Why employees leave associations and membership organisations and how to understand why

A membership officer at an industry body gave a month's notice in the week after the annual convention. The director general was surprised. She had run the registration desk for three years, knew every member company's accounts person by name and had never missed a circular. At the exit meeting she said the work was not the problem. For two conventions running, three office bearers had given her three seating plans. Nobody thanked her for the one that went to print.

Associations lose people in a particular way. The secretariat is small, the bosses are elected and busy, and the calendar has a cliff in it. This post covers why staff leave these bodies. It shows how to hear the reasons properly. It also lists what a secretary can change without a budget.

The exits cluster. They follow the annual general meeting, the new committee's first quarter, the exhibition or awards night, and the weeks after members' renewals close. A resignation in those windows is rarely a surprise to the person leaving. It is a surprise to the committee, because the committee saw the event and not the effort.

Small teams also lose people sideways. A good accounts assistant moves to a member company. A policy researcher takes a job with the ministry liaison cell of a large firm. A receptionist who knew every office bearer's driver goes to a hospital front desk. These are quiet exits, and they take memory with them.

• Three or four office bearers give separate instructions, and the staff member is blamed when two of them clash.
• The role was never written down, so each new committee redefines it from scratch.
• Event weeks run on late nights, with no recorded rest afterwards and no agreed rule on who approves extra hours.
• Credit goes to the president at the dais. The coordinator who booked the hall, the caterer and the stage is not named.
• Pay was set years ago by a former secretary and never explained, so a newcomer on a similar role can earn more.
• There is no next step. A membership officer can become a senior membership officer and then nothing else.
• Contract helpers brought in for the convention are treated better than the permanent coordinator who trained them.

Note what is missing from that list: the mission. Most association staff believe in the body's work. They leave because the daily conditions around that work are unclear, not because they stopped caring about advocacy or member service.

The usual exit conversation is held by the secretary, who is often one of the reasons. The leaver says what is polite. A better pattern is to let someone outside the line of command hold it. An outside HR adviser or a trusted past office bearer will do. Record the answers on one page, against fixed headings.

NAME / ROLE / YEARS ................
LAST EVENT WORKED ................
WHO GAVE YOU WORK INSTRUCTIONS (names) ................
DID TWO INSTRUCTIONS CLASH IN THE LAST YEAR? Y / N  EXAMPLE ................
WAS YOUR ROLE WRITTEN DOWN? Y / N.
REST AFTER THE LAST EVENT: GIVEN / PROMISED / NONE.
WHAT WOULD HAVE MADE YOU STAY (one line) ................
WHERE ARE YOU GOING AND WHAT DOES THAT ROLE OFFER THAT THIS ONE DID NOT ................
HANDOVER NOTE WRITTEN: Y / N   HELD BY ................

Read ten of these together and the pattern is plain. If seven mention clashing instructions, no amount of pay revision will fix the problem. The fix is a single line of reporting.

1. 1

   Name one assigner

   Pick the secretary or director general as the only person who hands out work. Office bearers speak to the secretary, not to the officers.

2. 2

   Write the roles

   One page per post: purpose, five main duties, who it reports to, what it may spend. See role design for small teams for a plain layout.

3. 3

   Plan the event load

   Before the convention, list the extra hours expected, who approves them and what rest follows. Share it with the staff.

4. 4

   Credit by name

   Print coordinators' names in the event report presented to the general body.

5. 5

   Explain pay

   Give every employee a one-page note of how their grade was fixed. It need not show anyone else's figures.

6. 6

   Keep handover notes

   Every post gets a living note, so a committee change does not depend on one memory.

Look at the paperwork too. The minutes book, the attendance register for the general body meeting, the subscription ledger and the circular file tell you who carries the load. The name that appears on every reconciliation and every dispatch note is the person to keep. If that person is unhappy, you will not read it in the minutes.

Ask each employee twice a year, once after the main event and once before the new committee takes charge, three questions. What is hardest to do here? What do you do that nobody sees? What would make you consider another job? Write the answers in two lines. The director reads them. Anything that needs the committee goes on one agenda, not a dozen emails.

This is the retention work in miniature. For a fuller method on tracking exits and acting on them, see employee retention and attrition management. The associations hub lists patterns common to chambers, alumni bodies and resident groups. The post on many bosses in one small team digs into the biggest cause.

The arithmetic of a small team is cruel. Lose one of seven and a seventh of the work lands on six people in a fortnight. Lose two and the convention is at risk. That is why a director should treat each resignation as information for the rest of the team, not as a private matter. Speak to those who remain within the week, thank them for carrying the load and tell them what will change.

• Professional bodies lose examination and results staff after peak weeks, when long days are not followed by rest.
• Chambers lose trade fair and delegation coordinators to larger firms that pay for the same skills.
• Alumni bodies lose their one paid coordinator when volunteers change after a reunion.
• Resident welfare groups lose guards and the office assistant when each new managing committee reopens settled rules.