Business View Magazine Jan-Feb 2019

20 lot of wonderful deep learning about positive change.” ABSA developed the national boarding stan- dard from scratch in a three year project which involved educators from around Australia. In the same vein, the association has almost com- pleted an accreditation scheme for boarding schools so that they can actually say they are accredited against voluntary standards. Stokes is certain that in the future, the standards will be accepted by most Australian govern- ments, followed by them needing to mandate the standards, but at this point in time, adhering to the standards remains completely voluntary. CONNECTIONS AND COLLABORATIONS The rapid 100% boarding school membership rate translates clearly into the view that ABSA can do things quickly and efficiently. Despite this, Stokes found that what members valued the most about ABSA and its services, was the personal connection. “As I said, both our jobs include a lot of travel- ling to members, visiting and training them. We make sure these schools know us personally.” “That we have that personal connection with our members is a critical touchpoint for us, it’s where we stand out, so we work hard at keeping them close.” ABSA keeps the communication lines open for these members to call up, and discuss issues, and seek advice. An added benefit of ABSA is the strong networking connections it provides through its conferences, forums and network-