International Sleep Products Association (ISPA)

International Sleep Products Association (ISPA)
501 Wythe Street
Alexandria, VA 22314-1917
703-683-8371
[www.sleepproducts.org]
Contact: Russell Abolt

CEO: Russell Abolt
Budget: $2.5 - 4.9 Million
Staff Size: 11-20

Plexus Consulting Group, LLC
1620 Eye Street, NW
Suite 210
Washington, DC 20006
Phone:  202-785-8940
Fax:      202-785-8949
Email:   info@plexusconsulting.com

Vital Stats:

The International Sleep Products Association (ISPA) represents 650+ member companies (small and large manufacturers and suppliers) in over 40 countries worldwide. Of ISPA's manufacturer members, 35 percent are members of licensing groups; 29 percent are independent operations; 22 percent are factory-directs, who both manufacture and sell their product; and 14 percent are wholly owned by national producers. The association membership also includes affiliated companies who supply materials to the bedding industry. ISPA is governed by a 23-member Board of Trustees. All ISPA committees and task forces are led by volunteers from the member companies.

The Challenge | The Solution | The Processs | Unforseen Benefits||Measurements & Results | Lessons Learned

The Challenge

How to encourage the continued participation of high-level volunteers, which is vital to ISPA's effectiveness as a trade association?

Like other associations, ISPA faces the continual challenge of engaging high-level volunteers who are increasingly pressured by time and resource constraints. The active participation of core industry volunteers is essential to ISPA's viability as a trade association. How can an association optimize volunteer participation?

The Solution

ISPA developed and implemented a successful workplace model of mutual support and accountability.

The core of ISPA's management philosophy is to nurture professional accountability on the individual and group level to tap "endless opportunities for growth". ISPA's new workplace model of mutual support and accountability is proactive and driven by ISPA's ambition to achieve the full potential of a professional organization and all its people. The foundation was set 33 years ago when Russ Abolt joined ISPA to implement his vision of a workplace where professional growth and development receive more than just lip service.

Key elements of the governance and workplace model:

• Community is key
• Radical accountability
• Re-inventing committees
• Building community from the inside-out

Community is Key
ISPA's highly competitive constituents are focused on promoting individual enterprises rather than the larger picture. By implementing an innovative governance and workplace model, ISPA has become the industry's primary change agent, helping members to focus on more broad-based product and business categories to transcend their competitive fears and individual limitations. By taking an active role in governance and leadership to "build a global bedding community", ISPA's managers have been empowered to establish cohesive working relationships among both manufacturing and associate (supplier) members, bringing manufacturers and suppliers together to boost productivity and to fulfill their collective possibilities.

To keep members "in the loop" ISPA sends a weekly broadcast fax entitled Tuesday Morning ? at ISPA to ensure that members are informed about all critical association developments. "You have to start at A and not wait until Z to tell someone about it." Expectations, processes and efforts are communicated to members and "action items" are included to monitor member interest and generate feedback. For the past 3-4 years, member awareness has increased dramatically along with a perception of added value driven by the association's professionalism and pro-active engagement.

Radical Accountability
By taking a position of radical accountability in partnering with the Board, ISPA has been able to forge a strong partnership between staff and volunteers. Both the CEO and Treasurer subjected themselves to annual votes of confidence. This in turn has created a level of trust that enables the highly staff-driven organization to optimally leverage its industry knowledge and proactively lead the industry in bold, new approaches to a highly competitive marketplace.

Re-Inventing Committees
To create relevant opportunities for the industry, ISPA has created exclusively issue and task-oriented committees. Even the few standing committees, such as those on finance and manufacturing, have no regular schedule and operate only to address a very specific purpose. Every department is contribution and value-oriented and organized for very practical reasons.

Building Community from the Inside Out
To sustain its community-oriented value proposition to members, ISPA's management perpetuates a staff culture based on mutual community building. During a brainstorming session devoted to discussing the organization's brand, ISPA managers developed a Staff Credo, a set of core values that drives everything ISPA does, eliminates unrealistic expectations and forces everyone to "think outside the box."

The Process

"It is very personal. There are no 'heroes' and we are not competing against one another."

ISPA's workplace model is based on Russ Abolt's personal vision. It is based on the critical awareness that the culture doesn't exist without the individual. The key element of ISPA's success is to subordinate personal egos and acknowledge the interdependence of staff with regard to one another. Transparency is vital.

Here's how ISPA implements this vision in three core operational areas:

• Insists on inclusive management
• Promotes accountability through technology
• Provides incentives for human resource development

Inclusive Management
ISPA's inclusive management strategy rests on the following tactical pillars:

• Management meeting
• Staff briefings
• Quarterly Executive Committee meetings with ISPA staff
• Encourage cross-disciplinary staff participation

ISPA management goes the extra mile to ensure that all staff remain "in the loop" and that no one, from the receptionist to the administrative assistant, is left wondering "what is going on." Everyone is aware of what is happening in the building; there are no secrets. There is a "real openness" in an environment where staff members are free to contribute their ideas and talents to cross-disciplinary activities - - and everyone benefits.

Accountability through Technology
E-mail has contributed significantly to ISPA's transparent culture, and group itinerary software is used to ensure that staff and management are accountable to one another in disclosing their mutual schedules. However, there is a widespread recognition that e-mail is not a substitute for relationship building and ISPA's policy is to use the tool strictly for factual communication rather than "issues-based" discussion.

Incentives for Human Resource Development
Staff incentives are also critical to the success of ISPA's New Workplace. Efficiency is not rewarded, it is expected. Rewards are given for "pushing the boundaries of business development." Whether in the areas of membership cultivation, retention, or exhibits and sales, everyone has a stake in the outcome and shares in the benefits. Everyone from the receptionist to the CEO is formally recognized for making contributions to business development. For the past three years, everyone has received a bonus whenever the 90% member retention goal was reached. New staff people are shocked. "They cry."

Unforseen Benefits

The unintended benefits of ISPA's organization model include:

• Members recognize that the human dynamics fostered at ISPA guarantee exceptional service
• 
  Members are highly protective of ISPA staff and their time
• 
  Member loyalty is so strong that for-profit competition is not viewed as a threat
• 
  Strong association community is confident of prevailing vis-?-vis for profit competitors

Staff Empowerment for Bottom-Line Results
"The opportunities and possibilities that we bring to the membership and leadership are eye-opening, but we don't just bring them things that are easy." In this very competitive consumer products industry, it is difficult to build consensus and members cannot always identify common ground to tap possibilities of cooperation. ISPA staff routinely challenge members to "see the forest for the trees" even if an opportunity involves changing the way they do business. At first, this made members extremely uncomfortable. However, ultimately they have come to recognize that this is necessary to ensure the industry's future profitability and growth. ISPA staff members are very much engaged in "shaping things." For example, ISPA staff are empowered to create unprecedented collaborative initiatives between members and the non-member retail segment of the sleep products industry

Managing Community Expertise
While no formal joint ventures have been created to date, ISPA's openness to collaborating with for-profit Internet portals underscores the organization's confidence. Although for-profit portals can provide a wide variety of perspectives to members, they lack the industry knowledge and experience embodied within the association. Surveys show that members keep coming back for this. ISPA's role in the sleep products industry is to manage the community's expertise by constantly recreating and redefining how it works with constituents.

Measurments and Results

"It's not magic what we do here."

An immediate past Board Chairman and Wharton MBA commented, "You're breaking all the rules and yet you're getting results. How?" The answer was that ISPA employees were not his staff, but his partners. "We don't have stock options. Our investment is very different but equal." Everyone at ISPA feels engaged in a "viable and exciting" enterprise, and can readily tell the difference between being recognized as a full partner or just "staff." There is a prevailing sense of pride in being engaged in building a business. "We have a different role in the industry community but it has no less value." The model is working. Next year's incoming Chairman heads the nation's largest sleep products manufacturer.

ISPA employs feedback and rating systems to measure:

• Financial objectives
• Conference success
• Member retention:
  • 85 percent for suppliers
  • 90 percent for end product manufacturers

In the area of meetings and conferences, for example, all events are rated on a 1-6 scale, with 1 being worst and 6 being best. ISPA strives to achieve a 5 on all of its events, and ratings are completed on both an overall and individual staff performance basis. However, inclusion is the key here as well. The management team and the staff members determine ISPA's goals and metrics.

Lessons Learned

1. Assuming a leadership role is vital to success.
2. There is no better way to demonstrate leadership than by sharing in the risks as well as rewards of serving the industry.
3. Empowerment comes down to self-empowerment and this is the biggest challenge.
4. Communication is essential.
5. Continuity on the professional team is critically important.
6. Autonomy and freedom allow for maximum personal growth and everyone benefits.
7. "The trade show people and magazine people are interdependent - - these are not two different worlds!"
8. The "heart" issues matter - - it's all about feelings.

While quantifiable measures such as membership and financial statistics are critical, communication is even more vital. No projects or programs are embarked upon without clear articulation of expectations and goals. Interdependence is critical, and communication regarding outcomes and measurement tools is vital. ISPA management and staff are diligent about shaping and articulating their mutual expectations.

Ultimately, for all the talk about the brave new economy, ISPA's management and staff operate on the conviction that success "will always come down to these basics: a strong spiritual and character base, and the care and feeding of ourselves and each other as a functional team, ambitious for the people we serve."