| Plexus Consulting Group | Success Stories | ||
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Association of Outplacement Consulting Firms |
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Situation The Association of Outplacement Consulting Firms (AOCF) found itself increasingly troubled by its membership growth patterns. While the bulk of its members were in the United States, its membership growth had leveled off in that market. At the same time it had proved only marginally successful in bringing in new members from Europe where the outplacement profession was experiencing strong growth. The European outplacement industry in fact was rapidly approaching the U.S. in size, but European firms were reluctant to join the AOCF, which they saw as an American organization. They preferred to belong to the European Association of Outplacement (EAO) which they believed was more attuned to their interests and needs. Action Plexus devised a two-part plan of action, first, to address the perception of the AOCF as an American organization, then, second, to explore how the AOCF might play a more active role in Europe. Although the AOCF had non-Americans on its board of directors almost its entire budget as well as the time and efforts of its staff were being spent on U.S. activities. Furthermore, its bylaws did not reflect the international growth of the outplacement industry in that they made no provision to recognize national needs other than U.S. as the association’s membership grew to include firms from other countries. After organizing a series of brainstorming sessions for the AOCF board and general membership a consensus was developed that the association should represent the needs of the profession, regardless of nationality. Practically this meant that while individual, national needs should continue to be addressed, the association should seek to expand its reach to every world market where the outplacement profession has begun to take root. Consequently, it was decided the Association’s name and bylaws should demonstrate that it is worldwide in scope, that it encourages the formation of national and regional chapters, and that its international board of directors should be representative of the geographic diversity of the membership. With these changes the AOCF became AOCF International (or AOCFI). Plexus incorporated AOCFI in Brussels as a European regional organization responsible for developing a program of activity especially designed for European outplacement firms. Furthermore we reinitiated discussions with the EAO. The EAO had earlier expressed interest in forming an alliance with the AOCF but on its own terms. The EAO, for example, did not wish to allow for universal professional codes of standards and ethics--codes which lay at the heart of why the AOCF had been formed in the first place. However, now that the AOCFI had established its European presence through the offices of Plexus’ affiliate in Brussels and mounted an aggressive program of activities designed to address the needs of European outplacement firms, the EAO recognized the need to merge on AOCFI’s terms. Results AOCFI membership increased in two steps over a two and one half-year period. First, U.S. membership increased by twenty percent as firms perceived that the AOCFI had taken on a new dynamism. Then with the merger with the EAO, the AOCFI’s worldwide membership increased by another sixty percent. AOCFI budgets also increased, allowing the Association to be far more active on behalf of its membership in both Europe and the United States. |
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