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Dear AFS Volunteer,
Today I am writing to you with some important news related to some of the challenges our organization is facing as well as some changes I am implementing today. Speaking of changes, having been at AFS for more than 30 years, I’ve been through a change or two, and I know that change can be especially challenging in an organization like ours. After all, AFS is built largely on relationships rather than the cut-and-dry production of a product. Indeed our people are our greatest strength, but change is inevitable. I hope that I can count on your feedback, patience, and above all, your support as we move forward in strengthening this organization that means so much to all of us.
In June of this year the AFS-USA Board of Directors endorsed the new Strategic Plan 2.0 for AFS-USA. Highlights of the plan were shared in a video that the then Chair of the Board, Joan Siegel and I created and shared with you via MyAFS .
Knowing what the new strategic plan requires of the organization, I’ve spent the last few months considering how we can address the changes needed for the organization to meet its goals and stay true to our mission. The past few (and very challenging) hosting recruitment seasons have also influenced my thinking.
Transparency and communication have been priorities for me since I took on the role of President earlier this year. In this message, I want to provide you with a very open and honest insight into the challenges at hand which present a clear and compelling case for change – change that I believe AFS-USA must implement in order to remain a viable organization.
Background
In the introduction to the recently approved Strategic Plan 2.0, one key paragraph describes a challenge of great significance for AFS-USA:
“Current trends (proliferation of programs, political climate, changing expectations, etc.) pose challenges for our business model. For decades, our financial sustainability has been predicated on generating strong returns from the flagship program. With recruitment of both participants and volunteers for the year-long program becoming more onerous, it behooves AFS-USA to explore mechanisms for supplementing or diversifying this traditional driver of revenue. We can anticipate placing a greater emphasis on philanthropy going forward, but that will only be part of the answer. We will need to strive for greater efficiencies and improved financial performance in our program and operational areas as well.”
The political climate in the United States has changed significantly over the past few years, as have the needs of AFS-USA and our volunteers. The demands of program delivery – how we recruit host families and volunteers, work with schools and engage with them in meaningful ways – have hindered AFS-USA from delivering sufficiently for quite some time. These considerations, combined with the planning of the implementation of Strategic Plan 2.0, have led me to my next step – to organize both our operational planning and our staffing differently in order to achieve the objectives of the plan.
In order to move the organization forward and in alignment with the strategic plan, we’re required to engage locally on a more meaningful level. AFS-USA needs to enable significant changes in how we support and engage with our volunteers as we deliver our programs. I also want to make certain that we focus on evolving in a way that enables volunteers to engage with the organization in more meaningful and rewarding ways. These efforts, in turn, will help to strengthen our programs and ensure that the learning objectives and mission are being achieved.
In our current staffing model, we have an extraordinarily high expectation of a variety of staff positions, especially the TDS and the Sr. TDS positions. Over several years, numerous adjustments have been made to what was the original vision and construct of the TDS model. By rolling so many key areas of our business into one position, including sending, hosting, and volunteer development, we’ve built a model that is no longer sustainable given the inability to meet our goals and program commitments. These challenges and responsibilities have led to frustrations, burn-out, performance issues, and a host of other hurdles and expectations.
Moving forward
As the needs of any organization evolve, it is to be expected that change is necessary and with that change, we can benefit from a fresh approach to how we operate. This is the point at which we find ourselves today. We have a need – or, rather, an obligation – to respond more significantly to our changing environment and to our own operational shortcomings.
Beginning in October 2019, the key priorities for field operations will include:
- Significantly changing the way we work with schools, to be informed by our School Outreach Strategy, driven by our Director of Educational Outreach.
- Institutionalizing standard outreach practices, communication tools, and resource offerings to schools and educators, already having been launched as a key focus of the AFS-USA Volunteer Summit taking place in November in Minneapolis;
- Changing our marketing and promotional outreach; a new national marketing strategy will be launched in November 2019;
- Prioritizing program content enhancement and revitalizing our learning objectives for students and host families;
- Improving the host family experience;
- Launching a national volunteer recruitment and integration campaign.
One key environmental factor that has changed dramatically over the past ten years is AFS-USA’s relationship with schools. For many years we did not devote an adequate level of attention needed to foster a partnership with schools. The demands of program delivery and placement compliance drove us towards a more transactional relationship with schools (e.g. please can you host, please sign a PAF, please can we do a school presentation ) and we are paying a price for not having developed a more robust partnership with schools and educators at the local, state, and national levels. Our strategic plan calls for a key prioritization of changing the dynamic we have at hand with schools, and we need to consider this as a driving force moving forward.
In reviewing our goals, processes, and organizational competencies, we’ve utilized the data compiled through the work of the Chappaqua Project, the project name for Strengthening the Volunteer experience. As a key outcome of the last strategic plan, the Chappaqua Project has informed (and continues to inform) our vision for Organizational Development at AFS-USA. The data has enabled us to gauge both the strength of volunteer teams, beyond the numbers and placements, and to identify where there is a need and/or opportunity for new program development. As a result, we are in a much better position to support volunteer teams and to create appropriate resources for the varied realities that make up the AFS field. These internal and external indicators have been instrumental in determining how staff positions in the field can be better structured so as to support the variety of volunteer teams.
Changing the structure again, in and of itself, is not going to solve the challenges at hand for AFS in the United States. Our staffing configuration is simply a means through which to achieve a new way of working as we move to a critical new business model around how we operate locally and nationally. This includes methodologies for a new approach to local marketing and sales, further testing paid recruiters, changing our interface and communications with schools, and institutionalizing a new accountability for program goals and performance.
To arrive at a number of the decisions I am launching today, I have benefited from the solid data and analysis provided through the Chappaqua project. Going forward, AFS-USA will continue to rely upon a greater use of technology and data in our decision-making and in managing our organization. Data will also guide how we augment the important work of our volunteers through promotion and sales-driven initiatives in targeted areas of the country.
In addition to data, there are some obvious truths around what we need to do in order to support and affirm our commitment to the regeneration of our volunteer force. It is critical that we improve how we support our volunteers – in all aspects of their responsibilities – partly through the way in which we organize ourselves but also by providing the support and tools volunteers have told us are needed. More specificity around volunteer needs and expectations has emerged largely from the work of the Organizational Development (OD) team and we will aim to bring the same level of OD engagement to ALL volunteer teams. Likewise, we will use those learnings to make future adjustments, region-by-region, as needed.
Over the last ten years, we’ve learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t. Using this knowledge as a guide, we seek to revitalize our own motivation as staff while also defining a better way to support volunteers. Rather than continuing the expectation that one person can possess the very broad skill set needed to manage (or, in some cases, facilitate) all program aspects in their regions, we will instead establish teams made up of six people (in most cases) with varying skill sets and expertise . We will be better poised for success through this level of talent allocation and topical expertise.
Changes in our approach to field operations
The TDS model was built around the assumption that most teams and areas would host the same amount of students year after year. Our staffing and our budgets were built around those assumptions. The volume is dropping because the AFS global network has not delivered the hosting goals for the past few years, and even with reduced volume we are experiencing challenges with placements. Without a reliable revenue stream of a similar volume, the current model is no longer conducive to addressing some of the most critical needs of the organization.
Previous and current staffing configurations were generally built on a premise that the established revenue pipeline would continue. Unexpected and sometimes dramatic changes in program activity require that we implement a more nimble structure, one that allows us to adjust, pivot, and take advantage of the varying opportunities in all regions.
My goal through the new construct of staff and AFS regions is to provide volunteers with more support via a larger number of staff with differentiated roles and skills. Volunteers will have dedicated staff resources for hosting, sending (initially in three of the six regions), logistics, and administrative needs as well as organizational development and school relations. Instead of having one staff person who has to change roles throughout the course of a year (from hosting to sending to planning to development to schools and around again in a cycle) staff will have primary responsibilities reflective of hosting, sending and logistics/administration. Through increased numbers of staff resources dedicated to regions and volunteers, I believe that the volunteer experience will improve – and perhaps dramatically.
We will achieve these objectives through the following adjustments:
1. Rather than continuing with the expectation that one person (TDS) can possess the very broad skillset needed to manage (or, in some cases, facilitate) all program aspects in their regions, we will instead establish staff teams made up of six people with varying skillsets and expertise.
As of October 26, the current field structure will no longer exist. The new structure is built around a regional staff team, working virtually, responsible for delivering hosting and sending program volume, and for the implementation of strategic and organizational development initiatives, all as a means to strengthen the volunteer organizations in that region.
Regional Team |
