Business success through professional associations: Why employers must care

By Sharon Graham.

The Canadian Council for Career Development (CCCD) is the hub for our Canadian associations. As our national advocacy voice, it promotes quality service, training, and certification for organizations and professionals who work in our field.

Career Professionals of Canada (CPC) and other provincial associations have instituted the Canadian Standards & Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners (S&Gs) within our infrastructure. But compliance to the standards is just the tip of the iceberg. For an organization’s corporate ethics, integrity, and culture to be truly instituted, it needs to walk the talk. However, it is unfortunate that some employers in our field still do not realize the benefits of association membership to their business, to their employees, and to their clients.

All too often, practitioners claim expert knowledge. When they support clients, consultants profess to know what they are doing. They assert that they know something they have never experienced themselves. How can they really know what they are doing if they are not involved in actively learning the current theory and practices? To do well, they must infuse themselves in the process of knowledge building.

The work of Career Development is important work. Employees in this line of work create positive change not only for their clients, but for the Canadian labour market as a whole.

The most prolific and respected employers in our field are also the ones who ensure that their staff have current professional qualifications. The owners and managers of these organizations typically have a reputation for empowering their employees with the tools, connections, and resources that they need. In return, the organization thrives because it fosters stronger business alliances and increased income from funding and referrals.

By involving employees in professional associations, the employer benefits. The organization will raise their profile, promote their services, get connected with influential people in the field, and receive discounts to various industry events. Clients also benefit when employees have a place to get help from those who share business challenges.

There is another reason why it is crucial that employees get involved in an association. This is how they learn social networking, social media, resume writing, career development theory, and ethical standards. The only way they can say, with integrity, that they know something is by experiencing it themselves. By practicing what they preach, your employees will become better than they are today — and your organization will provide more meaningful services and better outcomes.

Does your organization still need to be convinced to invest in membership? Every association offers different benefits, but here is a shortlist of how an employer can benefit from a membership to Career Professionals of Canada:

• Provide better client service through ongoing professional development.
• Enhance the quality of your front-line staff by taking advantage of mentoring.
• Address day-to-day challenges more effectively by chatting online with colleagues.
• Keep current on labour market issues and trends through regional meet-ups.
• Get funding approved by showing that your employees are credentialed and certified.
• Increase referral business by having your career services in the directory.
• Raise your visibility by being nominated and winning industry awards.
• Enhance your business performance by keeping up with technologies and techniques.
• Attract more qualified employment and career consultants by requiring certification.
• Retain your staff by offering association membership as part of your compensation package.
• Eliminate employee turnover by ensuring that they have valuable benefits.
• Mitigate your exposure and risk by accessing discounts on liability insurance.

Top-performing companies understand that properly training employees leads to direct, measurable bottom-line benefits. Read about all the various CPC Programs and all our upcoming CPC Events. Then enroll your employees to take advantage of all the benefits of CPC Membership.