Recruiting, engaging and retaining subject matter experts (SMEs) is vital to the certification process, and boards and associations invest time and resources to ensure that their volunteers have a sense of duty, belonging and appreciation. In this article, we share how our organization — the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG) — engages SMEs at all stages in their volunteer terms.

Our Approach to Recruitment

Our organization implemented a self-nomination and selection process for our Board and committees, with the goal of committee demographics mirroring diplomate demographics. It is important for fairness that the physicians who examine, write, review and approve the Qualifying and Certifying examinations reflect the OB-GYN population. We select the top minds in their field while ensuring that they represent a mix of regions and backgrounds. Boards have a reputation for high standards and an exacting selection process; maintaining these standards is imperative to retain the prestige of joining the organization.

The primary reasons SMEs want to work with us is their desire to give back to the field, protect women and promote the highest level of patient care and safety. They have a drive to continue to use their expertise to promote their specialty or subspecialty. It is impressive to witness the use of their immense body of knowledge to ensure that their realm of medicine continues to strive to a higher level. Most of our SMEs also contribute to societies and scholarly publishing.

Diving Deeper: Engaging SMEs

An organization’s staff is the heart of the company, and effective leadership lets volunteers know that their time and expertise are appreciated. Work is a significant percentage of our lives, and finding common ground with the SMEs is motivational for all involved.

While the past few years have normalized remote meetings, we have found most people still prefer in-person networking. Many of the SMEs tell us that they learn something new during each meeting they attend. Discussions during meetings and after hours over food and drinks are inspiring to the physicians. Networking with peers is one of the reasons they join our organization.

Boards and associations cannot rely on prestige and networking alone to keep thought leaders engaged, so we strive to find methods to let our SMEs know that their contributions do not go unnoticed. This is admittedly difficult to do when we have hundreds of volunteers. Engagement is about the meaningful and often fun interactions where the physicians can collaborate with each other and staff. Retention is maintaining the experts’ commitment to our organization through recognition and expressing gratitude.

Thinking Long-term: Retaining SMEs

ABOG uses social media and digital assets in a variety of ways, all which we believe help retain SMEs long-term by making them feel appreciated. We use our social media channels and production resources to show our appreciation to all the SMEs who assist us in the delivery of high-quality examinations as well as in the delivery of content for our continuing certification program. Typically, on social media, we feature their accomplishments, their service at meetings and we quote them with an included photo. We also use video when we can to supplement our messaging and overall volunteer acknowledgement and appreciation efforts.

The process to secure participation for promotion of our volunteers is typically done when volunteers are onsite for large meetings and exams. All volunteers sign a media use consent form after being selected and officially beginning their duties. This allows our staff to interview willing participants between their official duties and during event downtime. Most are happy and willing to participate, whether it is to provide quotes, have their photos taken (both individually and in groups) or be featured in videos.

We also use digital media-like video to create “thank you” communications. For example, during a Qualifying Examination development committee meeting earlier in 2024, we took fun photos during an evening group outing at a bowling alley. Volunteers were photographed in action while bowling and posed for team group shots. It was a fun outing and photographs from it, as well as photos taken as they performed their duties that week, were compiled and used to create the video.

An email sent post-meeting expressed ABOG’s gratitude and included a link. We received numerous responses expressing gratitude for producing and sharing the video. We find that doing these types of small but meaningful gestures is highly valuable. Volunteers and their contributions are positively reinforced by ABOG, which creates higher levels of volunteer satisfaction that leads to retention.

Images: Motivational Examiner Social Media Posts

Although we use social media to further engage SMEs who we interact with in person, social media is also a motivating medium for our many volunteers — such as item and case writers — who only work with us remotely. Additionally, one of the ways we show appreciation to remote SMEs is by providing branded gifts to convey a sense of belonging and pride, such as cups, mugs and journals. There is something about branded items that makes people feel like they belong to the group, which influences their likelihood to continue to engage.  

We also strive to be as efficient in our communication with the SMEs as possible. Volunteers may be in different phases of their careers. Many of them will not want to engage in long, drawn-out conversations or emails. We write back to them in a professional, respectful, appreciative and to-the-point manner, unless they seem more conversational or want to connect. In that case, we find a little more time to reply and inquire about their lives.

We are accommodating and understanding. These volunteers dedicate their already busy lives to further their specialty and promote our organization. When their lives are preventing them from getting something done in a timely manner, we tell them that we understand and appreciate their efforts. This does not mean that we tolerate a complete absence of productivity, but they should be given grace in most situations.

A Future Focus

The quality of our exams is dependent on the expertise of our volunteer SMEs. Showing gratitude and recognition of the top minds in their disciplines is paramount to a successful board. We promote our top performers to higher-level roles with increasing responsibilities. ABOG regularly acknowledges the contributions made by all of our SME volunteers who take time out of their busy schedules to meet, discuss and work on activities intended to facilitate content development and production for our Qualifying and Certifying examinations.