The professional community: Where the tribal kinsmen meet. Why should you join?
As professional affiliations are more often evaluated through a cost-benefit lens, the value and purpose of trade associations are being reexamined. Adam Pade, Head of Secretariat of the Danish Auto Recycling Association (DAG), discusses why unity remains essential in today’s competitive landscape and why membership in a professional community is not just symbolic. It’s a strategic asset that brings influence, credibility, and the collective strength needed to shape the future of the auto recycling industry.
Gone are the days when you joined your professional community because it was an integral part of practicing your profession; it simply felt right. Today, trade associations are more considered as suppliers of services in competition with other suppliers: There is, as we know, a free market out there of competent advisors who can help companies as well as we can.
This is putting things on edge, of course. Nevertheless, we, staff members, as well as elected representatives, can no longer take for granted that the grocer joins his grocer’s organization, the master painter his painters’ guild, or the car dismantler his car dismantlers’ association. We should earn your confidence, which only helps to make us sharper.
But be that as it may, trade organizations have some competitive advantages over private players, beyond lucrative purchasing agreements. More important are values like the sense of community, a confidential space: This is where the tribal kinsmen meet. We see this during member meetings or at general assemblies: This need for belonging. The lawyer, the accountant or the business advisor could not provide that.
In addition, of course, there is one very important justification for the trade association: To strengthen the companies’ general playing field, to influence legislation, contribute to lifting the industry’s reputation, and promote good cooperation with other, related organizations to ensure the best possible interaction.
On the other hand, this means that our work cannot always be demonstrated in an Excel sheet. And, moreover, political activity, lobbying, takes a long time before it bears fruit – if it ever comes to that.
As an organization, we are dependent on having as many members as possible. Certainly not just to pay our bills. But because an organization’s political influence is counted in the number of members. Members are the currency that is counted among politicians. Therefore, it has a greater purpose when we are constantly looking for new members.
On the other hand, it can clash with the organization’s purpose.
When Dansk Autogenbrug, the Danish Association of car dismantlers, was founded in 1963, the aim was to lift the entire industry. Car breakers did not rank high in society, nor in the auto industry’s hierarchy and there was certainly a reason for that: Many companies were definitely not nice to look at and harboured the prejudice that car breakers were some scumbags in oil-covered boiler suits, and tax and VAT were seemingly unknown concepts.
Therefore, we made demands on the companies we admitted as members, and we still do: You should comply with the legislation. You should have a decent customer area. A tidy site. Therefore, not all companies are welcome with us.
Obviously, the vision behind this is that it should be a quality stamp to be a member of your professional community. Companies should be able to advertise with their membership to appear serious and professional. This is what will create trust in the industry and instill in us the respect we want from society, society’s decision makers, and our colleagues in the automotive industry.
As an organisation, we are able to carry out tasks that the individual member companies would not be able to handle on their own. This may apply to marketing and communication with consumers and workshops. Or, as an example, it applies to the recent development of a training course for employees who are depolluting cars. Dansk Autogenbrug is collaborating with a technical school to develop such a teaching offer.
Right now, it is even more important to have a broad member base. With the battery regulation and the upcoming regulation on greener car production, it is absolutely crucial that we can speak on behalf of many.
So, if you are a car dismantler and not yet a member of your country’s trade association, then look to become one: Help us create a prosperous future for our industry!
