All organizations have a mission statement – a statement of purpose, a core focus, a reason it exists. It is this strategic vision that provides the member incentive to join and is the commitment your association makes to your membership.
UNDERSTAND YOUR MISSION STATEMENT
- Take a look at your mission statement. Within it you’ll likely find:
- A definition of your target audience (your members and prospective members)
- Your contribution to this audience (your ‘promise’)
- What makes your organization unique
Some statements are formally written while others are not, they may be simple or more complex, but what they all share is a promise to deliver. It’s your ability to deliver on that promise which ultimately determines your success especially when it comes to member satisfaction and engagement.
Benchmarking studies are a clear way to deliver on your mission statement. They provide your membership with data they can’t find anywhere else. But the benefits of benchmarking don't end there. Just as your members use benchmarking to improve their performance, as an association you can also use the knowledge derived from these studies to better deliver on your mission.
For example, the Outpatient Ophthalmic Surgery Society (OOSS) outlines four "pillars" or "mission goals" for its organization, each of which is supported and enhanced through benchmarking. OOSS uses its benchmarking study to demonstrate its commitment to innovation, provide data for advocacy and intelligence for the entire industry; and to drive educational initiatives.
UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU CAN MEASURE AND FOR WHOM
Organizations like the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) are an excellent example of using benchmarking to meet the unique needs of different member segments. AAMI conducts three different studies, each targeting the needs of a distinct subset of their membership. They offer a study that enables sterile processing professionals in hospitals to benchmark their procedures, policies, and processes against other departments of comparable size, location, and hospital type. Another study is geared toward the needs of their healthcare technology management segment, and the third serves quality systems and regulatory affairs professionals working for medical device manufacturers.
All three platforms feature online surveys that include qualitative and quantitative questions by subject area covering issues such as regulations, budgets, procedures, and a number of other issues; and an easy-to-use section to analyze results. These highly targeted studies were met with great feedback from AAMI members.
“In survey after survey, all segments of our membership said they wanted access to benchmarking data so they could compare themselves against others, learn from each other, and see where they perform particularly well and where they need to improve,” states Steve Campbell, Chief Operating Officer of AAMI. “Now, they have that resource and we, with the help of Dynamic Benchmarking, delivered it, meeting a substantial need of our membership.”
TARGET, ANTICIPATE AND DIFFERENTIATE
Benchmarking surveys are an excellent way to deliver on your mission statement’s promise and increase the satisfaction, engagement and retention of your members. You can use the data collected to anticipate trends and needs in industry and structure your organization and its offerings to meet the needs and interests of members and prospective members. Benchmarking data combined with your knowledge of the industry can help to create meaningful experiences targeted toward select groups of members rather than producing generic, run-of-the-mill programs that could easily be offered by another organization.
By targeting the needs that are unique to your membership, you provide valuable benefits that they likely will not find elsewhere and cement your place as a valuable partner in the success of each of your members’ businesses.
