03/31/2025

The Workforce Won't Wait

Here's how associations can keep up

Instability seems to be an inherent part of the American workforce now: In the past decade, the average job tenure has dropped from 4.6 to 3.9 years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That job-hopping can present an acute challenge to associations that are not only looking to support newcomers in a profession where there are shortages, but also to keep them on the job longer.

Associations have successfully deployed various strategies to do both, from outreach to high schools, trade schools, and community colleges to providing tools that allow practitioners to develop their own career paths, with guidance around specific training and credentials that path would require. At the Irrigation Association (IA), a trade group supporting irrigation professionals, CEO Natasha Rankin, CAE, looks at workforce skills training on two paths — supporting the education and training of employees of member companies, and advocacy efforts that help ensure that those employees play an ongoing role in publicly funded projects.

For instance, the IA has worked to ensure that its certified members qualify as an approved Technical Service Provider for projects administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. 

Please select this link to read the complete article from Associations Now.