STC Exec. Director Selection - A Call for an Open Process

To:  The President and Directors of STC

Dear President Laurent:

As long-time members of the Society for Technical Communication who are deeply committed to the long-term success of STC, we are very concerned about the upcoming search for a new Executive Director. On the one hand, it presents a terrific opportunity for the Society. On the other hand, the last time the Board had an opportunity to choose an Executive Director it conducted an abbreviated search and the candidate only lasted in the job for 2 years. We do not believe it is in the best interests of the Society to hurry the search for a new candidate. A careful, methodical, open, and inclusive search process will ensure the selection of a person who can serve our Society effectively for many years.

Although we do not mean to be presumptuous, we believe it best to be as explicit as possible about our concerns and, when possible, to offer constructive ideas about how to address them. In that spirit, here is a summary of our specific concerns about the process. The details of each of these concerns, along with suggestions for implementation, are described below.

(1) that STC should continue to run smoothly in the interim,
(2) that a Search Committee must be representative of a diverse membership,
(3) that the Board should hire a search firm to assist us,
(4) that the characteristics of the new Executive Director must be identified before a search proceeds,
(5) (6) and (7) that the process and criteria for selecting semi-finalists and finalists and recommending a candidate must be explicitly stated (including whether members will be welcomed as applicants),
(8) that the Board should describe for the membership in advance what the compensation package will look like and which attorney will represent the Society in preparing the contract, and
(9) that the Board should report to the membership by July 25, 2005 how it plans to proceed with the search, that the remaining details be communicated by August 8, 2005, and that the Board provide ongoing progress reports as each milestone in the search process is reached. .

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

DETAIL OF CONCERNS AND SUGGESTIONS

Below are suggestions for an open, informed, and ultimately successful process to search for a new Executive Director of STC. As long-time members who are deeply committed to the long-term success of STC, we want to be more actively involved in, and informed about, this process than the Search that occurred in 2003. At that time, the Board chose to conduct an abbreviated search. The candidate only lasted in the job for 2 years, and both the search process and the executive director's term of employment both resulted in much controversy--ultimately dividing the Society instead of uniting and strengthening us.

In addition, one of the primary concerns about the last search process is that it was a closed one. The Board did not seek members' input--indeed, some members felt that their input was actively discouraged.

Because searching is an extremely important process and the resulting candidate should serve many years, those problems cannot happen a second time. We plan to take a much more interested role in the search process this time. To begin that active involvement, we am offering these suggestions for running it in an much more open, responsible manner. Specifically, we offer the following nine suggestions, about which we would like to receive your commitment by July 25, 2005:

***
1. Announce How STC Will Run in the Interim

Announce who will manage STC's day-to-day operations in the short run, while the Board goes through the process of selecting a new Executive Director.
Also, tell members about the measures being taken to encourage current staff to remain during the transition.

***
2. Choose a Search Committee

Although the Board is ultimately legally responsible for approving the selection of an Executive Director, for the selection to have the support of the membership, the membership must be actively involved in the process. In addition to the Board, we believe that the following constituencies should be represented on the Search committee:

(o) Our communities--both large and small geographic chapters, and large and small SIGs
(o) Academic community, which has a long-term impact on the shape of our profession
(o) Past presidents, who have experience managing the Society
(o) Senior membership, who have demonstrated their long-term commitment to the organization through their years of membership; we especially seek people with exceptional management and recruitment experience
(o) Knowledgeable people from other Professional Societies who have helped those organizations successfully navigate through a search process

In addition, we believe that Board membership on the Search Committee should not exceed 50 percent. Board input is already guaranteed by its selecting the candidate; therefore, the Search Committee should represent other views.

Finally, the Search Committee should report on its progress to the membership at each major milestone in its process.

***
3. Choose a Search Partner to Assist Us

Because STC rarely conducts searches for an Executive Director, we have little or no experience with this work. The candidate selected from the last Search only lasted two years, which attests to our lack of experience in this area.

To ensure that the next candidate lasts longer (the typical tenure of an executive director these days is 5 to 10 years), we strongly recommend that STC hire an experienced search firm to guide us through the selection process. If a Search Firm is selected, the membership should be told how the firm was selected and how it is qualified to help a medium-sized nonprofit search for a new executive director. If a Search Firm is not selected, the membership should be told why the Board chose to forgo expert advice, especially in light of the fact that we have little or no experience in this area.

In addition, the Board should tell the membership about the legal representation that the Board has retained to represent us in the selection and contracting process. This should be an independent legal firm that reports directly to the Board.

***
4. Determine What We Want in a New Executive Director

To be honest, the administrative processes in place in the STC Office are strong enough that administrative abilities, though important, should be assumed.

But what else should the Executive Director be able to do? Specifically, the Search Committee should start this proces by:

a. Identifying the primary challenges that the Executive Director would be expected to address in the next five years--the immediate challenges facing STC plus some longer-term ones that the new person should ideally be able to address, after the immediate ones are resolved. This must reflect the diverse opinions of our overall membership, not just the prevailing sentiment of the Board.

b. Writing a job description that incorporates these specific challenges, as well as ongoing responsibilities of the Executive Director.

c. The job description should be approved by the Board before a search proceeds, and shared with the membership.

It is our belief that the new Executive Director should have the following
qualifications:

(o) Strong visionary--able to provide a long-term vision and direction to the group
(o) Strong supporter of member programs--someone who enjoys developing programs for the membership and continually strengthens those programs
(o) Someone who actively seeks relationships with the rank-and-file membership--someone who will serve as the public face of STC, actively meet members in chapter meetings, regional events, and similar activities to stay abreast of member interests and concerns, and uses that knowledge to improve the daily operations of STC
(o) Strong decision maker who makes decisions based on data, and has the ability to initiate membership studies that provide the type of data needed to effectively manage the Society
(o) Strong business manager, who understands STC's business, pinpoints potential opportunities, and actively develops new revenue streams for STC
(o) Strong financial manager who observes ethical standards of bookkeeping and operations, can read between numbers to identify potential financial problems before they arise
(o) Strong advocate for the technical communication profession, building interest and enthusiasm for the profession among both potential clients for the service and future practitioners
(o) Someone who can assist the Board with its own challenges, including the completion of the transformation process

***
5. Describe the Process and Criteria for Selecting Semi-Finalists

The Board should provide members with the process used to vet applications for the position and the criteria for selecting semi-finalists.

In addition, the Board should explain whether or not it will consider current members for the position. If the Board chooses to disqualify current members from consideration, an explanation should be provided

***
6. Describe the Process and Criteria for Selecting Finalists

The Board should provide members with the process used to interview semi-finalists, the types of questions to be asked, and the criteria it will use as a guide for determining whom should be finalists for the position.

***
7. Describe the Process and Criteria for Recommending a Candidate

The Board should provide members with the process it will follow to interview finalists for the job, who will be included in the interview process, and the criteria that will be used to determine which finalist is recommended for the position.

***
8. Describe the Parameters of the Compensation Package that Will Be Offered

The Board should provide the membership with a description of the process it will use to determine the compensation package to be offered to the executive director. Will the Board consult with a human resources firm to develop a state-of-the-art compensation program that has incentives built in for appropriately building the Society (and similar financial consequences for failure to meet these criteria)? If not, the Board should explain why it has chosen not to seek assistance in developing an appropriate compensation package.

Once the compensation package has been developed, the general parameters should be made available to the membership, along with an explanation of why the package was designed as such and data showing how it compares with the compensation of executive directors of other similarly sized organizations.

9. Report this Information to the Membership by July 25, and on an Ongoing Basis after that.

Because the search process needs to begin immediately, we would like to have a full report on plans for the Search Process by Monday, July 25, 2005. If the Board is not ready to provide a full report at that time, we would like for the Board to disclose the parts that have been decided and tell us when the rest of the plan will be ready. We expect to see a completed plan no later than August 8, 2005.

In addition, because of the strong interest in this search by the membership, the Board should provide ongoing progress reports to the membership after each milestone in the Search Process is reached.

This is ultimately the members' society and, as members, we expect to be actively engaged in, and informed about, the process of searching for a new executive director.

Thank you for your time. If you have questions or comments, please contact us.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The STC Exec. Director Selection - A Call for an Open Process Petition to The President and Directors of STC was created by Members of STC and "Reform STC" and written by Saul Carliner and Joe Welinske (jwelinske@yahoo.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.

Send this to a friend