A Leading National Independent Funeral Directors Association is having deep difficulties.-The Order of the Golden Rule.
News-6.22.09– The funeral organization “Order of the Golden Rule” OGR is downsizing, restructuring and evaluating all staff. This situation is similar to the demise of the Illinois Funeral Director Association(IFDA)early on.
1.The executive director is gone and an interim executive has been put in place.
2. There is an indication of financial irregularity.
3. An indication of leadership deficits.
Whether there is Scandal behind this event or not time will tell. One can say with certainty that this breaking apart and downsizing of the Order of the Golden Rule ia another indicator of a funeral industry/business decline.
Here is a quote from the head of the Order of the Golden Rule posted at ConnectingDirectors.com:
Dear Friends:
Fragile Economy contributed to the Order of The Golden Rules problem.
In my most recent messages I’ve noted that we all are experiencing an unstable business climate requiring us to use “every ounce of savvy management skill we possess to keep our businesses intact and competitive.” This is no less true of our professional organization. As is the case with our own businesses, OGR has had to face a number of economic challenges, some of which are the result of practices that have not kept pace with prevailing management trends and fiscal prudence.
For the past year, the Board has addressed significant challenges in re-directing the course of OGR to secure its future ability to
- strategically reconstitute its mission and effectively respond to the needs of its members;
- restructure its internal operations toward accountability and contemporary management practices; and
- re-commit to exemplary leadership in the funeral services industry.
As part of this process, the Board secured the help of seasoned association professionals to evaluate and advise about our governance, functional operations, and member services.
With that said, hard decisions have been made with a clear focus on re-creating OGR’s role of leadership for the future…and our work has only just begun! The preliminary decisions that have been made toward OGR’s future include:
1. Changes in staff management;
2. Relocation of the OGR corporate office and restructure of staff functions;
3. Re-evaluation of all programs and services; and, most important,
4. Re-alignment of member values, mission and member criteria………….
With kind regards,
Koven Brown
President
OGR President Koven Brown
THERE IS ONE MORE SIMILARITY TO THE THE ILLINOIS FUNERAL ONE PERSON: RANDALL L EARL.RANDALL L EARL IS A PAST PRESIDENT OF THE OGR and THE ILLINOIS FUNERAL DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION.
What all this means is CHECK UP ON YOUR FUNERAL DIRECTOR(S).
It appears that the OGR President is being transparent, something we did not see from the IFDA.
Whether there is Scandal behind this event or not time will tell.
Funeral Industry|Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy.
OGR’s official name is International Order of the Golden Rule.
Your Funeral Guy 