Associations

Consulting Services for Associations
associations

Arcus is a top consulting firm with a comprehensive service offering to meet the needs of member funded associations to help them deliver superior value to members and stakeholders. We understand the challenges with delivering value to members in today’s financially constrained environment.

Clients include:

  • Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecologists of Canada
  • College of Family Physicians of Canada
  • Directors Guild of Ontario
  • Ontario Ringette Association

We represent a broad spectrum of clients from diverse sectors. No matter who we represent, the one common connection among our association client base is our proven track record of achieving results in the most cost effective and timely manner.

Examples or our work for associations include executive search recruitment of the CEO/Executive Director of a professional association, a position evaluation process and salary schedule for a member funded organization, a strategy planning and governance workshop, member engagement program, marketing strategy, cost optimization, stakeholder engagement strategy and many others.

Arcus offers clients a unique combination of fact-based industry knowledge and superior functional expertise. Our consultants have an average of over 22 years experience, twice the industry average. Find out more about our growth, change management and  operations services. At Arcus we believe that a strategy is only as good as the results it delivers. Strategic outcomes are most predictable and effective when companies develop a portfolio of initiatives that are aligned with core competencies and aligned activities enable the company to offer a superior value proposition. Please contact Arcus for case studies and to discuss how we can help you.

Service coverage

The variety, breadth, and depth of the projects where Arcus can be a resource are made unique by each client’s specific needs. By providing a very small sample of projects we’ve completed, we can help you understand how and when to use our services. Visit the links below to find out more about a specific problem or opportunity you would like to address.

Client Successes

Below is a sample of the range of services that Arcus has provided to clients.

  • A survey of 2,350 consumers and 1,320 business leaders for feedback on sustainability trends
  • Architecting a multi-year change strategy for a Fortune 500 company
  • Mentoring a CEO on organizational change
  • Excellence transformation of a leading B2B services company
  • Creating a new sales deployment model for a healthcare company
  • Developing a position evaluation and compensation model for a professional medical association   
  • Improving services to customer segments by deepening their understanding of customer attitudes

“Arcus manages to consistently deliver tangible results on market research and strategy projects. They combine deep business expertise, powerful research capabilities, and innovative thinking to deliver substantial value.”

– Vice President, Nikon

A range of services for member funded associations

A range of services to meet the needs of member funded associations to help them deliver superior value to members and stakeholders.

We understand the challenges with delivering value to members in today’s financially constrained environment. We represent a broad spectrum of clients from diverse sectors. No matter who we represent, the one common connection among our association client base is our proven track record of achieving results in the most cost effective and timely manner.

Examples or our work for associations include executive search recruitment of the CEO/Executive Director of a professional association, a position evaluation process and salary schedule for a member funded organization, a strategy planning and governance workshop, member engagement program, marketing strategy, cost optimization, stakeholder engagement strategy and many others.

Governance- Strategies to improve Board Performance

Arcus interviewed 65 board directors of non-profit organizations to identify the key barriers to strengthening board performance. Most directors are interested in spending more time on strategic planning and in steering the direction of the organization. These areas will require a greater level of involvement and time commitment of board members. However., there is agreement that optimizing the time spent by board members towards more high impact areas is a key to better performance, for example, a greater focus on longer term imperatives that could support the success of the organization is an area of interest. Read more.

We pride ourselves in being practitioners as well as analysts and we can help a client from start to finish, and from a broad strategic focus right down to day-to-day operations related to change management, strategic planning, governance and fundraising.

“Needless to say, there are many firms that provide research and strategy consulting services, but few can deliver the value demonstrated in performing the scope of analysis, strategies, product evaluations and practical recommendations. Your commitment and ease of doing business with your firm ensured that we had a sound basis to address our most challenging business decisions.” – Mr. Peter Flattery, CEO, Healthcare Insurance Reciprocal of Canada

Sample of our work:

Organizations have not seen tangible evidence that their PM plans are delivering results. While 85% of respondents say that it is a primary driver of strategy, only 15% say their organization’s performance management plan is designed to deliver against their strategic plan. What can senior executives do to address this problem? Why is there such a significant gap between the importance of performance management plans and confidence in outcomes?

To deploy a high performance organization, employees need to understand and believe in the culture of the organization. This is only possible if the culture includes a robust reward and recognition plan that may include pay-for-performance. The process of linking an organization’s success with individual and team compensation plans is an important step to align priorities of employees with those of the organization. This process includes defining, deploying, measuring and rewarding achievable performance goals.

Arcus Performance Management system for Associations

The Arcus performance management system is based on a four step process that includes organizations inputs, sets expectations, deployment and monitor and measure and recognize.

Organizational inputs: The process starts by defining the strategic plan’s goals and how these goals impact individual job descriptions and are aligned with the mission and values of the organization. The job description of individual staff members needs to developed in context of team dynamics and the broader organizational structure. A key driver is position evaluations. Three key components include knowledge, application and impact of each position. Arcus has developed a points system that assesses over 40 individual and functional skill sets based on a five-level process in these three areas. The job responsibilities, job description, combined with the organizational design provide a foundation to develop a salary schedule, which assigns a value to points based on the level, skills and capabilities required to perform the responsibilities assigned to a position.

Media Coverage

Arcus has been quoted extensively in media on a range of topics and can offer research studies, insights and ideas. Here are some examples from the Globe and Mail, CTV, Global TV and others.