FEATURE
The CEO Role in Associations
 This
article addresses the current trends in associations
with respect to the CEO
responsibilities, and whether the role is best suited
for inclusion in the Chief Staff Officer (President) or
the Chief Elected Officer (Chairman) duties. In
addition, it examines which duties are encompassed in
the CEO role.
What is the CEO?
The CEO is the
singular organizational position that is primarily
responsible to carry out the strategic plans and
policies as established by the board of directors. The
chief executive officer reports to the board of
directors.
The Dictionary of
Business Terms defines it as follows: “The Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) is the officer who has ultimate
management responsibility for an organization. The CEO
reports directly to the Board of Directors [and]
appoints other managers…to assist in carrying out the
responsibilities of the organization.”
Much of the current
writings around non-profit governance and board roles
refer to the chief staff officer as CEO, such as “The
Board is responsible to hire or appoint the CEO”. That
usage can be attributed somewhat to consistency (gets
beyond the variety of titles in use) and expediency
(quick and easy), however it also no doubt reflects
current trends in practice and governance models.
Current trends in
Canadian associations and non-profits
The trend toward the
title of President for the chief staff officer
also represented a change with respect to the CEO
title and role. In some cases, it occurred in
recognition that the staff executive was already filling
the role, and in other cases, it was the result of a
deliberate governance re-structuring effort. In the
beginning of this trend, the preferred title was President
as the CEO title was not being used in the
association for either staff or volunteer leadership.
Often the titles of President and CEO
were considered synonymous, and the primary focus was
the significant shift to either of them from the more
traditional executive director title.
The author of this
article researched this trend in 1993 and 1996[1].
His research demonstrated that by 1996, twice as many
industry and trade associations with a budget over
$500,000 per year were using the President and/or CEO
title than the Executive Director title.
Current anecdotal
evidence suggests that this trend is now significant
within the larger charity and professional organizations
as well. We identified almost 250 association executives
with the CEO title in our AXI association database.
Coincidentally, as this article was being prepared, we
read a recent announcement from an association
concerning a switch in titles from President to Chairman
for the senior elected official and from Managing
Director to President and CEO for the senior staff
official – and such announcements are occurring more
frequently.
How governance
models deal with the CEO role
Policy
Governance Model
The Policy Governance
model attributes the CEO role to the chief staff
officer. The Carvers explain the rationale:
We
are not concerned whether the CEO is called executive
director, director-general, president, general
manager, superintendent, or any other title. We are,
however, concerned how the role is defined and we will
use the term “CEO” to reflect the role definition
we recommend.
We recommend
that the board use a single point of delegation and
hold this position accountable for meeting all the
board’s expectations for organizational performance.
Naturally, it is essential that the board delegate to
this position all the authority that such extensive
accountability deserves. The use of a CEO position
considerably simplifies the board’s job. Using a CEO,
the board can express its expectations for the entire
organization without having to work out any of the
internal, often complex, divisions of labor.
Therefore, all the authority granted by the board to
the organization is actually granted personally to the
CEO. All the accountability of the organization to
meet board expectations is charged personally to the
CEO. The board, in effect, has one employee. It
is
important that boards maintain a sense of cause and
effect with respect to their CEOs. The board creates
the CEO; the CEO does not create the board. As the
board contemplates its accountability to the
ownership, it decides that creating a CEO role will be
a key method in fulfilling that accountability.”[2]
Corporate
Governance Model
Some non-profit have
adopted a for-profit style of governance that is often
referred to as the Corporate Governance Model. While
there is no single definition for this model, it
generally involves a chief staff officer who is the sole
employee of the board and has responsibility for the
operations of the organization. While these
organizations are more likely to opt for such titles as
President, General Manager, etc. instead of the more
traditional Executive Director title, there is not a
common approach to the CEO title. Often, there is no one
identified as the CEO, although the role rests with the
chief staff executive.
iv.
Knowledge-based Strategic Governance
This model is
promoted by Tecker Consultants, and was adopted by the
American Society of Association Executives (ASAE).
The available literature on this model does not address
the CEO title, however the role seems to be attributed
to the chief staff officer. In ASAE’s case, the staff
President is also the organization’s CEO.
Typical CEO Roles,
Responsibilities and Duties
Under the authority
of the association's by-laws and the policies of the
board of directors, the CEO has two major functions:
-
direct and
execute all activities of the association either
directly or through delegated authority;
-
provide
leadership in these and other areas: the creation of
strategic, tactical, and financial plans; developing
goals and measuring performance to the approved
goals; organizational development; liaison to the
public, government, affiliated organizations, and
other stakeholders; develop member services and
member development; the development of the
association's staff.[3]
The
CEO Role
The typical roles and
general responsibilities[4]
of a non-profit association CEO are:
Leader
Visionary /
Information Bearer
-
Ensures staff and
Board have sufficient and up-to-date information
-
Looks to the
future for change opportunities
-
Interfaces
between Board and employees
-
Interfaces
between organization and community
Decision Maker
Manager
-
Oversees
operations of organization
-
Implements
plans
-
Manages human
resources of organization
-
Manages financial
and physical resources
Board Developer
-
Assists in the
selection and evaluation of board members
-
Makes
recommendations, supports Board during orientation
and self-evaluation
-
Supports Board's
evaluation of Chief Executive
CEO
Duties
The
specific duties of an association CEO will vary based on
the type of organization and the governance model in use
by the organization. The following list[5]
covers some of the major functions typically addressed
by job descriptions of association CEOs:
1.
Provide leadership in the development of the
association's statement of vision, mission, and goals,
and the corresponding strategies, plans, and budgets to
achieve them;
2.
Ensure the development of priority plans,
performance measurements, management controls, and
critical success factors;
3.
Review approved plans and budgets as part of the
annual planning and budgeting cycle and present
recommendations to the board of directors and/or the
appropriate committee;
4.
Develop and provide appropriate policy
recommendations for consideration by the board;
5.
Ensure that an annual plan and budget are
prepared for and presented to the board of directors;
6.
Propose agendas for the board of directors
reflecting issues, opportunities, and priorities;
7.
Present a written report to all board meetings;
8.
Develop and maintain an effective staff
organization which provides appropriate policy and
program recommendations for consideration by the board
and its committees, and which delivers services,
programs and information beneficial to the members;
9.
Hire, reward, discipline, terminate, and set the
remuneration of, all association employees except for
him/herself, in accordance with policy and/or approved
budgets;
10.
Identify, document, and articulate the needs of
members to geographic sub-units, committees, and other
forums which exist to serve member needs;
11.
Promote collaboration with and among the
association's geographic sub-units to address the needs
of members and the mission and goals of the association;
12.
Maintain the necessary contacts to keep abreast
of emerging issues of significance to the association
management profession;
13.
Act as the spokesperson for the association;
14.
Serve as ambassador for the association to
relevant organizations in Canada and internationally
15.
Perform such other duties as are prescribed in
writing from time to time by the board of directors
Reporting
Relationship
Typically
the CEO is a non-voting director and officer of the
association. In
addition, the CEO may be a non-voting ex officio member
of all committees, councils, task forces, and other
member forums appointed or established by, and
accountable to, the board of directors.
With
respect to the association’s staff, the CEO is usually
the representative of the association as the employer of
paid staff and solely responsible for establishing
compensation and benefits, and the hiring and release,
of the association's employees
Final Thoughts
When an association
board considers imparting the CEO role to the chief
staff officer, it should be for the right reasons. In
our view, the primary reason should be an expectation
for improved governance and operations.
As CEO, the chief
staff officer becomes the board’s single point of
delegation thereby addressing the common but problematic
practice of boards simultaneously delegating particular
responsibilities to both the chief staff officer and a
committee. As
well, the CEO is the board’s sole employee.
The board can then
hold the CEO accountable for meeting all the board’s
expectations for organizational performance.
However, the board
must also then delegate the authority required to
deliver on this level of accountability. That authority
is imparted via the CEO role.
As long as there are
clearly defined and communicated expectations of the CEO,
and the board formally evaluates the CEO’s performance
in delivering on the expectations, the potential exists
for significant improvements in both governance and
operational performance.
1
Association Benchmarks and Policies Report, CSAE, 1996,
pg. 17
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2
Carver's Policy Governance® Model in Nonprofit
Organizations, John Carver and Miriam Carver, Source: www.policygovernance.com
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3
Source: Sample CEO Job Description, e-INFO Service, www.csae.com
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4
Source: The Management Assistance Program for
Nonprofits, www.mapnp.org
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5
Source: Sample CEO Job Description, e-INFO Service, www.csae.com
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Wayne Amundson is president of Association Xpertise
Inc., a consulting firm serving associations and
non-profits. He is also writer and speaker on
association and non-profit management and governance,
and is editor of The Canadian Association e-zine and
co-author of the new “Primer for Directors of
Not-for-Profit Corporations” published by the Industry
Canada and three non-profit umbrella groups in Canada.
Phone: 403-374-1822 E-mail: admin@axi.ca
Website: www.axi.ca
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