On October 15, the APA’s Chapter Relations department hosted an online #APAChapters chat to give chapter leaders an opportunity to network remotely and discuss chapter leadership strategies. Regional Advisors Ansleigh Smith, CPP and Karen Settembrino, CPP led the hour-long conversation and shared their insight and suggestions based on their experiences. See excerpts of their responses to each question below:
Q1. How do you recruit new chapter leaders?
Smith: We recruit new chapter leaders from our study groups. Many are excited to give back after we help them on their payroll certification journey.
Settembrino: Working with membership to make them understand the importance of supporting the chapter and to also get involved in leading the chapter.
Q2. What is your knowledge transfer process for new chapter leaders?
Smith: We hold a transition meeting for new/old officers to discuss roles and tasks. We have written procedures/timelines for tasks for some positions that we share with the incoming officer who will be responsible for them, like the Form 990, planning events, and managing tasks on the website. Our outgoing officers are also available to the new incumbent to assist with any questions via phone, text, email or at meetings.
Settembrino: Having an overlap with the outgoing and income leaders helps the new person in understanding their role and responsibilities.
Q3. How do your chapter leaders mentor members for future leadership roles?
Smith: We mentor our future President by having them serve as President Elect for two years. The President copies the President Elect on email inquiries received and on other emails sent on various issues so they will have those as a template reference for when they become President. Current officers build relationships with members during activities such as meetings and study group and encourage those that express an interest in serving as an officer.
Settembrino: By recruiting those people showing interest and working side by side with them during the ramp up time.
Q4. How frequently do your chapter leaders meet to discuss upcoming chapter events or operations?
Smith: Our chapter officers meet at least once a quarter to discuss upcoming events and operations. We stay in touch often with emails and conference calls, especially as the event date draws near to finalize plans, ensure tasks are being completed, and to debrief on lessons learned after an event.
Q5. What tools do you use to communicate with your Chapter Board and members?
Smith: We use email, text, Zoom, and social media to communicate with our board and members. We have used Slack as well for chapter officers in the past. Our chapter website and newsletter are other great tools to stay in touch with our members.
Settembrino: Emails, website announcements, social media (Twitter, Facebook), and virtual meetings.
Q6. Do you have chapter bylaws or another document which details each chapter leadership role and their responsibilities? Is this information available for all members to view?
Smith: Our chapter bylaws are posted on our website for chapter leaders and members to view. On our website we also list our committees and the role of the members of that committee.
Settembrino: Chapter bylaws should be centrally available to review for all chapter leaders.
Q7. Do you network with other chapter leaders in your state, region, or other regions?
Smith: We do network with other chapter leaders as we all have experiences we can share to learn from.
Recently, I reached out to a few chapters to talk to them about their experience with virtual study groups as we had not offered that type of study group before and given the pandemic it was something we wanted to offer.
Settembrino: Peer to peer conversations are important to understand how successes are achieved and how to avoid the pitfalls of failure.
Q8. How do you utilize chapter committees to engage your members and increase participation?
Smith: Our committees reach out to members to encourage participation via volunteering for charity events, serving as a study group instructor or helping to greet members at our meetings. Our newsletter committee includes articles about our upcoming or past activities, including requesting personal stories from members regarding their activities within the chapter. All the different committees increase member participation by making an activity seem fun, exciting and not so scary. It really gets members thinking “hey, I can do that too!”
Settembrino: Giving people the opportunity to vary their participation within the chapter.
Q9. What social media platforms does your chapter use? How do chapter leaders contribute to your social media presence and what type of posts do you share?
Smith: Our chapter uses Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. Leaders provide information for our social media manager to post and then share the posts to their own personal accounts to increase visibility. Our posts include topics such as timely payroll news/regulation changes, APA updates and updates from agencies related to payroll. Of course, we also post about our chapter events, chapter news, volunteer projects, show appreciation to our partners, and encourage/congratulate those taking their payroll certification exams.
Settembrino: Using Facebook and LinkedIn opens up a broader audience to enjoy chapter successes.
Q10. How does your chapter have fun and encourage member interaction? How will your chapter celebrate upcoming holidays and prepare for year-end?
Smith: We have fun by playing games at our meetings. We have utilized a positivity project as well that encourages members to seek out the member that shared a positive word with them at the prior month’s meeting and talk about the impact it had on them. Our chapter leaders will be meeting soon to discuss how we will celebrate our year end. At this point, it will probably be a virtual event given restrictions on gatherings in our state at this time.
To read the full responses, view the #APAChapters Chat here. Subscribe to the blog to stay up to date on future networking opportunities!
