Association recruiters see no labor slowdown; communications, membership, diversity, advocacy, finance, HR talent in high demand

"I still can't fill jobs."

That's a common refrain executive recruiter David Martin is hearing from top association leaders trying to build out staff, the CEO of Sterling Martin Associates said.

"You read about all the downsizings in the tech world, with Facebook, Amazon and Twitter, but I just have not seen that at this stage in the association space."

Executive recruiter Jim Zaniello, president of Vetted Solutions, also has seen no downturn and says certain positions are in particular demand.

"Hiring by associations remains brisk," Zaniello said. "Organizations are still looking for CEOs and they are definitely looking for chief marketing and communications officers to tell their story even better than they ever have before.

"We're seeing a lot of recruitment for chief diversity officers. And we're still seeing a lot of recruitment for what used to be titled the chief membership officer, which is now more frequently referred to as the chief experience and engagement officer," he said.

Many groups are also in hot pursuit of financial professionals, he said.

"It is exceedingly difficult to find top-notch finance talent in the association sector, (in part) because the really good ones are happy where they are," Zaniello said.

Executive search consultant Stephanie Tomasso, head of the Washington, D.C., office of Russell Reynolds Associates and leader of its association practice, also said communications pros are in demand, all well as advocacy staff.

"Whether it's a straight government affairs person or communications or public affairs broadly, those are increasingly difficult to find," Tomasso said. "You've got a new Congress coming in, so you want to be thinking about how you're telling your story with a maximum effect. In terms of the talent, people recognize that they continue to be a little bit more in the driver's seat at this moment. They have the opportunity to be a little bit choosy with reference to the roles that they look at and what makes sense to pursue."

Power shift

"Choosy" is also the word chosen by Bob Corlett, founder and president of Staffing Advisors.

"Because candidates have been recruited heavily for years now, they can be choosy," he said.

What they demand of hiring organizations is transparency, including about salary and benefits he said.

"Are there lots of good people? Sure," Corlett said. "But can you get their attention long enough to answer the ad and have them go through the interview process?"

Corlett sees a particularly tight market for human resources professionals.

"Every CEO recognizes the value of really good HR right now, so everybody wants the best candidates," he said. "But it's interesting that some of the toughest recruiting we do right now is top HR jobs."

Under pressure—and legal mandates in some jurisdictions including California and Maryland—employers are providing salary ranges for job openings upon request. But that in turn builds pressure on compensation for existing staff. Inflation is also a big factor, causing hiring executives to wonder how much they can afford, Corlett said.

"This transparency makes everybody look around and say, ‘We were a good deal three years ago. … Are we still a good deal?" he said. "Employers are in this benchmarking mode of ‘What's everybody else doing?'"

Corlett said he has worked in recruiting since the late 1980s.

"The power shift to the candidates was bigger this time than we've seen," he said. "There are always hot and cold job markets. But the power shift around transparency is one that's going to stick in good times and bad. (Candidates are) going to demand more upfront thinking about money and benefits and job design."

Entry-level blues

Mona Miller, executive director of the American Society of Human Genetics, recently entered the market for a new COO to replace a longtime employee. (Sterling Martin Associates is assisting in the search.)

But she also is looking for a couple of entry-level employees and finding it tough sledding. She is trying to grow staff at the association—whose members are playing key roles during the pandemic—to 32.

Miller is promoting internally and looking for young staff with digital skills to fill slots opened up after promotions.

"But those positions have been challenging to fill," Miller said. "We know that there are lots of opportunities out there with a strong hiring market. And most of our growth is in some of the innovation spaces of professional education and our annual meeting."

"We're all looking at the inflationary pressures and trying to be as responsive as we can, as nonprofit organizations, to hold on to strong staff teams," she said. "We've also worked hard to reinforce a really positive culture where people feel like they can get work done and have the autonomy and the trust to move forward with projects and programs. I do believe having that is a valuable retentive strategy, (along with) the flexibility of remote work practices.

"It's really a combination of policies, culture, and compensation that hopefully, is both attractive and retentive," Miller said.

Zaniello agreed.

"Associations that are winning top talent have a really clear and compelling employer brand," he said. "Who is the organization? What do they stand for? What are their values? And how deeply have they lived their diversity and inclusion journey?

"Organizations that are recruiting the best talent have visionary CEOs who can clearly articulate where the organization is going, and a board that's focused on strategy, leaving the staff to do the excellent work that they do. That's another factor in how you recruit top talent."