BEST ASSOCIATION TEAM
Association for Project Management – HR & Facilities team
When you think about a best association team, what kind of qualities spring to mind?
Chances are that your mind will go to examples of those who have outperformed targets, championed company values, and, above all, helped pave the way to company success But what happens behind the scenes to make this all possible?
APM’s HR & Facilities team is direct proof of the vitally important role that internal teams play to ensure the success of professional associations. Consisting of the facilities and HR teams, APM’s remodeled HR team was a response to business continuity post Covid-19.
Given the volatile nature of the current world of work, their ability to consistently meet employee needs is no small feat; the team has been at the core of APM’s navigation of the challenges of the post-pandemic workplace, from flexible working to absenteeism.
Going above and beyond to provide support to those at APM, this team has in turn enabled their staff to support their growing membership.
The team ensures APM’s workplaces are safe and collaborative spaces for all. Their door remaining open, whether physically or virtually, this team is always there to lend its support to whatever situation, big or small.
British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy – Marketing & Communications
I’m nominating BACP’s Marketing & Communications team for this years’ ‘Best Association Team’ award.
Specifically, I’m nominating this team for their innovative, creative and importantly, collaborative approach in delivering Goal 5 of BACP’s 2019-2023 organisational strategy:
“championing the skills, competence and contribution of our members to the public”.
Since 2019, the team have delivered a number of stretching workstreams in support of this goal; launching integrated paid-for Social Media, Google AdWords and media/PR campaigns designed to increase BACP brand awareness with the public, drive engagement across our public webpages & therapist directory, and promote our members and their expertise to potential clients.
As a direct result, brand awareness is now up 3%, more people are being advised to seek a BACP therapist, and direct visits to our public pages increased by almost 12%.
What made the Marketing & Communications team stand out in 2022, was the collaboration, commitment and leadership they exhibited in delivering a creative, multi-channel campaign of activity against our strategy. They guided these initiatives as a cohesive team, bringing their expertise and skills to bear in a variety of ways, and leading colleagues to deliver a fundamental difference to the public awareness and perception of BACP.
Chartered Association of Business Schools
In a period of restricted funding for business schools, the Chartered ABS team has been successful in advancing its aims of supporting and championing business schools for the benefit of business and society. Having doubled in size, we have had an increased capacity to advance the association’s aims.
The team oversees the government’s Help to Grow: Management Course (HTG:M) delivered by members of the Chartered ABS that hold the Small Business Charter award. For course alumni, we have delivered a new ‘Alumni Hub’, offering resources, partnerships, and networking opportunities for ongoing learning. To further celebrate the value proposition of the Small Business Charter, we launched the SBC Excellence Awards.
For the core Chartered ABS membership of staff within UK business schools, we have diversified our research activity to feed into our lobbying work. We achieved a record number of attendees at annual events and worked together to launch a new development programme for our executive education community.
Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners – Events Team
STEP’s events team has worked tirelessly to support members worldwide, increasing the number of events from 20 in 2019 to 46 in 2022, including both in-person and online. They achieved higher delegate engagement and collaborated with platform providers, suppliers and teams across STEP.
Post-COVID, the team has continued to adapt and transform STEP events, offering a mix of in-person and web events based on members’ needs. Collaboration has increased, with more branches relying on the central events team for support. Major conferences in Switzerland, Latin America and the Caribbean are now managed by the team, reducing costs for branches and providing better support.
The results of their efforts include significant business improvements such as streamlined data collection, guidance for running virtual events, and incorporation of policy themes into major events. They achieved increased engagement, saved over £1 million through contract renegotiations, maintained high satisfaction ratings, and significantly increased delegate and sponsorship income.
Overall, the STEP events team successfully transformed digitally, adapted to the pandemic, and achieved remarkable growth and success in delivering high-quality events for their members.
The Association of Taxation Technicians – ATT Technical Team
In a few words, the Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT) technical team is ‘small but mighty’.
We ensure our members’ voices are heard, attending over 35 HMRC and HM Treasury groups and responding to 12 consultations. Our evidence to the House of Lords R&D inquiry was cited 19 times.
We love to talk about tax – not just with our members, but also the wider profession and the public. We presented a range of CPD webinars, with over 7,000 people signing up to learn about topics including cryptoassets, trivial benefits, basis period reform and MTD. Our media work includes three BBC TV appearances and several radio appearances and we were quoted over 30 times in newspapers including the Financial Times, Telegraph and Guardian.
We write practical articles and ‘how to’ guides for our website, with our guide on tax relief for home working receiving nearly 40,000 views last year. We also published 28 articles across Tax Journal, Taxation, AccountancyAge and AccountingWEB.
Although we are a relatively small team, the breadth of our work and our role as a ‘critical friend’ to HMRC mean we had a big impact on the world of taxation in the last year.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales with Sunday
ICAEW and Sunday content teams collaborated to develop an integrated digital-first content programme – through the pandemic and beyond.
The start of the relationship was uniquely challenging – almost overnight COVID-19 imposed remote working, which meant the two teams had very little time or opportunity to build relationships and join up in person, or to develop an understanding of how best to work together. At exactly the same time, the need for content from ICAEW exploded due to the pandemic, with both members and wider society hungry for daily information and advice. It was a perfect storm, with ICAEW and Sunday working flat out to keep up with the daily news agenda and members’ demand for advice on the effect COVID-19 was having on finance, accountancy and the economy in general.
Over the three years the working relationship has developed significantly. The key to success has been the adoption of strong processes, good communication, recognition of pressures on both sides and a willingness to adapt. This has led to the development of a one-team mentality, with mutual trust and respect, and with everyone working together to achieve the best results for the institute.
