Volunteers power STLE’s success
Edward P. Salek, CAE, Executive Director | TLT Headquarters Report June 2017
High-functioning associations benefit from this important resource.
Serving with an STLE local section or a committee is an excellent way to build your personal network and enhance your professional skill set.
FACT: ON AVERAGE VOLUNTEERS PROVIDE 20%-25% of the total work hours for an association.
That’s according to research conducted by the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) Foundation and reported by SmithBucklin, an association management and services company based in Chicago. The firm’s Circuit 2017 report emphasizes that the ASAE study “strongly affirms the value of volunteers, who contribute highly skilled, hands-on help for no cost.”
One need look no further than the 2017 STLE Annual Meeting for evidence of how this relationship works in practice. Most of the conference is created through volunteer input.
For example, the entire technical program is planned by the Annual Meeting Program Committee, with assistance from a network of paper solicitation chairs. The result is a five-day program featuring more than 400 technical presentations—where the speakers are all volunteers as well!
The annual meeting also features education courses that are created and presented by volunteer instructors using course outlines developed by the STLE Education Committee, another volunteer group.
For the past five years, STLE has worked with local high schools to bring in students for a STEM Camp where the participants have a hands-on encounter with experiments related to tribology and lubricants. All of the advance work to design the experiments, as well as the onsite activity, is the product of volunteer labor.
Finally, let’s not forget STLE’s senior leadership body, the board of directors. It is made up of 23 volunteer members who provide the organization with their knowledge and experience to guide the organization in pursuit of its mission on behalf of the global tribology and lubricants community.
Other examples abound throughout the year, especially at the local level where hundreds of volunteers support STLE section activity. This provides our members with a convenient and affordable local source for technical education and networking, two of STLE’s most important benefits.
Our hundreds of volunteers work with professional staff at the headquarters office to achieve organizational goals. STLE facilitates this successful partnership by investing organizational resources to hire and train and retain skilled professionals on our staff team. We also are expanding volunteer orientation training to make sure people have the training and guidance needed to enjoy a successful and productive experience.
Volunteers also know there are personal benefits that accrue in return for their investment of time and effort. Being active in a local section or a committee is an excellent way to build your personal network of contacts and to enhance your professional skill set. Companies that encourage their employees to volunteer for assignments, such as being an education course instructor, get the benefits of increased visibility and gain a reputation for having an expert technical staff.
Then there’s also the satisfaction that comes from working in a purpose-driven organization such as STLE. Providing volunteer time and effort helps to achieve the worthy goals described in our mission statement, which emphasizes conservation of resources, environmental protection and support for innovations that improve the quality of life for people around the world.
So to the hundreds of members who currently serve as volunteers, to those who’ve served us in the past and to folks thinking about getting involved, one final word: Thanks for supporting STLE. We could not do what we do without you!
You can reach Certified Association Executive Ed Salek at esalek@stle.org.