Workplace

We Asked, You Answered: Improving Workplace Culture in 2023

Workplaces have changed dramatically since the start of the pandemic, and many are still struggling to create an internal environment and structure that best serves employees and other stakeholders. With that in mind, we asked association pros to share what changes they’d like to make this year.

As we start 2023, many association professionals are contemplating what changes they can make to their workplace culture.

Read on to hear more about what changes your industry colleagues and friends are considering. 

Wendy Knefelkamp

CEO, Arizona Nurses Association

Autonomy of process is a strong foundational key to effective workplace culture. With so much change in the past two years, it has become increasingly important to complete a full assessment of governing and organizational documentation—lack of cohesion in these guiding documents has led to confusion amongst employees, leadership, and members about how to move the association forward.

This confusion trickles down throughout the culture of the organization, muddying waters of the governance and operations structure and slowing down the decision-making process for both employees and volunteer leaders. Level-setting all of the guiding documents (e.g., bylaws, policies, employee handbook, and more) will allow employee and volunteer teams to explore, innovate, and create within a safety net both legally and psychologically.

Ann Bresingham

Chief Human Resource Officer, American Association of Nurse Anesthesiologists

Focusing internally, we have moved to a hybrid environment with employees working anywhere from completely remote to 1-3 days in the office. We have two primary focuses, which are how to create an engaged workforce in a hybrid environment that maintains the “close-knit” culture we had before the pandemic, now that we’ve decided to switch to this new working model; and second, focusing on creating a more inclusive environment so that all employees feel they can bring their authentic self to work and be as productive as they can be, wherever they may be doing their work.

Chris Williams, CAE

Executive Director, VPPPA

A recommitment to growth. Like many associations, we’ve been focused on post-pandemic recovery. This requires a better understanding and buy-in of the nonprofit culture (i.e., that we are stewards of the association’s resources, programs, and overall mission) and a commitment by the board to embrace the vision-focused volunteer leader culture and shift away from the post-pandemic operational board culture.

Andy O’Hare

President, Composite Panel Association

I would like to fine-tune the hybrid work environment to ensure that we have an adequate amount of time for in-person collaboration.

Diane Mossholder

Chief Operating Officer, American Society of Transplant Surgeons             

We are looking to connect our teams in unstructured ways, without everyone feeling it’s just one more video call they must attend.

Stephen Albert

Chief Financial Officer, NCPA

Complete the paradigm shift of ensuring successful outcomes take precedence over the number of hours worked per day—whether at home or in

(AndreyPopov/iStock/GettyImages)

Samantha Whitehorne

By Samantha Whitehorne

Samantha Whitehorne is editor-in-chief of Associations Now. MORE

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