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human resources
Managing Nonprofit Diversity Conflict
Jan 31st
Diversity has become the goal at every level of American life. Efforts to promote it have been rightfully applauded. Here's the real question: Are organizations correctly handling these efforts?
One reason people flock toward nonprofit jobs is the diversity in culture and the working backgrounds they support. There is a bigger lesson organizations missed if they are only promoting diversity for diversity's sake. In his book "The End of Diversity as We Know It," Martin R. Davidson argues that a better aim is to embrace and build upon differences among employees.
Davidson, who was a chief development officer at the University of Virginia, also acknowledges that diversity initiatives can cause resistance and even conflict among employees. This can manifest itself in what Davidson calls "identity abrasions," feelings of resentment or defensiveness that come up when people are criticized for being insensitive or ignorant. He wrote that to make these teachable moments positive experiences for all parties involved, he recommends human resources officers implement five "principles of behavior." They are:
One reason people flock toward nonprofit jobs is the diversity in culture and the working backgrounds they support. There is a bigger lesson organizations missed if they are only promoting diversity for diversity's sake. In his book "The End of Diversity as We Know It," Martin R. Davidson argues that a better aim is to embrace and build upon differences among employees.
Davidson, who was a chief development officer at the University of Virginia, also acknowledges that diversity initiatives can cause resistance and even conflict among employees. This can manifest itself in what Davidson calls "identity abrasions," feelings of resentment or defensiveness that come up when people are criticized for being insensitive or ignorant. He wrote that to make these teachable moments positive experiences for all parties involved, he recommends human resources officers implement five "principles of behavior." They are:
- Pausing: There is a natural tendency to react, but taking time to identify feelings and consider options helps in responding effectively to criticism.
- Connecting to larger goals: Meaningful goals make it easier to remember why it is worth engaging with another.
- Questioning yourself: This will help you come to a realistic and accurate understanding of what is happening in the exchange.
- Seeking out balanced support: Rather than just complaining to your friends who will have your back, seek out the counsel of trusted colleagues.
- Shifting mindset towards opportunity: It takes persistent willingness to be introspective.
Recruiting From Outside The Organization
Jan 18th
Cross-Posted From The Nonprofit Job Seeker
It's probably a safe assumption that your nonprofit is looking to find that great employee who will bring their organization to the next level. Too bad everyone else is, too.
Many nonprofits are turning to the Internet for their recruiting. Organizations are finding it much easier to find new employees by using social media sites and online job boards. These are all great recruiting tools, but it's important to remember they aren't your only options.
In “The Big Book of HR,” Barbara Mitchell and Cornelia Gamlem remind organizations of the following recruiting methods to use in addition to the Internet:
It's probably a safe assumption that your nonprofit is looking to find that great employee who will bring their organization to the next level. Too bad everyone else is, too.
- Former Employees: Not every employee that left went out on bad terms. If you have a good exiting process, it will be easy to identify the reasons they left, and which ones you would like to have back.
- Retirees: It is becoming increasingly difficult for retirees to live without some income. Consider bringing some of these individuals back to do special projects.
- Radio/TV Ads: If you have enough room in your budget, take out an ad on the radio or TV to invite job seekers to your career Website.
- State Employment Offices: All states have offices where you can list open positions. These agencies do a great job of linking job seekers to open positions, so don't discount the amount of help you can get from them.
Handling Employee Online Privacy
Jan 10th
One of the big responsibilities of human resources is to make sure employees are treated fairly and their privacy is protected. Employees expect what happens in the office to remain there, but today's technology allows people to easily spread the word out to countless people.
It's up to HR to make sure this doesn't happen so the organization can avoid any legal problems. But how to do this when the technology makes it so easy? Jeffrey S. Tenenbaum and Lisa M. Hix of D.C.-based Venable LLP offered some tips on how nonprofits can better handle these sticky situations:
It's up to HR to make sure this doesn't happen so the organization can avoid any legal problems. But how to do this when the technology makes it so easy? Jeffrey S. Tenenbaum and Lisa M. Hix of D.C.-based Venable LLP offered some tips on how nonprofits can better handle these sticky situations:
- Employees are going to use their computers for personal use whether you like it or not. It's an unavoidable fact of life, so make sure staff is educated on what they can and can't post.
- You need a clear and reasonable policy that explains expectations on usage. It should reduce any expectation of privacy on the organization’s computers or email, phone/voicemail or Blackberry systems and the data on them.
- Make sure the policy you create addresses permissible use while guarding against potential legal pitfalls.
- Always be prepared. Organize a team (consisting of legal, executive, marketing, and HR staff) before a crisis happens, not after.
- Want to check out a potential employee's online interactions? Get written consent from them first.
- Screen all your candidates the same way. Don't treat one different than the other.
- Remember that you can only decide not to hire someone based on online interactions if it's a non-discriminatory reason. For example, you can't just not hire a person because you found out they have different political beliefs than you.
Hiring In Today’s Job Market
Jan 4th
Originally Posted on The Nonprofit Job Seeker
Recruiting the right employees is a tough task in today's job market. Nonprofits must be diligent in the hiring process if they are to be successful. It all starts with understanding the needs of the organization.
That sounds simple enough. There's an opening for a major gift officer at the organization so the ideal course of action would be to look for someone with that kind of background, right? That's the basic idea, but there needs to be more long-term thinking involved. An organization should not only hire for today's needs, but also for the future. Avoid the temptation to simply fill a pressing need with a candidate who seems promising. Make sure they fit the organization's plans going forward.
Next, you should take a step back and analyze the position you are attempting to fill. Ask yourself what kind of people do this job the best. For example, if your organization needed a new CEO, you would probably want to look for people with exceptional leadership abilities.
You should also remember to take advantage of your greatest resource: Your current employees. There's a good possibility that one of them has done the job in question before, and you can use their knowledge to figure out who the ideal candidate is. This will help refine your selection process, making the probability of a bad hire less likely.
It's a competitive job market out there, and there will be tons of candidates knocking at your door. It's up to you to use these tips to narrow the applicants to find your finalist.
Recruiting the right employees is a tough task in today's job market. Nonprofits must be diligent in the hiring process if they are to be successful. It all starts with understanding the needs of the organization.
That sounds simple enough. There's an opening for a major gift officer at the organization so the ideal course of action would be to look for someone with that kind of background, right? That's the basic idea, but there needs to be more long-term thinking involved. An organization should not only hire for today's needs, but also for the future. Avoid the temptation to simply fill a pressing need with a candidate who seems promising. Make sure they fit the organization's plans going forward.
Next, you should take a step back and analyze the position you are attempting to fill. Ask yourself what kind of people do this job the best. For example, if your organization needed a new CEO, you would probably want to look for people with exceptional leadership abilities.
You should also remember to take advantage of your greatest resource: Your current employees. There's a good possibility that one of them has done the job in question before, and you can use their knowledge to figure out who the ideal candidate is. This will help refine your selection process, making the probability of a bad hire less likely.
It's a competitive job market out there, and there will be tons of candidates knocking at your door. It's up to you to use these tips to narrow the applicants to find your finalist.
The White House’s views on Nonprofit Leadership
Nov 15th
The White House Forum on Nonprofit Leadership is going on today. In attendance at this invitation only event is the who’s who in the nonprofit sector. What’s being said at the Forum is nothing new, we’ve heard it many times by many different speakers at many different conferences, and in many different reports (e.g Daring to Lead, Independent Sector-NGEN Fellows Report, Commongood Careers Diversity Report, 2011 Employment Trends Report, YNPN National Report, etc.. For example, here are some of the tweets:
- @CGCareers It’s not just about the ED, it’s about every single leader in your organization. John Ryan at Center for Creative Leadership.
#nplead - @CGCareers ”If we’re not developing leaders FROM w/in communities, I fear that we will not actually solve pressing problems.- John Rice
#nplead“ - @RafaelLopez2 Disconnect b/w intent of
#nonprofit sector & practice real, esp around racial and gender diversity-@echoinggreen Cheryl Dorsey#nplead @StephenBauer: Because we have under-invested in nonprofit talent we are not benefiting from top talent – Melody Barnes#NPLead- @StephenBauer “Spriggs – How do we convince the public that human service infrastructure is worth investing in for our long-term sustainability?
#NPLead“ - @kcambell We need to add human capital when talking ab jobs infrastructure. Its more than physical capital, we need training & skills -Spriggs
#NPLead - @saif305 “Nonprofits contributed over $779 Billion to US GDP – American Urban Institute”Melody Barnes – WH Domestic Policy Council
#nplead @paulschmitz1: Dr. William Spriggs asst sec of labor, nonprofits 3rd largest employment sector after retail & manufacturing#nplead- @RafaelLopez2 “Nonprofits employ over 13.5 million people in US, 10%of the American workforce.
#nplead“
Yet, people are excited and acting like this is new information. I have come to the conclusion it doesn’t matter what is being said in the sector but who is saying it. Hopefully now that members of the white house are saying nonprofit leadership is important — things will really change and ALL funders and the general public will support nonprofit leadership, capacity building, and infrastructure. As I’ve said before the culture of the nonprofit sector needs to change. I personally am excited to teach Human Resource Management to nonprofit graduate students at Grand Valley State University in January and equip them to be better leaders, support and develop all the staff within their organizations, and not just value diversity — but practice cultural competency!
Management Tip: 7 Essentials to Attracting Great Employees
Jul 6th
Here is a recent management tip direct from The NonProfit Times website. Check the management tips page often, as new ones are added every week.
***
Wondering why your organization has trouble attracting good employees?
Well, that article in The New York Times reporting your CEO has been found certifiably insane sure didn’t help, but in fact when it comes to hiring and retention, the times they are a changing.
In their book “Brand For Talent,” Mark Schumann and Libby Sartain offer information meant to show that getting and keeping top employees means awareness that present-day employees are not the same as those who grew up during the Depression, even if they are dealing with the Great Recession.
Schumann and Sartain offer seven essentials that can help deal with a new situation.
• Wake up. Today’s job-seekers see themselves, not you, as the consumers. With a world of information at their fingertips, and the savvy to maneuver it, they are looking for something that satisfies them.
• Look ahead. You might have to market yourself as a good place to work. Think sensibilities, challenges, lessons, opportunities, the future.
• Create. A company must creatively market its employer brand to each segment of worker it hopes to secure.
• Segment. As with marketing, segmenting means adapting the talent brand message for each segment based on insight into audience needs and preferences.
• Implement. Be recognized, believed, personalized, and remembered.
• Sustain. There must be alignment of the culture, corporate identity and the consumer and employer brands.
• Survive. Be aware of and utilize social media to your benefit.
***
Wondering why your organization has trouble attracting good employees?
Well, that article in The New York Times reporting your CEO has been found certifiably insane sure didn’t help, but in fact when it comes to hiring and retention, the times they are a changing.
In their book “Brand For Talent,” Mark Schumann and Libby Sartain offer information meant to show that getting and keeping top employees means awareness that present-day employees are not the same as those who grew up during the Depression, even if they are dealing with the Great Recession.
Schumann and Sartain offer seven essentials that can help deal with a new situation.
• Wake up. Today’s job-seekers see themselves, not you, as the consumers. With a world of information at their fingertips, and the savvy to maneuver it, they are looking for something that satisfies them.
• Look ahead. You might have to market yourself as a good place to work. Think sensibilities, challenges, lessons, opportunities, the future.
• Create. A company must creatively market its employer brand to each segment of worker it hopes to secure.
• Segment. As with marketing, segmenting means adapting the talent brand message for each segment based on insight into audience needs and preferences.
• Implement. Be recognized, believed, personalized, and remembered.
• Sustain. There must be alignment of the culture, corporate identity and the consumer and employer brands.
• Survive. Be aware of and utilize social media to your benefit.
2011 Nonprofit Employment Trends Survey Report and Symposia
Jun 14th
For the second year in a row the Caster Family Center for Nonprofit and Philanthropic Research has co-produced the National Nonprofit Employment Trends Survey. This year the survey respondents included over 450 nonprofit organizations representing a variety of subsectors and budget sizes.
The report received a variety of press coverage:
Key findings from the 2011 report include:
- Although the HR function is viewed as critical within many organizations, it still remains a low priority for most organizations. Eighty-four percent of nonprofit respondents agreed that the HR function is critical to their organization’s ability to fulfill its mission, yet few prioritize the HR function within their organizations. The majority of respondent organizations (52 percent) do not have a dedicated HR professional and 55 percent rely upon existing staff to handle new programs and or initiatives.
- Nearly a quarter of nonprofits lost staff in 2010. However 60 percent of those organizations indicated that they intend to hire or are considering the creation of new positions in 2011. This finding was consistent irrespective of the size of the organization.
- When nonprofits lay off staff, 81 percent report using existing staff to fulfill the duties of the eliminated position. This is a worrisome trend as it could lead to
burnout and premature turnover. - Turnover remains low. Economic improvements are not being realized as quickly as anticipated. Findings from this year’s survey revealed that turnover remains low within nonprofit organizations. Turnover rates for respondent organizations were calculated at 13 percent compared to last year’s rate of 21 percent. This low turnover rate is an indication that the economy might not be improving as quickly for nonprofits as it is for other sectors.
- It’s still “who you know” when it comes to nonprofit recruitment. Nonprofits primarily use in person networking and newspapers to recruit job candidates. This is surprising considering the rapid growth and affordability of social networking tools over the past few years. This practice also has the potential to negatively impact diversity efforts.
The Caster Center co-organized three symposia around the country to present these key findings to the general public and bring in experts on the topic of human resource management and risk management. Last Friday, over 75 people attended the San Diego symposium. As part of the planning process, I collected best practice nonprofit HR resources and presentations from the presenters. These resources and presentations are available through USD’s IdeaEncore online library.
Notes from the Nonprofit Human Resources Management Symposium in San Diego
Jun 25th
I am pleased to report that the Nonprofit Human Resources Management Symposium in San Diego was a success!! This was the first event that I planned from beginning to end and it was such a rewarding experience. I am thankful for the amazing human resource management experts who took the time to come and present at our event. I feel lucky to know such talented people in the nonprofit sector -- Lisa Morton, Laura Gassner Otting, Emily Davis, Joe Brown, Sherri Petro, Christopher Olmsted, Ann Shanklin, and Karen Horning -- you all rock!!!
I also want to thank my wonderful co-workers for helping with the event and most of all I want to thank my boss Laura Deitrick (director of the Caster Family Center for Nonprofit and Philanthropic Research) who let me run with this idea. Laura, thanks for always believing in me and my ideas!!
I am happy to report that many of the speakers allowed us to post their presentations on slideshare for your viewing pleasure. We also had volunteer note takers capture key points from the breakout seminars. These notes are posted on the Institute for Nonprofit Education and Research's blog.
Please take a moment to refresh your HR skills by viewing the blog posts and presentations from the event.
If you are interested in more professional development opportunities in nonprofit human resources management, please register for the Nonprofit Human Resources Management Conference (October 3-5 in Washington D.C.), organized by Nonprofit HR Solutions.
I also want to thank my wonderful co-workers for helping with the event and most of all I want to thank my boss Laura Deitrick (director of the Caster Family Center for Nonprofit and Philanthropic Research) who let me run with this idea. Laura, thanks for always believing in me and my ideas!!
I am happy to report that many of the speakers allowed us to post their presentations on slideshare for your viewing pleasure. We also had volunteer note takers capture key points from the breakout seminars. These notes are posted on the Institute for Nonprofit Education and Research's blog.
Please take a moment to refresh your HR skills by viewing the blog posts and presentations from the event.
If you are interested in more professional development opportunities in nonprofit human resources management, please register for the Nonprofit Human Resources Management Conference (October 3-5 in Washington D.C.), organized by Nonprofit HR Solutions.
Notes from the Nonprofit Human Resources Management Symposium in San Diego
Jun 25th
I am pleased to report that the Nonprofit Human Resources Management Symposium in San Diego was a success!! This was the first event that I planned from beginning to end and it was such a rewarding experience. I am thankful for the amazing human resource management experts who took the time to come and present at our event. I feel lucky to know such talented people in the nonprofit sector — Lisa Morton, Laura Gassner Otting, Emily Davis, Joe Brown, Sherri Petro, Christopher Olmsted, Ann Shanklin, and Karen Horning — you all rock!!!
I also want to thank my wonderful co-workers for helping with the event and most of all I want to thank my boss Laura Deitrick (director of the Caster Family Center for Nonprofit and Philanthropic Research) who let me run with this idea. Laura, thanks for always believing in me and my ideas!!
I am happy to report that many of the speakers allowed us to post their presentations on slideshare for your viewing pleasure. We also had volunteer note takers capture key points from the breakout seminars. These notes are posted on the Institute for Nonprofit Education and Research’s blog.
Please take a moment to refresh your HR skills by viewing the blog posts and presentations from the event.
If you are interested in more professional development opportunities in nonprofit human resources management, please register for the Nonprofit Human Resources Management Conference (October 3-5 in Washington D.C.), organized by Nonprofit HR Solutions.
2010 Nonprofit Employment Trends Survey Results
May 21st
Over the past five months I served as the team leader for the 2010 Nonprofit Employment Trends Survey, a research project of the Caster Family Center for Nonprofit and Philanthropic Research.
Nonprofit HR Solutions (a Washington DC based nonprofit human resources consulting firm) approached us to work on this national survey of nonprofit employment practices. I am happy to report that the data we collected is representative of organizations across the nonprofit sector by size, subsector, and location!!
The Caster Center will be hosting a Nonprofit Human Resource Management Symposium to discuss the key findings and implications this data on San Diego area nonprofits. I would like to highlight a few of these key findings here along with my commentary.
1. The nonprofit job market appears to be stabilizing. Nonprofits are starting to recover from the economic downturn and they are planning to hire new staff in the latter part of 2010 into 2011.
2. Nonprofits are doing more with less. As the demand for nonprofit services increases, nonprofits are turning to current employees to get the work done rather than hiring new employees. This is especially the case with smaller organizations. This staffing strategy has potential negative consequences of employee burnout and voluntary turnover.
3. Succession planning continues to be a problem for organizations. For senior and executive level positions, nonprofits are hiring from outside of the organization. This is especially disconcerting for emerging leaders. There are few opportunities for upward mobility within nonprofit organizations and the move out to move up mentality still rings true. (This finding mirrors the NP2020 research)
Click here to access the full report.
Nonprofit HR Solutions (a Washington DC based nonprofit human resources consulting firm) approached us to work on this national survey of nonprofit employment practices. I am happy to report that the data we collected is representative of organizations across the nonprofit sector by size, subsector, and location!!
The Caster Center will be hosting a Nonprofit Human Resource Management Symposium to discuss the key findings and implications this data on San Diego area nonprofits. I would like to highlight a few of these key findings here along with my commentary.
1. The nonprofit job market appears to be stabilizing. Nonprofits are starting to recover from the economic downturn and they are planning to hire new staff in the latter part of 2010 into 2011.
2. Nonprofits are doing more with less. As the demand for nonprofit services increases, nonprofits are turning to current employees to get the work done rather than hiring new employees. This is especially the case with smaller organizations. This staffing strategy has potential negative consequences of employee burnout and voluntary turnover.
3. Succession planning continues to be a problem for organizations. For senior and executive level positions, nonprofits are hiring from outside of the organization. This is especially disconcerting for emerging leaders. There are few opportunities for upward mobility within nonprofit organizations and the move out to move up mentality still rings true. (This finding mirrors the NP2020 research)
Click here to access the full report.
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