Rotary International (R.I.) and
The Rotary Foundation (TRF) continue to be seduced by the enchanting rhythm of
the Recruiting Death Dance. Both
continue to encourage clubs to do whatever they can to recruit members and donors. And, for both, recruiting is simply the wrong
attitude, which fuels ineffective approaches.
Recruiting
is a common practice and an industry accepted standard when organizations want
to fill positions with qualified people.
Most organizations continually recruit employees; colleges continually
recruit athletes and students, etc. Those
being recruited usually have a specific value the organization is seeking. The recruiting approach centers on what the organization
needs and/or wants.
Successful
businesses and charitable organizations continually search for new customers,
donors, or volunteers. Those that
achieve the most long term success do so by striving to attract them because the attract
approach centers on the needs and/or wants of those they wish to attract.
The
difference between recruit and attract is subtle, real, and extremely important
because it resides in the thought processes of the decision makers - those
seeking to exchange resources for needs and/or wants. Recruiting organizations seek value and make decisions
on the resources they are willing to exchange for desired values. Attracting organizations understand that
those they target will make the decision on how many personal resources they
are willing to exchange for the value they expect an organization to deliver,
whether it is a product, service, or opportunity to contribute to society.
Perhaps
the most important result of this subtlety is the influence each approach has on
personnel attitudes throughout the organization, which affects everything the
organization does. The recruit attitude
centers on the organization's wants and needs, i.e. "The organization wants what you have to offer." The attract attitude centers on the
customers, members, and/or donors needs and wants, i.e. "The organization has something to offer you."
The
recruiting attitude and approach is arguably the major reason R.I.'s retention
rates are declining. Recruiting
generates interest, but interest is easily diverted if much of a commitment is
expected or required, or when a new interest comes along. The attract approach generates interest and,
once the attracted target commits, they expect to have the reasons they
committed to be met with an equivalent or greater value proposition.
As
a final argument, examine historical membership data. Over the last twenty years, the recruiting attitude
and approach has neither halted North America 's
membership decline nor jogged loose worldwide membership. It is shear stupidity to expect different
results without changing attitudes and approaches.
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