Designing Professional Development That Actually Meets Member Needs

Thank you.

Well, I'm so happy to have you here.

I know that you oversee professional development at ASCB for a scientific community that includes people at very different stages of their career.

So how are you thinking about what professionals actually need from their association today? And how has that changed from maybe the more traditional approach to professional development?

Well, I think, first of all, previously in the training and learning space, we do like a package deal or like, you know, just simple learning opportunities that just caters to all.

And we need to start thinking about what the future generational needs are, especially this new generation that's coming into Workhorse.

Just like membership, you know, we have this, you know, package that includes like newsletters and courses and different things like that.

We cannot just have one type of learning for all.

So when we start developing learning packages or learning plans, we need to think about a journey for individuals and what their needs are.

And that's where we need to be for our future.

I feel like that's good advice for everything we do is it's nothing is one size fits all, right? So yeah, that's a really good approach.

I know you've said that the best organizations, they don't just provide resources.

They actually build a path for their people to succeed.

So what does that look like in practice? How do you move from offering just like here's programs, here's events to creating a really more intentional career development journey?

I think one thing we need to start doing is using AI and data analytics to understand actually how our members use our products and services.

And I understand getting some of these systems costs money.

but it helps to understand the needs and where to cut programming that is not useful anymore and where to actually put valuable resources towards.

There's times at my organization where we're focusing on items that no longer are sustainable and that we're putting too much time and effort in where we can be using that time for strategic focus in other areas.

So I think by understanding the needs of actually what our members need, like through surveys or actually looking at the data that we have from our conferences or our webinars and or in-person courses, just understanding all that data and actually putting a bigger picture and data points of actually what people are needing.

You can understand exactly how to support your members and future clients.

There's a couple of things I hope our listeners really take away from that that just hit me so hard and use that using the data.

That's so smart.

I mean, we shouldn't be making decisions in a vacuum.

So use those data points that you have.

But then when you mentioned the cost of these new tools, yes, there's a cost, but it got me thinking, what's the cost of not, you know? So you got to think long term.

Thank you.

Well, I'm so happy to have you here.

I know that you oversee professional development at ASCB for a scientific community that includes people at very different stages of their career.

So how are you thinking about what professionals actually need from their association today? And how has that changed from maybe the more traditional approach to professional development?

Well, I think, first of all, previously in the training and learning space, we do like a package deal or like, you know, just simple learning opportunities that just caters to all.

And we need to start thinking about what the future generational needs are, especially this new generation that's coming into Workhorse.

Just like membership, you know, we have this, you know, package that includes like newsletters and courses and different things like that.

We cannot just have one type of learning for all.

So when we start developing learning packages or learning plans, we need to think about a journey for individuals and what their needs are.

And that's where we need to be for our future.

I feel like that's good advice for everything we do is it's nothing is one size fits all, right? So yeah, that's a really good approach.

I know you've said that the best organizations, they don't just provide resources.

They actually build a path for their people to succeed.

So what does that look like in practice? How do you move from offering just like here's programs, here's events to creating a really more intentional career development journey?

I think one thing we need to start doing is using AI and data analytics to understand actually how our members use our products and services.

And I understand getting some of these systems costs money.

but it helps to understand the needs and where to cut programming that is not useful anymore and where to actually put valuable resources towards.

There's times at my organization where we're focusing on items that no longer are sustainable and that we're putting too much time and effort in where we can be using that time for strategic focus in other areas.

So I think by understanding the needs of actually what our members need, like through surveys or actually looking at the data that we have from our conferences or our webinars and or in-person courses, just understanding all that data and actually putting a bigger picture and data points of actually what people are needing.

You can understand exactly how to support your members and future clients.

There's a couple of things I hope our listeners really take away from that that just hit me so hard and use that using the data.

That's so smart.

I mean, we shouldn't be making decisions in a vacuum.

So use those data points that you have.

But then when you mentioned the cost of these new tools, yes, there's a cost, but it got me thinking, what's the cost of not, you know? So you got to think long term.