TM - June 2008 - (Page 31) Add a Personal Touch to Nonprofit Recruitment and Retention Lindsay Edmonds Wickman In the nonprofit sector, a motivational strategy can be just as crucial to attracting and retaining talent as providing a competitive compensation and benefits package. As a result, the mission of the nonprofit has to be clearly aligned with the culture so employees stay intrinsically motivated. “There needs to be real alignment between how people are treated internally and what your mission, your vision and your objectives are for people outside of the organization,” said Chris Musselwhite, president and CEO of Discovery Learning Inc., which provides executive education and organizational leadership development products. If employees are disenchanted and lack motivation, the results can be especially damaging for a nonprofit. “You put your values out there because it’s clear what you’re about and what your mission is,” Musselwhite said. “When the culture of your organization is inconsistent or doesn’t match those values, it becomes a lot more obvious to people and a lot more damaging. It creates more discontent than it might in the for-profit sector where the clearly stated purpose may be to make money.” For cash and resource strapped nonprofit organizations it is even more important to create an interactive environment in which employees feel recognized and appreciated. To do this, Musselwhite said managers should take time to acknowledge employees for what is working. Regular meetings should be scheduled so employees can give reports on their successes. These meetings also provide a forum for employees to clarify what’s not working and to solicit feedback or potential solutions from peers and leaders. To be successful, though, this behavior must be modeled from the top down. “It has to start at the top of the organization, and it has to become part of the culture,” Musselwhite said. “Typically, a mid-level manager is not going to manage his or her employees in a really effective way when [the mid-level manager is] being managed ineffectively.” Creating a culture of motivation also should actively encourage managers to provide their employees with development opportunities. One way to do this is through targeted projects. When assigning a project, managers should clearly communicate the desired end result and the parameters in which employees must work, Musselwhite said. Then employees can decide how they’re going to achieve the end result. In doing this, managers are giving employees the independence to develop their own solutions. Some nonprofits understand how to motivate employees better than others, just like in the for-profit sector. However, the nonprofit organization is more likely to keep its talent by leveraging engagement or motivation and rewards-based performance management strategies than the for-profit company, where tangible compensation often plays a larger role in work or career considerations. “The smart [organizations] are learning, especially with knowledge employees, that if they want to keep them, they’re going to have do [this],” Musselwhite said. “When people leave their jobs, the No. 1 reason they report leaving is not because they got more money somewhere else — it’s because they didn’t like their manager. If I come along and offer you a little bit more money and you’re miserable, you’re probably going to go. But if you’re really happy, I’m not sure offering you a little bit more money is going to be enough to pull you away.” To ensure employees stay intrinsically motivated, nonprofits should cultivate effective and inspiring leaders who invest in their teams. Musselwhite said something as simple as taking time to get to know employees on a personal level will build trust and provide insight into what motivates them. “Especially with employees that have options and are in demand, you’re going to have to create a work environment that meets the intrinsic needs, [where] they feel like they’re not just a cog in a wheel — they’re getting opportunities to advance, and they’re recognized when they do well,” he said. talent management magazine www.talentmgt.com 31 http://www.talentmgt.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of TM - June 2008 TM - June 2008 Editor’s Letter Contents Human Performance Leading Edge Foundations The New Components of Compliance Candid Culture: Embracing Employee Complaints Transitioning to a New Era: C&B at Nonprofits Three Ways to Build Successful Manager-Employee Relationships Implementing Successful Learning Programs The Succession Fix Fifth Third Bank: Putting People First Zaxby’s: Making Employees’ Jobs as Palatable as Its Menu Workforce Readiness: Preparing Personnel to Meet Business Goals Kelley Blue Book: Writing the Book on Performance Management Advertisers’ Index Editorial Resources Full Potential TM - June 2008 TM - June 2008 - (Page Intro) TM - June 2008 - TM - June 2008 (Page Cover1) TM - June 2008 - TM - June 2008 (Page Cover2) TM - June 2008 - TM - June 2008 (Page 3) TM - June 2008 - Editor’s Letter (Page 4) TM - June 2008 - Editor’s Letter (Page 5) TM - June 2008 - Editor’s Letter (Page 6) TM - June 2008 - Editor’s Letter (Page 7) TM - June 2008 - Editor’s Letter (Page 8) TM - June 2008 - Contents (Page 9) TM - June 2008 - Contents (Page 10) TM - June 2008 - Contents (Page 11) TM - June 2008 - Human Performance (Page 12) TM - June 2008 - Human Performance (Page 13) TM - June 2008 - Leading Edge (Page 14) TM - June 2008 - Leading Edge (Page 15) TM - June 2008 - Foundations (Page 16) TM - June 2008 - Foundations (Page 17) TM - June 2008 - The New Components of Compliance (Page 18) TM - June 2008 - The New Components of Compliance (Page 19) TM - June 2008 - The New Components of Compliance (Page 20) TM - June 2008 - The New Components of Compliance (Page 21) TM - June 2008 - The New Components of Compliance (Page 22) TM - June 2008 - The New Components of Compliance (Page 23) TM - June 2008 - Candid Culture: Embracing Employee Complaints (Page 24) TM - June 2008 - Candid Culture: Embracing Employee Complaints (Page 25) TM - June 2008 - Candid Culture: Embracing Employee Complaints (Page 26) TM - June 2008 - Candid Culture: Embracing Employee Complaints (Page 27) TM - June 2008 - Candid Culture: Embracing Employee Complaints (Page 28) TM - June 2008 - Candid Culture: Embracing Employee Complaints (Page 29) TM - June 2008 - Transitioning to a New Era: C&B at Nonprofits (Page 30) TM - June 2008 - Transitioning to a New Era: C&B at Nonprofits (Page 31) TM - June 2008 - Transitioning to a New Era: C&B at Nonprofits (Page 32) TM - June 2008 - Transitioning to a New Era: C&B at Nonprofits (Page 33) TM - June 2008 - Transitioning to a New Era: C&B at Nonprofits (Page 34) TM - June 2008 - Transitioning to a New Era: C&B at Nonprofits (Page 35) TM - June 2008 - Three Ways to Build Successful Manager-Employee Relationships (Page 36) TM - June 2008 - Three Ways to Build Successful Manager-Employee Relationships (Page 37) TM - June 2008 - Three Ways to Build Successful Manager-Employee Relationships (Page 38) TM - June 2008 - Three Ways to Build Successful Manager-Employee Relationships (Page 39) TM - June 2008 - Implementing Successful Learning Programs (Page 40) TM - June 2008 - Implementing Successful Learning Programs (Page 41) TM - June 2008 - The Succession Fix (Page 42) TM - June 2008 - The Succession Fix (Page 43) TM - June 2008 - The Succession Fix (Page 44) TM - June 2008 - The Succession Fix (Page 45) TM - June 2008 - The Succession Fix (Page 46) TM - June 2008 - The Succession Fix (Page 47) TM - June 2008 - The Succession Fix (Page 48) TM - June 2008 - The Succession Fix (Page 49) TM - June 2008 - Fifth Third Bank: Putting People First (Page 50) TM - June 2008 - Fifth Third Bank: Putting People First (Page 51) TM - June 2008 - Zaxby’s: Making Employees’ Jobs as Palatable as Its Menu (Page 52) TM - June 2008 - Zaxby’s: Making Employees’ Jobs as Palatable as Its Menu (Page 53) TM - June 2008 - Zaxby’s: Making Employees’ Jobs as Palatable as Its Menu (Page 54) TM - June 2008 - Zaxby’s: Making Employees’ Jobs as Palatable as Its Menu (Page 55) TM - June 2008 - Workforce Readiness: Preparing Personnel to Meet Business Goals (Page 56) TM - June 2008 - Workforce Readiness: Preparing Personnel to Meet Business Goals (Page 57) TM - June 2008 - Workforce Readiness: Preparing Personnel to Meet Business Goals (Page 58) TM - June 2008 - Workforce Readiness: Preparing Personnel to Meet Business Goals (Page 59) TM - June 2008 - Kelley Blue Book: Writing the Book on Performance Management (Page 60) TM - June 2008 - Kelley Blue Book: Writing the Book on Performance Management (Page 61) TM - June 2008 - Kelley Blue Book: Writing the Book on Performance Management (Page 62) TM - June 2008 - Kelley Blue Book: Writing the Book on Performance Management (Page 63) TM - June 2008 - Kelley Blue Book: Writing the Book on Performance Management (Page 64) TM - June 2008 - Editorial Resources (Page 65) TM - June 2008 - Full Potential (Page 66) TM - June 2008 - Full Potential (Page Cover3) TM - June 2008 - Full Potential (Page Cover4)
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.