EDITORIAL J Oral Maxillofac Surg 73:375-376, 2015
The Role of Staff in Successful Professional Organizations gery. This leaves a gap between what the members and association leaders can do and what still needs to be accomplished but cannot be achieved by fulltime surgeons. This is where the association’s professional staff fits. Rather than just binding the association together, they provide essential functions critical to the organization’s success. Thus, a better analogy of the role played by the staff of an organization might be the leg of a triangle. The association’s members involved in leadership and serving on committees form a second leg, and the third leg is the general membership. All 3 legs are necessary to make the triangle whole and conduct the association’s business. My triangle analogy might be concerning to some. This is because some have been members of associations in which the professional staff have played an overly dominant role in the organization. This can easily happen, because a longstanding staff will know the history and inner workings of the association better than most of the members or its leaders. They can steer policy and manipulate agendas to accomplish staff priorities or passively aggressively wait out the terms of association leaders and committee members who are trying to accomplish progressive moves or changes with which the staff might be uncomfortable. Fortunately, the AAOMS’s professional staff see themselves in the role of facilitators of the hopes and wishes of our members and leaders. They provide important background information, accomplish needed tasks, and use their special expertise to help association members and leaders set and accomplish the association’s priorities, as well as providing essential member services. But why does the AAOMS reap the benefits of a strong and talented staff without having a staff-driven type organization? It is because the AAOMS hired and retained many other people with qualities similar to those of Randi Andresen and Ann Marie Rogowski. Just as importantly, the staff is led by an individual who understands the importance and wisdom of the staff being collaborative facilitators of the membership and its leaders; namely, the AAOMS’s Executive Director, Dr Robert Rinaldi. He sets the tone and embodies the qualities of a strong and capable staff leader who serves the Association rather than run it. We are truly fortunate to have him, as well as all the wonderful members of the AAOMS professional staff working with us and on our behalf.
Recently, an event was held to honor 2 individuals who dedicated their careers and lives to the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS). Randi Andresen and Ann Marie Rogowski spent a combined total of 90 years on the professional staff of our organization, filling a variety of roles, and eventually rising to top staff leadership positions. Many members of our association have had the pleasure of working with these talented women over the years on various committees or when individual members needed their help and expertise. There is no debate that without them our association would not have accomplished as much as it has during the past 5 decades. At the event honoring these 2 individuals, the statement was made that the professional staff are the glue that binds an organization together. At first glance, this is an entirely accurate analogy, for in most cases, an organization’s staff serves to bind various components of the organization together. This is particularly true in membership associations, in which the members of the association’s leadership and committees have regular turnover, but, in well-run associations, the professional staff remains relatively intact. Thus, the staff can serve to provide continuity and stability over the years. However, a professional staff is valuable to an organization in many other ways. Thus, as I reflected on the analogy, I believed that ‘‘glue’’ did not fully capture the role played by a professional staff, because glue plays a relatively passive role. Membership associations exist to help promote the common interests of the members. By pooling resources, the association can accomplish things that benefit individual members, that the member themselves would not otherwise be able to do on their own. Members are obviously an essential element of an association. They help provide the needed resources to support the association’s activities performed on their behalf. Members also help set the association’s mission and goals and guide the association’s activities, primarily through elected representatives. Members also serve on the committees crucial to conducting the business of the association. However, in a professional organization such as the AAOMS, most members and the leaders of the association are fulltime practitioners who are providing patient care and other activities related to oral-maxillofacial sur-
375
376 I will take this opportunity to mention another example of an organization’s professional staff familiar to most oral-maxillofacial surgeons; that is, the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (ABOMS). Anyone who has had the privilege of serving on the board, or was a candidate of the board, is well aware of the high quality and dedication of the professional staff. Therefore, it was appropriate that Ms Cheryl Mounts was present at the event honoring the AAOMS staff members and herself was honored at the Hawaii AAOMS meeting. Her almost 20 years leading the ABOMS staff made all the difference in the progress and the many accomplishments of the ABOMS during her tenure. She too understood the importance of staff serving as facilitators of the mission and goals set by the ABOMS’s Board. Finally, professional associations are not the only organizations served by a staff. Private practice offices, hospitals, residency programs, and dental
EDITORIAL
schools, among others, have staffs. Surgeons working in those settings appreciate how critical good staff members can be to the success of the organization. They not only help bind the organization together, but are also essential to accomplishing the organization’s priorities. Hiring and retaining top-notch staff members is one of the most important things any organization can do to help ensure success. Hopefully your local organization has individuals that provide the caliber of support embodied by Ms Andresen and Ms Rogowski. I am sure you are thankful and treasure them. JAMES R. HUPP, DMD, MD, JD EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Ó 2015 Published by Elsevier Inc on behalf of the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.joms.2014.12.015
The Role of Staff in Successful Professional Organizations gery. This leaves a gap between what the members and association leaders can do and what still needs to be accomplished but cannot be achieved by fulltime surgeons. This is where the association’s professional staff fits. Rather than just binding the association together, they provide essential functions critical to the organization’s success. Thus, a better analogy of the role played by the staff of an organization might be the leg of a triangle. The association’s members involved in leadership and serving on committees form a second leg, and the third leg is the general membership. All 3 legs are necessary to make the triangle whole and conduct the association’s business. My triangle analogy might be concerning to some. This is because some have been members of associations in which the professional staff have played an overly dominant role in the organization. This can easily happen, because a longstanding staff will know the history and inner workings of the association better than most of the members or its leaders. They can steer policy and manipulate agendas to accomplish staff priorities or passively aggressively wait out the terms of association leaders and committee members who are trying to accomplish progressive moves or changes with which the staff might be uncomfortable. Fortunately, the AAOMS’s professional staff see themselves in the role of facilitators of the hopes and wishes of our members and leaders. They provide important background information, accomplish needed tasks, and use their special expertise to help association members and leaders set and accomplish the association’s priorities, as well as providing essential member services. But why does the AAOMS reap the benefits of a strong and talented staff without having a staff-driven type organization? It is because the AAOMS hired and retained many other people with qualities similar to those of Randi Andresen and Ann Marie Rogowski. Just as importantly, the staff is led by an individual who understands the importance and wisdom of the staff being collaborative facilitators of the membership and its leaders; namely, the AAOMS’s Executive Director, Dr Robert Rinaldi. He sets the tone and embodies the qualities of a strong and capable staff leader who serves the Association rather than run it. We are truly fortunate to have him, as well as all the wonderful members of the AAOMS professional staff working with us and on our behalf.
Recently, an event was held to honor 2 individuals who dedicated their careers and lives to the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS). Randi Andresen and Ann Marie Rogowski spent a combined total of 90 years on the professional staff of our organization, filling a variety of roles, and eventually rising to top staff leadership positions. Many members of our association have had the pleasure of working with these talented women over the years on various committees or when individual members needed their help and expertise. There is no debate that without them our association would not have accomplished as much as it has during the past 5 decades. At the event honoring these 2 individuals, the statement was made that the professional staff are the glue that binds an organization together. At first glance, this is an entirely accurate analogy, for in most cases, an organization’s staff serves to bind various components of the organization together. This is particularly true in membership associations, in which the members of the association’s leadership and committees have regular turnover, but, in well-run associations, the professional staff remains relatively intact. Thus, the staff can serve to provide continuity and stability over the years. However, a professional staff is valuable to an organization in many other ways. Thus, as I reflected on the analogy, I believed that ‘‘glue’’ did not fully capture the role played by a professional staff, because glue plays a relatively passive role. Membership associations exist to help promote the common interests of the members. By pooling resources, the association can accomplish things that benefit individual members, that the member themselves would not otherwise be able to do on their own. Members are obviously an essential element of an association. They help provide the needed resources to support the association’s activities performed on their behalf. Members also help set the association’s mission and goals and guide the association’s activities, primarily through elected representatives. Members also serve on the committees crucial to conducting the business of the association. However, in a professional organization such as the AAOMS, most members and the leaders of the association are fulltime practitioners who are providing patient care and other activities related to oral-maxillofacial sur-
375
376 I will take this opportunity to mention another example of an organization’s professional staff familiar to most oral-maxillofacial surgeons; that is, the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (ABOMS). Anyone who has had the privilege of serving on the board, or was a candidate of the board, is well aware of the high quality and dedication of the professional staff. Therefore, it was appropriate that Ms Cheryl Mounts was present at the event honoring the AAOMS staff members and herself was honored at the Hawaii AAOMS meeting. Her almost 20 years leading the ABOMS staff made all the difference in the progress and the many accomplishments of the ABOMS during her tenure. She too understood the importance of staff serving as facilitators of the mission and goals set by the ABOMS’s Board. Finally, professional associations are not the only organizations served by a staff. Private practice offices, hospitals, residency programs, and dental
EDITORIAL
schools, among others, have staffs. Surgeons working in those settings appreciate how critical good staff members can be to the success of the organization. They not only help bind the organization together, but are also essential to accomplishing the organization’s priorities. Hiring and retaining top-notch staff members is one of the most important things any organization can do to help ensure success. Hopefully your local organization has individuals that provide the caliber of support embodied by Ms Andresen and Ms Rogowski. I am sure you are thankful and treasure them. JAMES R. HUPP, DMD, MD, JD EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Ó 2015 Published by Elsevier Inc on behalf of the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.joms.2014.12.015
