National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA)

National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA)
3 Bethesda Metro Center
Suite 1100
Bethesda, MD 20814-6304
301-657-3110
[www.necanet.org]
Contact: John M. Grau, Chief Executive Officer

CEO: John M. Grau
Budget: $10 - 24.9 Million
Staff Size: 51 - 100

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 National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) is governed by a Board of Directors elected annually by its local chapters. Its membership is comprised of electrical contracting companies. NECA has over 4,500 member companies nationwide.

The Challenge | The Solution | The Process | Unintended Consequences | Measurements & Results | Lessons Learned

The Challenge

How to develop strong chapter managers?

Founded 100 years ago, NECA has 118 chapters with full-time staff throughout the United States. According to the national by-laws, each chapter must be staffed with a full-time professional manger. Even though the association had served its members well throughout the years, the membership often had no idea about what strengths to look for in chapter managers and/or staff.

Due to retirement and routine turnover, chapter manager vacancies must be filled quickly, and local members are often at a loss to recruit talented association managers. Because the chapter manager position requires experience in labor relations, local board members have routinely turned to local union leaders to fill these positions. However, these individuals usually had little or no management or association experience, and were unaccustomed to managing boards and committees. How could the national association help to develop chapter leaders and staff members with strong association management skills?

The Solution

Create and support an association management training program to develop quality chapter managers nationwide.

To meet member needs for highly qualified chapter managers and staff, NECA decided to embark on a sophisticated recruiting effort, managed by the national association headquartered in Bethesda, MD. A national training program emerged, which focuses on recruiting and training young association professionals at the national headquarters. After spending several months at NECA learning how to manage a wide variety of association operations, graduates are sent to assume chapter leadership positions nationwide, as needed.

The Process

"Quality association management at the local level."

NECA's Staff Associate Program involves the following steps:

• Recruitment and testing
• Orientation and training at NECA
• Headquarters
• Training at regional offices
• Placement with national chapters on an as needed basis

There are no specific entry requirements for the NECA Staff Associate Program aside from the following:

• College degree in business, electrical engineering or a related discipline
• Good grades
• Cultural fit based on interview and testing

The association strives to recruit strong generalists with a college degree and several years of business experience. The program costs NECA roughly $150,000 per year to cover training, salaries and benefits, travel and other related expenses.

Recruitment and Testing
NECA uses an interview process based on industrial psychology to determine the fittest candidates for the program. NECA retained Dr. Lanny Molbauer, a Washington, D.C. based consultant, to interview candidates, ensuring to the extent possible, that there is a good match between the profession and the prospective applicant.

NECA uses various sources to bring a qualified pool of likely candidates into the program, including recruiting companies and most importantly, "word-of-mouth" efforts. The association budgets for 2-4 staff associates at any one time and usually hires between 3-7 associates annually.

Orientation
The first few weeks are spent at NECA headquarters. During this time, new staff associates meet with department heads and become familiar with the industry, by-laws and structure of the association. Associates work closely with staff to gain a multidisciplinary and practical understanding of how various programs are managed. The goal being that programs graduates will eventually replicate these programs at the chapter level.

Training at Regional Offices
Next, staff associates are sent to one of four field offices around the country to work with the respective regional Executive Directors. They learn by observing and doing, accompanying field staff on assignments, such as chapter market surveys, etc. By working closely with the regional managers, staff associates gain extensive practical experience with chapter duties. NECA has regional offices located in the following cities:

• Syracuse (East)
• New Orleans (South)
• Chicago (Midwest)
• San Francisco (West)

Placement with National Chapters
The average NECA chapter has 30 members, and numbers range anywhere from 5-200 members. Once staff associates have completed both the headquarters and regional office phases of their training, they become available for hire by chapters as needed. Since each chapter is an autonomous entity, the national association does not place candidates directly. NECA's commitment to each associate is this: NECA will keep you on the national staff until a job opens up. In exchange, NECA expects flexibility to uproot when an opening becomes available.

NECA's chapter management responsibilities include:

• Representing employers in negotiating collective bargaining agreements
• Handling grievances and other disputes between labor and management
• Administering funds included in the labor contracts.
• Government relations
• Advocacy on behalf of electrical contractors
• Recruitment of electrical contracting companies to join NECA as members
• Market research and statistical analysis
• Recruitment for local worker training programs
• Public relations
• Managing chapter business affairs
  

Unintended Consequences
Given the shortage of skilled entry-level managers nationwide, the most difficult aspects of running the Staff Associate Program are:

• Finding candidates
• Recruiting the right type of candidate
• Managing the uncertainty inherent in filling positions that open up on an ad hoc basis

Staff associates can serve anywhere from six months to two years at the regional offices before taking on a chapter management assignment. While the program is geared to attract young individuals who show maximum flexibility with respect to relocation as an appropriate opportunity develops, there is still some anxiety about the uncertainty inherent in the chapter recruitment process.

Measurements & Results

Over the years, NECA has trained 150 staff associates, including current CEO John Grau, several of his top staff members, and many other leaders who have remained with the chapters or moved to pursue careers in contracting and association management. When NECA began the Staff Associate Program began thirty years ago, training was conducted in a more formal classroom setting. Today, the program is much more "hands on", integrating practical experience in every area of association management in which a typical chapter manager would require proficiency.

Success measures include:

• Strong chapter service levels
• Adequate staffing to meet member needs.
• High retention -- associates stay in association management or with local chapters

According to Grau, as a result of the program, NECA's chapters can draw on a "uniquely trained pool of talent -- exactly when they need it.

Lessons Learned

Although the Staff Associate Program requires a substantial annual investment by the national association, which many smaller organizations may not be able to replicate, NECA has succeeded in developing a model for growing highly skilled chapter managers to benefit its affiliates nationwide.

By establishing strong, open lines of communication among the national association, regional and local affiliates, NECA has established a track record of trust and credibility with these autonomous groups. As a result, they are able to draw on a talented pool of manager candidates who know the industry, know the association, and can help affiliates to leverage NECA's strongest national programs at the local level.