abroad. The two-day event is supported by ADFIAP, the Tourism Promotions Board and the PICC.
E-mail inquiries@adfiap.org for more details on AS4.