An engaging communication strategy is vital for any business, regardless of the size of the organization or whether it is in the private or nonprofit sector. Good communications enable you to share and clarify your organization’s message, boost visibility and awareness, and generate engagement and support. This key element is involved in every charitable campaign, project, or event, so you need to develop a nonprofit communication strategy your organization can count on.

In this blog post, we’ll share some insights about communication strategies for nonprofits and how you can develop one that gets results for your mission.

What is a Nonprofit Communication Strategy?

A communication strategy for nonprofit organizations is an intentional, custom framework that allows for seamless communication with donors, media, beneficiaries, volunteers, stakeholders, and the public. It’s more than a messaging system or a way to distribute the latest information; a strong communications strategy serves as a roadmap for creating, delivering and managing consistent and meaningful messages with impact—supporting the organization’s goals and mission.

Why is an Efficient Nonprofit Communication Strategy an Important Organizational Task?

We touched on some reasons that a communication plan is vital for nonprofits, such as communicating a clear and consistent message, boosting visibility and awareness, and facilitating engagement.

Here are some additional reasons to help you understand why a communication strategy is essential.

• Clarity of Messaging: A well-crafted communication strategy helps nonprofits express their values, mission and goals, clearly and consistently.
• Awareness and Visibility: Nonprofits rely on consistent visibility and public awareness for continuous support. The right messaging ensures the nonprofit’s initiatives, achievements and impact are in the public consciousness to help attract more contributions.
• Build Relationships: With stellar messaging, nonprofit organizations can build strong relationships with donors, the public and stakeholders. Strong messaging helps donors stay connected to a cause, volunteers feel engaged, and beneficiaries have a deeper understanding of how their lives are impacted by the organization’s efforts.

5 Steps to Create an Effective Nonprofit Communications Strategy

A high-performing nonprofit communication plan answers the core questions: What? When? Who? Where? How?

We’ve come up with five steps to create an effective nonprofit communication strategy to gain all the benefits needed to run a successful nonprofit company or fundraising event, using the basic questions to guide your nonprofit toward success.

1. Set Goals and Objectives (What?)

Essentially, what do you want your communication strategy to do? There are many different types of goals you might choose. A perennial favorite set of goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Resourced and Time-Bound (SMART), which help point you toward the broad outcomes you want to achieve through your communications — but any set of goals that helps you do that will work.

Consider establishing goals such as seeking fundraising from corporate donors, building branding and awareness, and engaging your local community.

Your objectives should always reflect the ways in which you and your team are working on the goals you want to reach for optimal transparency and trust-building.

2. Establish a Timeline and Frequency (When?)

It’s important to determine the overarching timeline for sending out communications from your nonprofit. It’s just as important to determine how much communication your audience wants — you don’t want to flood someone’s inbox, turning him or her off from your messaging completely.

Further, the frequency is different for diverse types of communication. For example, you might publish one or two blog posts per week, several social media post each week and send out one email daily. If you have a fast-approaching event, you might increase the communication frequency for your most effective channels.

3. Know Your Audience (Who?)

Knowing your audience, speaking to them directly, and providing them meaningful information are essential ways to drive engagement with the right donors and stakeholders. For instance, do you want to gain new donors or update long-term existing donors? If you want to send regular emails or newsletters, either separate the different donors manually or find the right donor data segmentation support to make it easier.

4. Clarify Your Message and Create Content with Integrity and Transparency (Where?)

Clarify your brand and message, ensuring it is simple, consistent, and easily understood. Focus on the high-level point you want to make each time, such as your mission, why you need financial support and the donor’s impact. By sharing these things, you are providing effective storytelling, which frequently resonates with donors. You will build trust, transparency and honesty in your messaging that inspires people to support your organization and keep coming back.

Share your messages through the channels listed above and others, including blog posts, social media posts, print media, television advertising, and radio commercials when applicable.

5. Evaluate Your Strategy (How?)

It’s important to regularly check to see how your nonprofit’s communications strategy is doing. At a minimum, take the time and effort to evaluate your strategy and planning process on a monthly basis. Review your past work to see how effective it was, using key performance indicators (KPIs) and choosing the best metrics to determine whether you are on track to meet your communication goals.

Here are some KPIs to consider in your evaluation process:

• Website page views
• Fundraising ROI
• Donor and donation growth
• Donor retention rate
• Email open and click-through rates
• Gifts secured
• Beneficiary satisfaction rate
• Program efficiency

Summing Up

An effective communications strategy will allow your nonprofit organization to reach your audience and create meaningful engagement that satisfies donors, stakeholders, and beneficiaries. Our UST HR Workplace can help you develop, launch and maintain a powerful communications strategy wherein you foster connection through targeted outreach and helpful, timely information and prompts for action.

Contact us to learn more about how we can help you serve your population.

Sources

https://www.networkforgood.com/resource/top-10-reasons-for-creating-a-communications-plan/

https://afpglobal.org/introduction-donor-data-segmentation?gclid=Cj0KCQjwi7GnBhDXARIsAFLvH4lx3Yi9Sgx1Gsu3xA3LhGM3k_Kh1vPC6ERjW8xZcLk6qHugFYiz4lEaAogtEALw_wcB

20 KPIs For Nonprofits to Track Over Time

Running a nonprofit organization requires a tremendous amount of teamwork and collaboration. In today’s digital age, many nonprofits have adapted to remote work models to be more efficient, cost-effective, and flexible. However, when it comes to remote collaboration, challenges such as communication barriers, cultural differences, and time zone disparities can make it difficult to maintain effective collaboration across your workforce.

In this blog, we’ll share effective strategies that can help you enhance remote collaboration throughout your nonprofit organization.

Invest in the Right Collaboration Tools

Your organization needs the right tools to help improve collaboration among remote teams. Some essential tools that can help include cloud-based document sharing platforms like Google Docs and Dropbox, video-conferencing apps like Zoom and Skype, chat and messaging apps like Slack, and project management tools like Trello and Asana.

Establish Clear Guidelines for Effective Communication

Communication is the lifeblood of collaboration. To ensure effective collaboration, it’s important to establish clear communication guidelines and protocols that apply to all members of your organization. These guidelines should include standards for language, tone, response times, and how to handle disagreements.

Foster a Culture of Open Communication

Remote collaboration requires a more inclusive and transparent communication approach. Encourage your team members to be more open and transparent in their communication while ensuring that they are effectively listened to and their opinions noted. This will ensure that every member of your team has an equal chance to share their ideas, which will ultimately lead to more effective collaboration.

Develop Work-Collaboration Schedules

As remote teams can be scattered around the world, it’s essential to have defined collaboration schedules to ensure that all members of the team can contribute. Work-collaboration schedules can cover topics such as project meetings, deadlines, shared work times, etc.

Train your Team in Virtual Collaboration Skills

Provide training and workshops to your team, informing them on best practices in virtual collaboration skills relevant to your workforce. Proper training and education in virtual communication, project management, and teamwork will create well-rounded staff who are more effective in a virtual work environment.

It’s essential to embrace and encourage a healthy culture of remote collaboration. By providing your team with the resources for safe and productive collaboration, you’re helping foster an environment of creativity, connectedness, and efficiency. With the right tools in place, you won’t have to compromise on quality or efficiency as people work from wherever they are most comfortable and productive. A strong foundation made up of communication, trust, transparency, and open-mindedness can help take your nonprofit to another level. Your employees will feel empowered knowing that their work matters and that they are part of an organization with core values that enable greater collaboration across your remote workforce. Don’t hesitate to invest in the tools necessary to support remote collaboration – it could be the keystone for your nonprofit’s success.

Find more resources to help your nonprofit navigate the digital age with UST’s blogs.

Question: What are effective ways to manage remote employees and monitor their work? 

Answer: Managing remote employees can certainly be a challenge. Here are some of the practices we recommend: 

• Set measurable goals around quality of work. Whether employees get their work done to your satisfaction is more important to your bottom line than whether they’re always at their workstation. Make all the resources necessary for employees to do their jobs remotely easily available. These may include phones, computers, extra monitors, video conferencing software, and instant messaging apps. If you need employees to have fast internet speeds, consider subsidizing the necessary costs. 
• Create and communicate a work-from-home policy so everyone knows what’s expected of them.
• Talk regularly with employees about what’s working well and not-so-well. Encourage them to reach out to HR or a manager if remote work is causing any difficulties or challenges.  
• Hold all meetings virtually, even if some people are working in a company office, so everyone is equally able to participate. This means having employees who are in the workplace login from their individual computers and not be in the same room as their other in-office colleagues during the meeting. 
• Promote a good work-life balance by making sure remote employees know when their workday ends. It’s very easy for employees working at home to spend more time working than they would in an office environment.

This Q&A was provided by Mineral, powering the UST HR Workplace. Have HR questions? Sign your nonprofit up for a FREE 60-day trial here. As a UST member, simply log into your Mineral portal to access live HR certified consultants, 300+ on-demand training courses, an extensive compliance library, and more.

Strong management is essential for any organization, and that certainly includes nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit management skills are the foundation of success for leaders who carry the responsibility of supporting and advancing the organization’s mission. Professionals in nonprofit management roles are also responsible for managing teams to accomplish goals while administering resources and ensuring accountability to stakeholders. 

In this blog post, we will look more closely at the importance of strong not-for-profit management skills and how you can ensure your team keeps your nonprofit business running smoothly. 

What Is Nonprofit Management? 

The primary goal of a nonprofit organization is often to raise funds for a cause or provide service to a group or community. There are many moving parts to such an operation—making nonprofit management skills essential—since the role’s primary function is the oversight of processes, strategies, and events that drive an organization toward its short- and long-term objectives. 

Professionals working as part of a nonprofit management team face several tasks to ensure that the organization is operating effectively and efficiently. These tasks include managing personnel, overseeing the financial budget, and ensuring regulatory compliance for any fundraising events, tactics, and strategies on the horizon. 

Why Are Management and Leadership Skills in Nonprofit Organizations Important for Your Organization? 

A prominent aspect of nonprofit management involves finding and developing the ideal qualities needed for nonprofit managers who understand what it takes to lead your nonprofit organization. Your management team should have the skills and passion to motivate volunteers and staff to work together to achieve unified short- and long-term goals.  

Since many nonprofits use a rotating group of individuals to volunteer or serve as employees, it is especially important for nonprofit management to remain adaptable—understanding how to inspire individuals with outside jobs and other responsibilities. 

One of the top leadership skills in nonprofit organizations is the ability to establish order and organization while maintaining authority and providing upbeat motivation—it is a unique and vital position in the nonprofit space. 

Essential Management Skills for Nonprofit Leaders 

Now that you know how important good management is, we’ll explore what essential skills to look for when choosing candidates for your executive team. 

Financial Management 

Proper financial management is a critically important part of running a successful not-for-profit organization. Ensuring your financials are in order ensures that your nonprofit can sustain operations, fulfill its mission, and remain accountable to all stakeholders, including those at the government level. 

Some tasks involved with financial management include the following: 

• Budgeting, providing a roadmap for resource allocation 
• Monitoring cash flow to make sure your organization can always pay salaries and fulfill the organization’s mission 
• Financial reporting and transparency to ensure accountability and trust among stakeholders and the community 
• Handling cost control by evaluating expenses, negotiating vendor contracts and identifying any opportunities to save costs 
• Developing and coordinating fundraising strategies, cultivating good relationships between donors and seeking grant opportunities 
• Overseeing grant management by finding grant opportunities, tracking requirements, composing and submitting proposals, ensuring compliance with grant stipulations and overseeing use of grant funding 
• Establishing financial reserves to provide your nonprofit with a safety net to guard against unforeseen financial issues 
• Implementing and monitoring strong internal controls to prevent mismanagement of funds and fraud by establishing and instituting clear policies and procedures for handling organizational finances or any data related to your nonprofit’s finances 
• Ensuring legal and regulatory compliance for matters including financial reporting and tax laws 

Strategic Planning 

Strategic planning is one of the top nonprofit management skills, as it steers the organization’s direction. It also helps establish priorities and ensures alignment with the organization’s mission and goals. 

Here are some tasks associated with strategic planning for nonprofits: 

• Regularly reaffirm your nonprofit organization’s goals and mission 
• Identify and understand the beneficiaries, volunteers, staff, donors and partners, along with their needs and expectations 
• Conduct regular SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) evaluations to ensure your organization continues to grow and improve 
• Set clear and measurable goals for the organization and its employees and volunteers, using the SWOT analysis results 
• Develop meaningful strategic initiatives with actionable steps to achieve defined goals 
• Allocate resources, including human, technological and financial, to support strategic initiatives 
• Implement strategic plans, setting timelines and milestones while assigning responsibilities to respective staff and volunteers 

Relationship Building and Communication Skills 

Since nonprofit organizations typically attract individuals who enjoy seeking a higher purpose, relationship building, and strong communication skills are fundamental in not-for-profit management. Your management team must establish and nurture relationships with stakeholders, who consist of volunteers, donors, beneficiaries, partners, and the community. All these individuals and groups contribute to the success of your organization and its mission. 

  Here are a few criteria associated with effective relationship building and communication: 

• Understanding stakeholders, including their goals, needs and concerns 
• Establishing open and transparent communication pathways 
• Providing tailored engagement, recognizing that each stakeholder is unique 
• Engaging in active listening when working with various stakeholders, hearing their feedback, suggestions and questions 
• Ensuring personal engagement with stakeholders, remembering their names, ideas and goals  
• Seeking opportunities to join forces with similar or like-minded organizations to expand your network 

Additional skills useful in relationship building and communication include donor stewardship, ethical engagement and continuous engagement. 

Decision-Making 

Quick and effective decision-making skills are vital for nonprofit management leadership. Such skills allow them to tend to the organization’s resources, resource allocation, strategies and overall success. 

Here are some elements for successful decision-making for your not-for-profit managers: 

• Staying clear on the organization’s mission and values 
• Relying on data to make decisions 
• Involving relevant stakeholders 
• Aligning decisions with the organization’s goals and activities, practically and ethically 

Promoting Professional Growth for Employees 

Just as you find individuals who want professional growth in for-profit businesses, you also find them in the nonprofit sector. Ensure your management team recognizes this need for employees to grow and thrive as they help you meet your organization’s goals.

Here are some things you can do:

• Provide training and workshops. 
• Encourage skill-building among employees and volunteers. 
• Support cross-training between individuals and departments. 
• Mentor and coach talented staff and volunteers. 
• Invite staff and volunteers to professional seminars and conferences. 

The success of any nonprofit organization begins with strong management, and it takes a skilled team to optimize resources and manage investments. Leveraging the right strategies and skill sets helps nonprofits create a network of committed supporters and creates an impact in the local community. With UST HR Workplace, you can find solutions to help give your management team the tools they need to drive your nonprofit forward. We understand the unique challenges of nonprofit organizations and have created our system in response to those needs. Visit UST HR Workplace today and let us show you how we can help you succeed!

Sources 

https://nla1.org/nonprofit-management-skills/ 

https://www.cmich.edu/blog/all-things-higher-ed/top-18-essential-nonprofit-management-skills-and-development-tips 

Running productive meetings is a crucial aspect of ensuring a nonprofit organization’s success—especially when the team is working remotely. Virtual meetings have become the norm due to the rise of remote workforces. However, holding meetings remotely also presents unique challenges that can affect their efficiency. In this blog, we will discuss essential tips that nonprofit leaders can leverage to run productive meetings with a remote workforce.

1. Define the meeting’s goals and agenda: Before hosting a virtual meeting, you need to have specific objectives that you want to achieve during the session. Defining the goal and agenda of the meeting beforehand ensures that everyone is on the same page and can prepare accordingly. Having a clear agenda can help keep the meeting focused, minimize distractions, and improve engagement.

2. Choose the right communication tools: Selecting the right communication tools can significantly improve the productivity of your virtual meetings. Consider using a reliable video conferencing platform that allows everyone to participate and share their ideas. Additionally, choose a platform that enhances collaborative features such as instant messaging, screen sharing, virtual breakout rooms, recording capabilities, and many more.

3. Set clear expectations for participants: Ensure that all meeting participants are aware of their roles, expectations, and responsibilities during the session. This includes specifying what participants should prepare beforehand and where they should share any follow-up information or feedback. Clear expectations foster a sense of accountability and enable you to achieve the set meeting objectives.

4. Foster an inclusive environment: Inclusivity is essential, particularly when working with a remote workforce. Ensure that everyone has an opportunity to participate and contribute during the meeting. Encourage open and respectful communication among staff members by creating a relaxed and conducive environment. Additionally, respect your team’s time by starting and ending the meeting promptly.

5. Follow up after the meeting:  After the meeting, be sure to provide a summary of the discussion, conclusions, and any necessary action items. Share the information with all concerned parties and ensure that everyone understands next steps, and clear action plans are in place. Following up after the meeting is essential to ensure that the meeting’s objectives are achieved and that progress towards achieving the set goals is monitored.

Following the tips above can help remote teams stay connected, engaged, and productive during virtual meetings. By using the right communication tools, setting clear expectations, fostering inclusivity, and following up after the meeting, you can effectively run productive meetings with remote teams. As a nonprofit organization, you must use every tool and resource available to ensure the success of your meetings and ultimately achieve your mission.

Question: What are some typical examples of employee discipline? Are there any you recommend?

Answer: Discipline should reflect the severity of the behavior, attempt to correct it, and be applied consistently. You’ll want to consider how you addressed certain behaviors in the past and the precedent you want to set for the future. For instance, if you jump straight to a final warning when a certain employee is an hour late to work, but let another employee come in late regularly without so much as a written warning, you’re setting yourself up for trouble.

We generally recommend progressive discipline. This means you start small and work your way up to termination. Progressive discipline often includes these steps:

• Oral counseling/warning(s)
• Written warning(s)
• Final written warning
• Unpaid suspension—we generally don’t recommend this, as it’s likely to make the employee more disgruntled than they were before, and ultimately be more harmful than helpful, but you may find that it’s appropriate in some circumstances; be sure to keep reporting time pay in mind for non-exempt employees, depending on state law
• Termination

At each step, make your expectations clear, notify the employee of the consequences should they fail to improve (that they’ll be one step closer to termination), and document what actions you took. The warnings you give to the employee should stick to the facts, i.e., what infraction was observed, when it occurred, and what policy or policies was violated. Opinions about the infraction should be left out, as these are easily disputed. For example, “Yesterday, you arrived 20 minutes late in violation of our attendance policy” simply states the facts, whereas “You’re always tardy and can’t be trusted to arrive on time” is likely to get pushback.

This Q&A was provided by Mineral, powering the UST HR Workplace. Have HR questions? Sign your nonprofit up for a FREE 60-day trial here. As a UST member, simply log into your Mineral portal to access live HR certified consultants, 300+ on-demand training courses, an extensive compliance library, and more.

A strategic plan provides a clear process of determining, documenting, and establishing the direction of a nonprofit organization.

Strategic planning for nonprofit organizations like yours is crucial, allowing you to assess where your nonprofit is at now and where you want it to go. It allows your nonprofit decision-makers to see the big picture and make the desired impact on your community.

Let’s find out more about this important process and what it can do for your nonprofit.

What Is a Strategic Plan for Nonprofits?

A strategic plan for nonprofits is a full process that allows leadership to identify key elements on a well-defined map that helps organizations define their goals for their organization and their community. It asks your nonprofit leaders to create or define goals and objectives and empowers them to make the necessary decisions to achieve them.

The Top 5 Steps for Implementing a Strategic Plan

Like all nonprofit leadership, your goal is to serve your community. It is more challenging to do so without a solid, strategic plan to guide you and your devoted team. There are some steps you can take to develop and implement a strategic plan that helps everyone in your organization stay on track to successfully support your mission.

Let’s look at the following five steps that you can use to implement a strategic plan.

1. Complete a SWOT analysis and set goals

The first step in developing and implementing a strategic plan is setting clear goals and defining the variables that help you achieve them. A SWOT is a basic technique used by all types of businesses, including nonprofit organizations, to identify processes in an organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, risks and threats to your organization. Many nonprofits rely on it to help with personnel evaluations and marketing campaign planning, in addition to standard organization-wide strategic planning.

2. Set SMART objectives

SMART objectives can be powerful tools in helping support your mission, providing landmarks to help you achieve your larger goals.

Here is what SMART objectives are and what they allow you to do:

• Specific — Target a specific area for analysis and improvement
• Measurable — Quantify or at least suggest an indicator of progress
• Assignable — Specify who will do it and delegate
• Realistic — State what results can realistically be achieved given available resources
• Time-based — Specify the timeline for achieving results

For example, SMART goals are essential in helping nonprofits manage fundraising events and seasons, letting everyone know where your nonprofit is in terms of financial goals.

3. Establish specific tactics to support each objective

The tactics you and your team use provide help to achieve the smaller, more specific tasks that your team members achieve your nonprofit’s overarching goals, focusing on the mission, budget and SMART initiatives.

4. Reevaluate information

Strategic planning isn’t necessarily static — factors will change over time. It’s important to adjust your goals and objectives as you move through the process.

5. Keep the plan dynamic to scale with your organization

As mentioned above, circumstances change. That makes it important to keep your plan dynamic and scalable. For example, you might achieve some goals sooner than others, allowing you to redirect to hit new benchmarks on an adjusted timeline.

6. UST is here to offer support along the way.

We offer a variety of resources and tools to help your nonprofit organization on it’s journey to building a strategic plan that supports your ever-growing and evolving leadership team.

If you’re looking for a cost effective workforce solution for your nonprofit, submit a FREE Cost Analysis and one of our consultants will be in touch with you.

SOURCES

https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0612/the-importance-of-strategic-planning.aspx

https://nonprofithub.org/why-most-swot-analyses-stink-2/

Nonprofit Strategic Planning: Ultimate Guide + 7 Examples

With the rise of remote work, more and more companies are forced to rely on virtual teams to get things done. Teamwork is one of the most essential aspects of any organization but remote-first employers are experiencing a unique set of challenges when it comes to creating effective collaboration and team building. Many organizations are recognizing the importance of team building exercises, especially when managing a remote workforce.

Without regular face-to-face interaction, remote workers can feel isolated and disconnected from their colleagues—making team building a crucial aspect of driving long-term success within your organization. Here, we explore the benefits of team building for remote teams, along with some practical strategies to help keep your remote team connected and engaged.

In this blog post, we will explore the benefits of team building exercises for remote teams and how they help to improve team dynamics, communication, and productivity.

1. Build Trust and Camaraderie: Trust is essential for any team to work efficiently, and virtual team building activities are an excellent way to help build trust among team members. Engaging in activities that make teams feel connected and trusted are just one of the essential elements of a well-functioning remote team. You can start with simple icebreaker activities like virtual coffee breaks or a weekly happy hour where team members can bond and get to know each other. Remember, when team members build trust, they are more likely to collaborate effectively and communicate openly.

2. Effective Collaboration: Team building modules that involve collaboration tasks among remote workers lead to efficient and productive teamwork. Remote teams need to learn how to work together, share ideas, and give timely feedback, which is essential to overcome the challenges of working from different time zones. Activities like virtual brainstorming, problem-solving, and discussion forums help to get the juices flowing and sharpen collaboration skills.

3. Reduce Isolation: Remote employees can feel disconnected, leading to isolation, which is bad for overall morale. By providing an avenue for team engagement, remote team members are less likely to experience feelings of loneliness, stress or burnout. Virtual team-building activities like fitness challenges, healthy cooking competitions, or book clubs can help keep remote workers energized and connected to their teams.

4. Encouraging Creativity: Remote teams often face creative challenges due to the geographical and cultural differences among team members. Team building exercises that promote creativity can help address these challenges by providing a creative outlet for team members. Virtual brainstorming sessions, online group discussions, and creative projects can help inspire creativity and encourage out-of-the-box thinking among remote team members.

5. Improved Communication: One of the most common challenges remote teams face is communication breakdown. However, virtual team building exercises not only promote communication but also provide opportunities for team members to get to know each other personally. Virtual team building exercises such as Virtual Scavenger Hunts, Remote Happy Hours, and Online Game Tournaments are excellent ways to bring together remote workers and help them bond on a personal level.

6. Increased Productivity and Job Satisfaction: Remote employees who are engaged and motivated are more productive and satisfied at work. Virtual team building activities can help fix this problem by creating a sense of community and shared purpose among your remote staff and when team members feel connected and engaged, they are more likely to be motivated about their work.

7. Building a Stronger Team: Finally, the ultimate goal of team building exercises is to create a stronger, more cohesive team. By engaging in virtual team building activities, remote workers can develop a shared sense of responsibility and accountability towards the team’s success. When team members perceive themselves as part of a team, they are more likely to support each other, be more engaged in their work and contribute positively towards the team’s goals.

Just because team building with remote workers can be challenging doesn’t mean it should be neglected. In fact, it’s more important now than ever. By implementing virtual team building activities, you can boost communication, productivity, and overall job satisfaction. This, in turn, contributes to a well-connected and efficient remote team, leading to the success of your organization. Don’t let remote work hinder your team’s potential – prioritize team building for your remote teams.

High employee turnover can be a major challenge for nonprofit organizations. When employees leave, it requires significant resources to train and orient new staff, leading to disruption in day-to-day operations. High turnover can also lead to an organizational culture of instability—reducing morale and weakening relationships with volunteers and donors.

Nonprofit organizations must take steps now to reduce turnover rates and retain their valued employees. Discover the latest trends in tackling high turnover rates and learn what you can do to ensure your workforce is engaged and driving your mission forward in this on-demand recording.
 
In this session, we’ll explore:

• The retention techniques utilized by your nonprofit peers
• How to identify and address the root causes of turnover
• Ways to engage and develop your workforce that foster job longevity

Upcoming UST Live Webinars: This webinar series was designed to equip nonprofits with the strategies and resources they need to survive (and thrive) in a constantly evolving environment. Be on the lookout for our September UST Live panel when we’ll discuss how having a diverse workforce—with individuals from different generations—can lead to a more productive and innovative work culture that will help nonprofit employers achieve their mission-driven goals.  

In recent years, the general workforce has been through a lot. They’ve faced discrimination, income loss, job insecurity, benefits insecurity, as well as a host of other professional, financial and personal problems. So, while it’s true that they’re seeking the best income they can achieve for their skills and talents, there is a lot to be said for offering an exceptional employee experience. What that means will vary by organization, of course, but there are a few basics you could offer that might make the difference in attracting best-fit staff.

Design Nonprofit Work to Enrich Their Lives in Meaningful Ways

While seeking creative ways to entice and engage talent, take some cues from the employee experiences offered by other employers (many of whom are nonprofits or social enterprises). For example, amp up your one-on-one manager-employee meetings—it’s an all-enterprise opportunity. Make it employee-driven with topics including current projects all the way to achievements toward career goals. Here are some ideas to whet your appetite for potential employee experiences:

• Workshops, seminars, in-house training. Some organizations combine online tutorials for position-specific skill-building with in-person team-building activities.
• Organizational goal updates. Overall transparency and communication that keeps everyone informed of your nonprofit’s achievements will keep staff engaged.
• Real-time feedback. If you make feedback a regular part of the program, employees will come to expect notes on performance so they can rapidly adjust to stay on-track with career goals and participation toward organizational achievements.
• Share gratitude and appreciation. Make note of how everyone contributes and recognize it. And then, celebrate quarterly. Present a list of awards that recognize all your staff has done for the organization and celebrate achievements such as anniversary dates.
• Paid time off to volunteer. You’ve attracted workers who want to contribute to the greater good. Let them choose a cause, and then let them contribute without losing a paycheck.
• Cross-training programs. Create a mentoring program and offer a broad-spectrum training program in which everyone has the opportunity to teach and learn something. It could be high-level communication skills, financial lessons or creative ad design.
• Flexibility and innovative investment. Work-life balance no longer means separating the two. Whether it’s work-from-home or flexible scheduling, find ways to help your staff build bridges between their work and their personal lives. Work-from-home policies do more than provide a positive employee experience — it can prepare your organization for events that require sudden massive adaptation. You may need to invest in appropriate internet access, computer technology, phone systems and more to facilitate success. These will serve your needs now and could one day save your nonprofit.

Hold the Ladder

Prior to the events of 2020, Millennials were expected to make up 75% of the workforce by 2025. While they’ll continue to dominate the workforce for the next few years, you should expect other generations to seek work as they attempt to recoup financial losses and prepare for the future. Millennials, as a demographic, have generally expressed an interest in opportunities to build skills as part of an employment package. According to Gallup, more than half of this demographic rated it as “extremely important” when applying for a job. With many industries recovering — or not — from chaotic fluctuations in the business world, this expectation has only expanded in the workforce. They feel vulnerable. You can assuage their fears.

Imagine being handed a career roadmap — a clear, documented path that shows how you can advance through the company. When you create a customized plan for each employee, you show that you’re willing and happy to invest in that person’s future. This nurturing effort is rare and will build rapport quickly, as workers see that you’re really living up to your promoted employer brand. They will share this with their friends, and word will spread that you’re doing something rare and impressive for your staff members.

Welcome Them to a Spectacular Workspace

From their first day at work, employees need to feel that they’ve found something special. How do you welcome new staff members? Is there a company-wide announcement, even by email? Robust onboarding for new employees will go a long way to ensuring a full commitment to your organization. Sometimes, especially in smaller nonprofits, the crush of work can overwhelm attempts at welcoming and training new-hires. Don’t ignore your responsibility to prepare workers adequately for their jobs. This includes temp-to-perm workers. A strong onboarding program will go a long way to ensuring retention, especially when you pair new-hires with veteran workers as personal and professional mentors.

While ping pong tables have come to seem superfluous to most employees, you still need to have an enjoyable, vibrant workplace. Think of it the way a real estate agent would “stage” a home that’s for sale. Is your workspace cluttered, filled with musty old boxes? Do your walls need a fresh coat of paint? How’s your decor? How does the building interior smell? Are the floors in good shape? Don’t dismiss esthetics. This is where people working in a physical office space will be spending a huge portion of their lives. It doesn’t have to be an amusement park, but it shouldn’t be depressing, either.

Build a Strengths-Based Organizational Culture

Now that you’ve hired a new worker, what are you doing to keep them at your nonprofit? Studies in recent years have shown that roughly half of all employees are actively looking for a new job or tracking openings online. If you’re not actively seeking to engage with your culture, it should be a priority.

According to Gallup, when employees use their personal and professional strengths, they are nearly six times more engaged, perform better at their jobs and are less likely to leave their current job. Consider using the Online Talent Assessment (formerly CliftonStrengths) to begin understanding your best-fit culture. This assessment, alone, can help you identify the hidden futurist in your office, the person most able to build team harmony, or the restorative worker who’s great at diagnosing and solving problems. There are 34 such strengths listed in this assessment, and every one of those skills could be useful to your nonprofit. 25

To really build a strengths-based culture, you’ll need to integrate strengths development throughout your nonprofit—your mission, vision, values and processes as well as your workflow and collaboration—everything should reflect a dedicated effort. So, augment that paycheck with a sense of purpose. Offer a robust menu of staff development. Use strengths assessments and have managers coach as they learn to understand and apply their newly identified strengths. Give ongoing conversational feedback rather than an annual review. Nothing is more impactful in cultivating a sense of belonging than valuing people for their skills and talents.

Be the Talk of the Town, in a Good Way

Remember that today’s workforce members are not shy about reporting publicly if they feel that a company maintains a negative or chaotic employee experience. Sites like Glassdoor provide a platform for such expression, and job seekers do review these reports when deciding on a job offer. Nearly a third of workers have declined a job offer based on negative online reviews. In a study of for-profits, those who invested in improving their employee experiences were nearly 12 times more likely to appear in Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work and more than twice as likely to be listed in Forbes’ World’s Most Innovative Companies. The same benefits could take place in your nonprofit. A positive employee experience helps staff feel empowered to do better—increasing buy-in and advocating for you as an employer. When workers are satisfied with their management, their future and their impact toward the mission of your organization, they will be more productive, consistently delivering superior performance and also recommending your organization to their acquaintances.

Encouraging Staff Innovation

Once strengths have been recognized, be sure to recognize and reward innovative thought. To improve on that, make sure your culture allows collaboration across departments for individuals who need to connect with others to draw on their expertise for the benefit of the organization, its culture, and the population it serves. Back up your support with useful technology to really make the ideas fly.

In these interesting times, today’s workforce yearns for the opportunity to contribute their creativity. With the support of HR professionals like you, they will devise solutions that bring us closer to realizing our ideals. Together — drawing from our collective strength — we can achieve the dawn of a new world society that honors Senator Kennedy’s noble dream.

This is an excerpt from UST’s eBook, “5 Ways to Shape a Durable Workplace of Inclusivity, Innovation and Trust” in collaboration with Beth Black, Writer and Editor.

In December 2022, Forbes discussed the state of workers and their feelings about remote and hybrid workplace models. Considering the demand and desire for such positions, it comes as little surprise that 87% of research respondents stated that their quality of life improved while working remotely.

Few sectors of the business landscape remain untouched by this massive change.

But what about the impact on the nonprofit workforce? Nonprofit virtual volunteering and paid workers’ feelings on this subject closely align with workers who want a hybrid or remote nonprofit model.

While the pandemic sparked a massive interest in remote, hybrid and other flexible work models, it was only a matter of time. With technology becoming increasingly more and more prevalent, workers were already prepared to follow the lead of fellow telecommuting workers, freelancers and contractors enjoying working from home or anywhere with an Internet connection.

3 Top Benefits of Hiring Remote Workers

Most nonprofit organizations launch to help a specific community or society on a larger scale. In either case, it is also important to care for the well-being of virtual nonprofit volunteers and as well as paid employees.

Today’s advances in technology and the nature of many job positions mean that it is easier than ever to perform daily work tasks from home. As long as employees have a reliable Internet connection and all the equipment and information they need, why not allow them to choose where they work from?

Let’s explore some benefits of nonprofits hiring remote employees to ease your mind about this increasingly embraced workplace model.

1. Happier and More Satisfied Employees

Employee satisfaction is important to your business, especially in a time of uncertainty for business owners and workers. Remote workplace models frequently lead to happier, less stressful workers.

The flexibility of remote work allows employees to skip long commutes, expensive fuel prices and time away from family—fostering a better work-life balance in a way that suits them and benefits productivity and profitability for your nonprofit.

2. Improved Employee Retention and Recruitment

Employees and job candidates want more options and freedom to serve employers better. They will seek out employers or stick with them if a flexible work model is available.

By remaining inflexible with your workplace model, you risk losing excellent employees. Simultaneously, top candidates will wait for the right opportunity to suit their needs and goals, bypassing your company if you refuse to consider remote or hybrid options. Keep in mind that 63% of millennial workers want to work for a company with a flexible work schedule. Best of all, remote workers are 50% less likely to resign.

Another benefit to your company is that you can cast a broader search net—considering candidates from all over the country who will relocate for the right company and conditions.

3. Increased Productivity from Your Workforce

In late 2022, Forbes reported that 29% of remote workers feel that they are more productive, while 53% report having greater focus. However, many employers who were fine with remote work while it was essential during the pandemic are now wondering how effective it is, how productive remote employees are and if the effect will persist as the novelty wears off.

Studies have shown that remote work facilitates productivity due to fewer workplace distractions, more peace of mind, no lost time during commutes and the ability for workers to better focus. Employees don’t have to deal with the white noise and chatter that permeates many office environments. They can create a quiet, controlled space in their home and not get caught up in conversations or spontaneous meetings.

Finally, employees can work from home during bad weather such as an ice storm, make up time before or after work to attend an appointment, or take a partial day off if they feel sick.

Considerations Your Nonprofit Should Keep in Mind When Hiring Remote Workers

Like anything you do to support your business, you need to consider some key factors when hiring remote workers or implementing a remote workplace policy.

Here are some things to keep in mind:

• Allow for customized remote work arrangements for each employee.
• Invest in the necessary technology that allows remote workers to thrive with few complications.
• Create opportunities to connect with your remote employees—scheduling weekly meetings or regular calls to check in—to avoid feelings of isolation.
• Set work time and productivity standards at the outset, and ensure each remote employee understands and agrees to the terms.

Sources

https://www.forbes.com/sites/lucianapaulise/2022/12/08/the-2022-status-of-remote-work-and-top-future-predictions/?sh=1c7e204c1310

https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/nonprofit-organizations-with-flexible-jobs-v2/

https://www.alliedtelecom.net/5-ways-nonprofits-can-benefit-offering-remote-work-options/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/glebtsipursky/2022/11/03/workers-are-less-productive-working-remotely-at-least-thats-what-their-bosses-think/?sh=6e759664286a

 https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/tools-resources/remote-workers-and-telecommuting-practices-nonprofits

As a nonprofit employer, you have a responsibility to create a safe and inclusive workplace for your employees. However, incidents of racially insensitive comments can still occur. Whether it’s intentional or unintentional, it is important to address it in a manner that is professional and effective. Below are some effective ways for nonprofit leaders to deal with racially insensitive comments made in the workplace.

1. Address the issue immediately: When a racially insensitive comment is made in the workplace, it’s important to address it immediately. Do not ignore it or hope that it will go away. Take the necessary steps to address the issue head-on. Talk to the person who made the comment and explain why it was insensitive and inappropriate. Approach the situation with empathy and a willingness to educate the individual on why their actions were hurtful. By addressing the issue immediately, you are letting the rest of your employees know that discriminatory behavior will not be tolerated in the workplace.

2. Document the incident: It’s important to document any incident of racially insensitive comments made in the workplace. This documentation should include the date of the incident, what was said, and any actions taken to address the issue. This will protect your organization if legal action is taken and serve as a reminder of what was said and done if the individual in question repeats their behavior.

3. Educate your team on diversity, equity, and inclusion: One way to prevent racially insensitive comments from happening in the first place is to educate your team on diversity, equity, and inclusion. You can do this by hosting workshops, seminars, or online courses. Make sure that everyone understands the importance of cultural sensitivity and how to approach potentially sensitive topics. This will create a more inclusive workplace and reduce the likelihood of insensitive comments being made.

4. Follow up with the individual: After you’ve addressed the incident and educated the individual on the impact of their actions, it’s important to follow up with them. Check in and make sure that they understand the seriousness of their actions and have taken steps to ensure that it won’t happen again. By following up, you’ll be able to assess whether the individual has learned from their mistakes and if further disciplinary action is necessary.

5. Create a safe space for employees to report incidents: Finally, creating a safe space for employees to report incidents of racially insensitive comments or any form of harassment in the workplace is imperative. Let your employees know that they can come to you or their supervisor with any concerns and that they will be taken seriously. It’s important for employees to feel that their concerns will be addressed in a timely and effective manner.

Racially insensitive comments have no place within your nonprofit workforce. As nonprofit leaders, it’s your responsibility to create a safe and inclusive environment for all employees. By highlighting the importance of cultural diversity and inclusiveness, we can eradicate the barriers to equity that exist and together build a fairer and more equitable society. Remember to create an environment that promotes safety, inclusivity, and respect, to lead by example, to encourage education and training, and to provide your employees with an open line of communication to make your workplace free from racial bias and discrimination.

Three years after COVID spread across the globe, there is no denying that the pandemic played a pivotal role in today’s hiring challenges in multiple industries and nonprofit businesses across the country. The pandemic served as a lightning rod to bring changes that business leaders and industry experts believed were inevitable at, what seemed, some far-off point in the future.

COVID brought to light challenges such as ever-increasing skills gaps they were struggling to fill and strict budget constraints. Additionally, businesses were forced to embrace the once-unclear future of remote work after COVID.

Over the past few years, overarching trends have focused on phenomenas like the great resignation, quiet quitting, and the change that comes with fast-paced leaps in technology. During the pandemic’s peak, workers gained insights into their value, or lack thereof, to employers and since have become more likely to seek better opportunities.

Here, we will explore additional factors that will likely affect hiring after COVID for private and nonprofit businesses and the future of remote work.

Technology’s Role in the Hiring Process

The hiring process is typically long, complex and stressful for everyone involved. Busy HR professionals struggle to manage their regular day-to-day responsibilities while occasionally needing to shift over to hiring mode.

Technology continues to streamline the recruitment and hiring process. COVID played an instrumental role in the acceleration of the creation and adoption of automated recruiting, which far outpaced the originally anticipated timeline. Think about virtual interviews. While hiring managers used this technological capability pre-COVID, it has become the default first meeting environment in many cases today. It is an excellent way to meet the candidate in a comfortable setting and facilitates secondary interviews and other tools to help abbreviate and simplify the hiring process.

Whether businesses want to attract, assess, interview or onboard candidates, there are technological tools and programs to help ease and shorten the process.

Here are some technologies hiring managers increasingly rely on today.

Virtual Interviews and Hiring

No matter what anyone feels about virtual interviews and virtual hiring, these practices are here to stay, whether using Zoom, Microsoft Teams or another platform. For some businesses, remote work policies after COVID might remain the same for a long time or indefinitely.

Even if virtual interviews lack the ability to pick up on some aspects and nuances of body language and the ability to interact in real space, they are an effective tool in getting to know someone at a lower barrier of resistance.

Video interviews give everyone a chance to get to know each other better in a shorter time and without as much commitment, such as traveling for the busy, job-seeking candidate or setting up space or dealing with candidate cancellations for the hiring team. Best of all, it allows employers to search for the best candidate who may live across the country, thus saving traveling expenses while finding, vetting and hiring someone who is the right fit.

AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been looming on the horizon for years, but over the past several months, it has become a household name and reality to just about everyone. This technology has progressed faster than most had anticipated, and busy HR teams are now able to incorporate AI into their hiring strategies.

One way that employers and HR teams are using AI is to manage the massive influx of applications they receive due to layoffs across industries during the past year. HR teams can manage the deluge of applications and resumes and other bulk data and HR processes.

Social Media

Social media has become a force in assisting hiring teams’ efforts to promote key positions quickly and effectively. Although social media has been around for several years, and hiring teams have used various platforms, it has gained a much bigger role in recruitment practices, such as promoting roles and receiving and reviewing applications.

Add to the fact that everyone has become more comfortable with social media after COVID, though younger workers were already well-versed in social media in many areas of their lives, including job-seeking.

The Role of Flexibility in the Hiring Process

Nonprofit companies and their HR departments understand that hiring after COVID has drastically changed, understanding they need to remain flexible or become more flexible with their hiring processes.

Essentially, it is vital that businesses and hiring managers consider the best strategy to attract and hire the best candidates for their business.

In part, that means adjusting the definition of a qualified or experienced candidate as recruiters struggle to hire hard-to-fill and high-volume positions. Perplexed and frustrated employers need to find ways to contend with workers’ lingering worry about COVID exposure and the tenuous financial state of the country, leaving many unemployed professionals feeling more comfortable relying on unemployment.

Employers and their hiring teams need new sourcing tactics to foster trust and bring qualified candidates back into the hiring pool. Some flexible talent acquisition strategies include examining current pay rates, compensation, embracing remote work after COVID, hybrid or remote workplace models and other incentives necessary to attract and hire quality candidates. In some situations, companies might need to consider offering sign-on bonuses for positions that were once easy to fill.

Companies need to remain flexible and open to innovation in these transitional times to show that they are progressive and willing to meet candidates where they are in today’s job market.

Here are some additional ways to add flexibility and innovation to hiring after COVID:

• Produce interactive podcasts to support employee onboarding and training.
• Give live office or facility tours to job seekers via video conferencing to give candidates a preview of company culture, layout and the general environment.
• Offer tuition reimbursement to candidates and employees who want to improve their skills and knowledge for the company’s benefit.

Our UST HR Workplace offers a robust suite of practical, comprehensive HR tools and resources that can help your team focus on your nonprofit’s mission and the communities you serve. As a UST member, simply log into your Mineral portal to access live HR certified consultants, 300+ on-demand training courses, an extensive compliance library, and more.

SOURCES

https://hrexecutive.com/what-will-recruitment-look-like-after-covid/

https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/talent-acquisition/pages/pros-and-cons-virtual-in-person-interviews.aspx

During the past decade, employers have become increasingly aware of the need to attend to employees’ needs that range far beyond essential compensation and benefits.

With the understanding that workers are sacrificing large chunks of their lives to commit to their respective nonprofits’ success, leaders have turned their focus to employee engagement in nonprofit organizations to ensure that employees feel recognized and valued as individuals. Knowing that highly engaged teams provide 21% more profitability, it’s a goal that is well worth the effort.

Something interesting happened to employee engagement before and after COVID-19. During the peak of the pandemic, employees were happy that their jobs were preserved and that they had income. It made it easier for employers and employees to band together for a common goal, despite working in a sudden and forced remote context.

Employees were able to find the work-life balance employers had long sought to provide. The question is, where do things go from here for nonprofits and employee engagement?

Employee Engagement in Nonprofit Organizations with a Remote Workforce

As some employees have returned to the office, many still work remotely, leaving nonprofit leadership wondering how to maintain employee engagement and morale with a dispersed workforce.

Many nonprofits are now facing challenges such as remote employees experiencing a blurred work/life balance, higher burnout and worst of all, less engagement with co-workers, the nonprofit and its mission.

Here are five tips to help you encourage greater employee engagement before and after COVID-19 restrictions.

1. Commit to regular employee recognition practices: It is a long-held truth that employees need to feel valued beyond receiving a regular paycheck and standard benefits. Employee recognition drives loyalty, engagement and mutual success. Your recognition can be as simple as sending a personalized email saying, “Thank you for your hard work!” or you might hold monthly Microsoft Teams calls acknowledging top performers, providing gift cards for restaurants or shops near their respective homes.

2. Encourage regular video calls: Whether your nonprofit uses Zoom, Microsoft Teams or another video calling platform, encourage its regular use. Schedule daily meetings that last 10-15 minutes and give everyone a chance to say good morning and give a rundown of their day to help everyone maintain engagement and offer support to each other. This practice helps provide and nurture the cohesiveness they might be missing by seeing each other organically in passing in the office.

3. Provide professional development and growth opportunities: Let remote employees know that you want them to grow with your nonprofit. Offer them the same training and educational opportunities that you would offer if they were on-site. When you are willing to invest in employees’ futures, they understand that you value them for what they do now and all that they can do in the future. Employees want to work hard when they feel that you are allowing for and creating more opportunities for their growth, advancement and eventual leadership as well as the ability to make decisions.

4. Keep everyone up to speed with consistent communication: Communication is essential in any professional setting, but it has become crucial and more complex than ever before in remote and hybrid work model contexts. For instance, prevent situations where on-site employees get important company news before remote employees. If your organization is about to experience disruptions, good or bad, wait until you can gather everyone for a video conference call to share the news and discuss the path forward.

5. Find nonprofit human resource solutions that can help: The right human resource practices can help you avoid missteps in everything from daily communication to paying unemployment taxes for 501(c)(3) nonprofits. Find solutions that help you and your team remain focused on your core mission, leaving operational matters to an outsourced nonprofit human resources solution provider.

Our UST HR Workplace can help your team focus on your nonprofit’s mission and everyone’s satisfaction and success. As a UST member, simply log into your Mineral portal to access live HR certified consultants, 300+ on-demand training courses, an extensive compliance library, and more.

Sources

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nazbeheshti/2019/01/16/10-timely-statistics-about-the-connection-between-employee-engagement-and-wellness/?sh=28b9903222a0

The pandemic’s surprising impact on employee engagement and enablement

Question: Lately, we’ve noticed employees using wearable devices while working. We have a policy that limits personal cell phone use at work. Can we expand that to include wearables like smartwatches?

Answer: Yes, you can expand your policy to include wearables or other smart devices that might cause distractions to your employees while they are working. Here are a few things to consider when revising your policies:

• Focus your policy on the employee’s actions and not the technology itself. If your policy is written broadly enough to keep up with evolving technology, you won’t need to update it to account for every new kind of device.

• Address how mobile devices may affect workplace safety, customer service, productivity, and security. Employees may be more receptive to limits on their use of personal devices if they understand the reasons for it.

• Allow devices to be used during break and meal periods. Employees should be allowed to use their devices when they’re not working, as this time must be their own to satisfy wage and hour laws.

• Smartwatches have health and fitness features, so there may also be reasonable accommodations implications under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). For example, an employee might use a smartwatch to keep an eye on their heart rate or respiration. Learn more about the ADA on the platform.

• You can prohibit the use of devices that may be distracting while employees are working, especially if there are safety issues. Employees can be expected to give their undivided attention to the work you pay them to perform, and if that means smart devices need to be turned off or put away, you’re entitled to make this request.

• You should consider whether employees need to be reachable during the day for emergencies (like most parents). If your workplace doesn’t have a central line or a way for employees to be reached directly, it may be unreasonable to require that phones or devices be turned completely off.

• While you can ask that wearable devices be turned off or put away, you may want to instead limit what employees are doing with their smart devices (e.g., texting). Many people use smartwatches for telling the time, and if their phones are also put away, they may not have another way of getting that information, which could ultimately affect productivity.

• You could also opt to allow limited use when employees are working. For example, a non-customer-facing employee may be able to use headphones and their mobile device to listen to music while completing their work.

This Q&A was provided by Mineral, powering the UST HR Workplace. Have HR questions? Sign your nonprofit up for a FREE 60-day trial here. As a UST member, simply log into your Mineral portal to access live HR certified consultants, 300+ on-demand training courses, an extensive compliance library, and more.

Nonprofit employees are some of the most dedicated and passionate workers out there, often working long hours with limited resources to achieve their organization’s mission. However, this level of commitment can leave employees feeling overwhelmed, stressed, and burnt out. This kind of environment ultimately leads to mental fatigue, which can negatively impact their well-being, productivity and efficiency—especially for remote employees. As nonprofit employers, it’s vital to recognize and address this issue to ensure the health and happiness of your workforce.

Below are some ways to help your employees overcome mental fatigue in the workplace.

1. Practice healthy routines: Nonprofit employees often feel like they need to constantly work to make a difference, even if it means sacrificing their own well-being. However, taking breaks and making downtime a priority is crucial to avoid burnout and mental fatigue. Encourage employees to structure their day and to take breaks, whether it’s a quick walk outside or a few minutes to meditate. It’s essential to recognize the importance of separating work and personal time. Encourage employees to set clear boundaries, such as strict working hours, and avoid being available 24/7. It will ultimately lead to a healthier work-life balance and reduce the risk of burnout. Additionally, consider implementing a more flexible work schedule that allows for rest and recovery.

2. Prioritize open communication: Communication is an essential factor in maintaining a healthy work environment. Mental fatigue can stem from feelings of being overwhelmed or isolated in the workplace. As a nonprofit employer, it’s essential to prioritize open communication and make employees feel heard and supported. Encourage employees to communicate their concerns and issues effectively. Regular check-ins, team meetings, and one-on-one sessions can help employees feel connected and motivated. They should feel comfortable approaching their manager and addressing their worries. Managers should also be available to provide guidance and support to their team. Additionally, consider providing mental health resources and encouraging employees to seek out help when they need it.

3. Foster a positive work environment: A positive work environment can go a long way in combating mental fatigue. As a nonprofit employer, it’s important to create a workplace culture that values positivity and gratitude. This can include celebrating wins, recognizing accomplishments, and providing opportunities for team bonding—especially for remote and hybrid teams. Additionally, consider incorporating fun and creative activities into the workday to alleviate stress and foster a sense of community.

4. Encourage self-care practices: Self-care practices are crucial for maintaining mental health and combatting mental fatigue. As a nonprofit employer, make sure to encourage and support self-care practices among your employees. This can include providing resources for meditation, mindfulness, and exercise. Additionally, consider offering paid time off for mental health days or providing opportunities for employees to attend wellness events.

5. Provide opportunities for professional development: Investing in training and development opportunities is a great way to invest in your employees’ mental well-being. It can help employees feel motivated and engaged in their work, which can combat feelings of burnout. It’s also the perfect opportunity for employees to learn new skills and techniques that can be beneficial to their overall performance. Offering training programs, mentorship opportunities, and opportunities for cross-departmental collaboration can alleviate boredom at work and can renew employees’ enthusiasm for their job.

Mental fatigue is a common issue in the nonprofit workplace and can significantly impact remote employees, leading to burnout and a decrease in productivity. By implementing these strategies, you can help your employees overcome mental fatigue and feel supported and valued in their work while staying motivated and engaged. Remember, a healthy and happy workforce is key to achieving your organization’s mission and making a difference in the world.

You might think that hybrid and remote employee retention is simple when you offer such a flexible and generous workplace model. However, there will always be challenges associated with retaining staff, whether in-office or virtual.

It is challenging to maintain a consistent workplace culture when half or more of your employees are working remotely. When it comes down to it, there is more to employee satisfaction than working in their selected location. Other issues might arise for them that you can’t predict or control.

Here are seven ideas for managing a virtual workforce to help ensure you retain valued employees.

7 Ways to Retain a Virtual Workforce

Let’s explore some ways we believe you can improve employee retention remote work outcomes:

• Establish Your Workplace Culture Early and Clearly
• Ensure Remote and Hybrid Employees Feel Included
• Set Up a Reimbursement Plan and Fund for Remote Workers
• Send an Agenda for Each Meeting
• Offer Career Development and Training Courses
• Request That On-Site Employees Participate in Meetings From Their Desks
• Monitor and Measure Employee Engagement
   

1. Establish Your Workplace Culture Early and Clearly

Just because you allow for a scattered, remote and hybrid workforce doesn’t mean you relinquish control of your nonprofit workplace culture, rules and mission. It is vital to maintain a standard for all employees, whether working from home, in the office or on the other side of the country.

The best ways to establish and maintain your company culture in a blended workplace model include:

• Schedule regular meetings for everyone to catch up with your leadership and their peers.
• Create in-office signage and intranet banners featuring slogans, mottoes, and images that reinforce your company culture.
• Remind remote and hybrid employees that they are always welcome to come into the office to work, regardless of their regular designation. They are a part of your team, and you want them to join you any time they want to.
• Design comfortable common areas for everyone to gather during in-office events.
• Update your virtual workforce best practices and policies regularly, especially if events occur that help refine your strategies for employee retention.

2. Ensure Remote and Hybrid Employees Feel Included

As mentioned in our first tip, create a space or spaces where remote and hybrid and employees can sit and work or meet with management and coworkers during visits. If you can afford it in a nonprofit environment, try to maintain a desk space for every employee, so they know they are welcome and are a part of the team.

Also, avoid calling a staff meeting that only includes on-site employees — even if it is a purely on-site issue related to the facility or other topic — to prevent accidentally leaving a remote staff member off the meeting list.

As irrelevant as it might seem to you and your remote employee, your inclusion of them helps reinforce that you keep them in mind and want them involved in office matters.

Similarly, if you go out to lunch with team members to celebrate an accomplishment, work to find a date that works for in-office and remote and hybrid employees.

3. Set Up a Reimbursement Plan and Fund for Remote Workers

If your remote employees were working in the office, you would provide all the office supplies, hardware equipment, internet access and anything else they need. You might not want to buy and ship things to your remote employee, knowing they can do it themselves, selecting things that work best for them per their tastes or ergonomically.

Let them know that your nonprofit will reimburse payment for office supplies and equipment that they purchase. You don’t want to be like the one-third of employers who ask employees to pay for their work-related internet service and buy their supplies and equipment.

When you establish a fair reimbursement policy, you will not only stay compliant with local labor laws, but also your remote employee will appreciate not bearing the financial burden of doing their work.

4. Send an Agenda for Each Meeting

It’s important that all your nonprofit employees and managers are on the same page during each meeting. The best way to ensure everyone stays on track is to prepare and send an agenda for each meeting to everyone, certainly including remote employees. This step is standard best practice if everyone works in the office, but it’s doubly important for remote employees.

Sketch an outline of the meeting’s objectives, adding what you want to discuss, what you want to hear from employees and, finally, what the desired outcome is. Make sure to lay all this out on your agenda to let everyone know your expectations of them. Employees can think about the meeting and how they might respond when it’s time, whether verbally or via chat.

5. Offer Career Development and Training Courses

Employees feel valued when you let them know you believe they have a strong future with the company and you want to help them fulfill their vision of them. Investing in valued employees leads to powerful remote employee retention.

Work with leadership and funding providers to design professional development programs for talented employees who can do more with the right virtual or easily accessible training. Allow employees to take on special projects or participate in training seminars, networking opportunities and coaching processes.

6. Request That On-Site Employees Participate in Meetings From Their Desks

Another way to ensure that your nonprofit employees and managers are bonding is to create situations of solidarity. Ask your on-site employees to access the Zoom call from their desk instead of having the on-site employees huddle in the conference room.

7. Monitor and Measure Employee Engagement

As a leader of a disparate workforce, you need to monitor and measure everyone’s involvement. Think of it as “reading the room” or “taking the temperature,” but you need to stay aware of who is fully present during each meeting or conversation and who seems to fade away or behave as if they are distracted or bored.

Conduct regular employee surveys for everyone to fill out, remote or not, to see how everyone is doing.

If you are worried about managing a virtual workforce and how to retain your valued employees, UST offers a full suite of solutions. Our resources are easy to access, understand and deploy for your HR and management teams for employee retention remote work.

Visit us to explore our resources, which include multiple downloads and a live HR hotline.

SOURCES

https://www.bbgbroker.com/7-ways-to-improve-employee-retention-in-a-remote-workplace/

https://sparkbay.com/en/culture-blog/remote-staff-retention-27

Nonprofit organizations, by nature, are dedicated to serving others. From advocating for social justice to providing assistance to marginalized communities, nonprofits have a critical role to play in creating a better world. However, to achieve their goals, nonprofit organizations must also cultivate a positive and healthy workplace culture. When done correctly, this process can help improve your workforce’s overall performance, creating a more productive, motivated, and engaged team. Below are some ways cultural transformation can benefit your workforce.

1. Improved Communication – Communication is the key to any successful organization. Without it, the employees will not be able to work together efficiently, resulting in reduced productivity and missed opportunities. An effective cultural transformation within a nonprofit organization can ensure that everyone is on the same page, working towards the same goals, and communicating in the most transparent and open way possible. When employees feel their voices are heard and valued, they will be more likely to share their thoughts and ideas, leading to better decision-making and increased innovation.

2. A Greater Sense of Purpose – Nonprofit organizations have a unique advantage when it comes to inspiring their employees. Most individuals who work in the nonprofit sector are driven by a sense of purpose, making their work extremely fulfilling. However, this motivation can wane over time if not cultivated and nurtured properly. Cultural transformation within nonprofit organizations can provide employees with a renewed sense of purpose and direction, reminding them of the critical work they do, the value it brings, and the greater impact it has on the community as a whole.

3. Builds Trust and Respect – Building trust and respect among employees is an essential aspect of any positive work culture. A cultural transformation can help create a more harmonious workplace, where employees trust and respect one another. This type of environment fosters an atmosphere where employees feel more comfortable taking risks, collaborating better, and working seamlessly together to achieve the organization’s goals.

4. Reduces Employee Turnover – Employee retention is a significant challenge for many nonprofit organizations. Without a healthy workplace culture, high employee turnover is likely to happen, which can have devastating effects on the organization’s overall performance. A cultural transformation can address this issue by creating a more attractive workplace, which can reduce employee turnover. By nurturing an environment in which employees feel respected, engaged, and challenged, nonprofit organizations can retain their best employees and create long-term value.

5. Increases Innovation – Nonprofit organizations must stay innovative to remain competitive and maintain their relevance in the community. Without innovation, these organizations can become stagnant, lose relevance, and eventually fail. A cultural transformation can help fuel innovation by encouraging creativity, experimentation, and risk-taking. When employees feel liberated to challenge the status quo, they become more open to trying new things, leading to new discoveries, new methods, and ultimately better outcomes.

In conclusion, cultural transformation is essential for nonprofit organizations to thrive in today’s competitive world. By investing in positive workplace culture, these organizations can create a more fulfilling work environment, where employees feel valued, engaged, and motivated. By building trust, improving communication, creating a shared sense of purpose, reducing employee turnover, and encouraging innovation, nonprofit organizations can leverage their full potential and deliver on their missions in the most efficient and impactful way possible.

Voluntary turnover harms your bottom line. Your team must focus on providing meaningful work, goal-setting, and communicating that you value their worth. Please note: Masking difficult work conditions with “fun” items like free beverages will not build the employee engagement necessary to break many organizations’ cycle of preventable terminations.

Consider the following sensible suggestions to help your team reduce employee turnover:

Know Your Stuff with Workforce Analytics

You might notice your managers losing employees, but do you know which few are high on the retention scale? Take care to standardize your metrics across the organization, using the same rules for all teams. Performance management software can help you track conversations and responses. Your job profiles will be more accurate, and you can set clear expectations of others. Keep everyone on the same page regarding meeting notes and performance evaluations. Determine which managers have markedly kept employees engaged, so you can set up a program allowing them to teach those skills to other managers.

Make the Most of Personalities

Teams excel when a variety of  key personality types are orchestrated. If you blend risk-takers with detail-oriented individuals, you’ll benefit from an innovative team that can finish projects. Too many of any one type of personality, and you risk losing innovation or failing to meet project completion deadlines. Blend these two with some people-oriented relationship builders to help everyone work together. When selecting personality assessment tools, choose one that is appropriate for the work environment, such as trengthsFinder, the DiSC assessment or the Core Values Index.

Find the Right People

It may seem like a lot of work to define skills, values, and personalities that work best for the roles you need to fill. And it’s even more work to confirm that your pay and benefits are within reasonable benchmarks for your region and industry. But hiring someone who stays for years will make it worthwhile.Repeatedly filling a slot with wrong-fit people will cost you money, time, and missed deadlines.

If an employee has been given ample time, onboarding, and additional training but just can’t finish projects or fit your values and culture, you need to let him go. Don’t give poor-fit workers the time to frustrate and drive away your productive staff members. The more you find right-fit employees, the less often you’ll be forced into one of these situations.

The Nonprofit Equation

In large part, people do not take employment at nonprofits for the money. They go into it to feel a strong sense of purpose. Just be aware that their initial interest does not solve employee turnover. People burn out. Lack of investment in a workplace infrastructure can leave staff overworked and underpaid—which will demolish employee engagement. Yet, for decades, the “low pay, make do, and do without” culture of the nonprofit sector has prevailed.

Shockingly, more than 80% of nonprofits have no formal retention strategy. They are not prepared to withstand the varied and tangled reasons for their high turnover. There are countless reasons why employees leave, including: low pay, no upward mobility, excessive workloads, lack of career development, missing mentors, lack of growth opportunities, no rewards or recognition, poor leadership, lack of organizational vision, stifled communication, challenging or even hostile culture, inadequate job reviews, long work hours with no flexibility. Nonprofit leaders simply accepted the resulting high turnover as the cost of doing business.

Before you lose another needed staff member, consider these steps to addressing the causes:

• Transparency and Support. Be sure to model a culture of acceptance to encourage sharing. In one-on-one discussions and group support meetings, allow staff to speak freely. This is not the time to be defensive or accusatory. Provide opportunities for self-care. Some nonprofits create opportunities for walking or jogging. Invest in a small library of relaxing and fun eBooks that can be shared with remote workers. Humor, science fiction, travel, romance, and adventure—these stories allow people to escape without ever leaving their chair.
• Help Them Grow. Even in the nonprofit sector, employees value career development more than any other perk. Professional development opportunities and potential for career advancement go hand-in-hand to explain why they choose their jobs. Yet, a recent study reported that more than a third of respondents felt their organization lacked interest in their development or advancement. If you’re not promoting from within, your employee morale is suffering as a result. Start resolving this by creating some training opportunities—anything from books to online classes.
• Design Realistic Workloads. Employee burnout is a huge problem for nonprofits. Start fixing it by balancing projects across your team, so that some aren’t working longer, harder hours than others. Assign work based on an employee’s job, skills, talents, and interests … taking care regarding the workload level of everyone on the team.

Support Their Talents, Capabilities, and Dreams

There is a delicate balance to consider when summing up each employee’s strengths. On the one hand, you don’t want to push your staff members to do things they’re not equipped to handle. For example, a sensitive introvert might not be the best choice to handle cold calling or outbound fundraising approaches. All those rejections might scare them right out of your organization. On the other hand, you must do your best to avoid unconscious bias in project assignments. If you think someone might be unable to handle technology because of their age, think again. The same goes for gender, race, country of origin, or any other unreliable indicator. An employee’s demonstrated strengths are very different from your assumption of an employee’s weaknesses based on gut feelings. So, as you get to know employees, follow their work, and talk with them about their career goals, your genuine knowledge of their talents, skills, interests, and career goals can help you guide them in directions where they will feel engaged and motivated to pursue excellence.

Counting the Cost of Turnover

If your nonprofit is struggling with loss of staff, especially as we climb out of the COVID-19 pandemic, developing a robust retention management plan can help. It’s worth your time to learn some metrics and calculations. If you’re not paying attention to your turnover metrics, you’re missing key information necessary for your nonprofit’s ongoing survival. These numbers will help you know with clarity and certainty how your organization is doing and where it needs help.

Metrics can lead you to ask questions and find out why particular people are leaving so you can formulate targeted retention strategies that work. In all, your retention management plan will empower you to determine the extent of your losses, diagnose exactly what’s causing the problem, and then develop strategies you can implement to improve your situation. Ensure your success with the following metrics:

• Overall Retention Rate. Divide your current number of employees by the number of employees at the start of your measurement period. Then, multiply that by 100. So, if your nonprofit currently has 75 staff members, and you began the year with 80 people, divide 75 by 80 to get .9375. Multiply that by 100 to get an overall retention rate for those months at 93.75%. This gives you a quick look at how your staff might have been shrinking in recent months.
• Overall Turnover Rate. This is the opposite of your retention rate. It can inform you about your team’s health. Divide the number of employees who left during a specific time frame by the average number of employees during that time. Multiply the answer by 100. So, if you averaged about 50 employees during that time frame, and 5 people left, you divide 5 by 50, giving you .1 as your first answer. Multiply that by 100, and your turnover rate is 10%.
• Voluntary Turnover. Track the number of employees who choose to resign and leave your nonprofit. It’s a strong indicator that your engagement is low, and your retention strategies are not working. It can also mean that the wrong person was hired for the job.
• Involuntary Turnover. When you fire or lay off an employee, it’s generally your decision to make the change. The reason could be for low job performance or a poor fit between your culture and that staff member. For both voluntary and involuntary turnover, try to ask key questions and discern what led to that point.
• The Costs of your Losses. Measuring the costs can be tricky to calculate, but if you keep good records of your expenses, that will simplify the job. The reason for tackling this is that every nonprofit leader wants to keep costs under control. It’s part of their job description. So, if your turnover costs are high, you must implement this effective and efficient tool for measuring and controlling your costs significantly.

The expense of replacing a single employee can be as high as 60% of her annual salary. Total costs go much higher. And these expenses are harder on smaller nonprofits. No matter how you feel about working with numbers, your organization is counting on you to intervene with crucial information. The numbers you generate will help you influence turnover rates and save your organization from painful costs.

Take the Turnover Tour

There are many reasons that employees leave a job. The first distinction, of course, is whether that turnover was voluntary or involuntary. They require different management techniques. First, be sure to handle the legal requirements for involuntary turnover as well as the root causes of such loss (such as an inadequate job description or depleted talent pool).

Next, pay attention to your voluntary turnover. Among workers who leave voluntarily, there are two types: Functional and Dysfunctional. Watch out for the latter. Functional turnover doesn’t generally hurt an organization, as you’re losing poor performers or easily replaced employees. Dysfunctional turnover, on the other hand, will hurt your nonprofit in many ways. You could lose your high-performers and employees with hard-to-replace skills. You also risk losing your diverse culture, as women and minority group members leave.

The final distinction separates two types of dysfunctional turnover: Unavoidable and Avoidable. If someone leaves to move out of state with their spouse, there will be little you can do to prevent it (though remote work is becoming a widespread new option). Generally, if there is nothing you can do to prevent the change, it’s unavoidable. Every employer will face a certain amount of this. Avoidable turnover is where you must focus. Find ways to improve employee satisfaction. And before you decide if a case of turnover is unavoidable, it might be time to consider how to change it. An employee who quit in the past to start a family may stay with you, now, if your organization starts offering paid maternity leave, on-site childcare, and other working-parent benefits. Some solid number crunching that compares the cost of replacing lost talent against the cost of keeping employees from leaving will help you determine your best case-by-case course of action.

Why They Leave

In considering why employees leave your organization, be sure to consider the following reasons they could be exiting your nonprofit:

• The job is unsatisfying. Your nonprofit has not been able to tip the scale of inducements over their Contributions. Look deeper at their desire to leave and ease of leaving.

• Something better became available. They may or may not be dissatisfied with their current job, but perhaps an even more appealing job was offered elsewhere.

• They’re following a plan. This could involve educational or family goals or some other life transitions that preclude their staying in the job. There will likely be little you can do about these departures unless remote work and flexible hours sweeten the inducements to stay on-staff.

• They’re leaving without a plan. This is an impulsive action. It might be their response to something negative happening at work, such as losing out on a promotion. If they’re leaving due to some preventable workplace experience, such as sexual harassment, you must find better ways to protect your employees.

Why They Stay

Employees who stay in one job for years usually find themselves embedded in their workplace, culture, and community. They’ve grown a thriving network of relationships and professional connections that fulfill both their professional and personal lives. When they leave a job, they often lose most of those long held ties. Here’s where you can support your embedded employees:

• Links. People, such as co-workers, mentors, friends, and volunteers make up the people who are linked to your employee. To foster these connections, try to provide mentors, design work in teams, encourage team cohesiveness and employee referrals. Support participation in outside service events or sponsor community activities such as bowling or softball leagues and participation in outside service events.
• Fit. This is the compatibility your employee feels for the position, organization, and surrounding community. For example, if your employee was drawn to your organization because you help people with diabetes, and they happen to be a Type 1 diabetic, they probably feel a personal connection to their job that they wouldn’t feel working for another type of nonprofit. To encourage a team with more right-fit employees, provide realistic information during recruitment, make job and organizational fit a part of candidate selection, and communicate clearly about your nonprofit’s culture and values.
• Sacrifice. What would your high-performing employee have to give up in order to leave their job? Could it be loss of tenure-based financial rewards or perhaps the loss of a positive work environment, promotional opportunities, or even name-recognition in the community at large? The more they have to lose, the more embedded they become, and the less likely they are to leave.

The Pandemic’s Influence

Even before the pandemic hit, approximately a quarter of American workers were quitting their jobs in order to find something better. With the economic recovery, many are now seeking to leave after the pandemic ends. Approximately 80% are concerned about career advancement, a common problem in the nonprofit sector. However, it’s even more important to note that 72% of American workers say the pandemic forced them to rethink their skill sets. More than half of those planning to leave their jobs spent the pandemic months training to build new skills. Many did so in preparation to change jobs within the next few months. The reality of moving from job to job to increase your pay and boost your career status reportedly works better for white males than for women or minorities. In fact, this kind of post-pandemic shift carries the potential to worsen income inequality and other inequities, as college educated white workers increase their remote-work options while other employees remain unable to job hop. Take these three steps to maximize employee retention in the post-pandemic economy:

1. Reconnect. Months of remote work left many employees feeling dissociated from their employers. This leaves them more open to changing jobs, especially when another employer reaches out to them. Rather than rush everyone back into the office, consider increasing your flexibility. Giving your employees options, especially after the pandemic, will make your organization more attractive as an employer. Some nonprofits are choosing a hybrid model, splitting time between the office, and working from home. Nearly 70% of workers find this balance to be an “ideal” model.
2. Open Pathways. The pandemic worsened anxieties already plaguing employees about their career development. When your staff went home, did you invest in training them on technical skills for the new employment landscape? Many nonprofits were forced to focus on providing emergency resources for childcare and mental health. They had to shift their business model, but training beyond the immediately necessary was lost in the mix. It’s time to accommodate your employees career goals and give them the additional training required to be able to function in a technical world.
3. Support Financial Wellbeing. Understand that new jobs are opening up at such a rate that many workers are finding new opportunities where none existed before the pandemic. Your employees need to feel financially safe if they will continue working for you. With their new training and opportunities, you will lose talent if you don’t pay them enough to remain resilient.

This is an excerpt from UST’s eBook, “3 Essential Practices to Cultivate a Positive Employee Experience” in collaboration with Beth Black, Writer and Editor.

Question: Do we need to investigate rumors of harassment even if no one has made a complaint?

Answer: Yes, you should investigate. A company always has some inherent liability in relation to discriminatory or harassing comments or behavior. The level of liability usually correlates to the nature, severity, and context of the comments, the position of the employee who made them, and what the employer does or does not do about it. 

Since you have knowledge of a potential situation, you should investigate the matter and take appropriate disciplinary action if it turns out your antiharassment policy was violated. As you conduct the investigation, document the discussions you have as well as your findings, and reassure those you interview their participation will not result in retaliation. 

This Q&A was provided by Mineral, powering the UST HR Workplace. Have HR questions? Sign your nonprofit up for a FREE 60-day trial here. As a UST member, simply log into your Mineral portal to access live HR certified consultants, 300+ on-demand training courses, an extensive compliance library, and more.

It is nearly impossible to talk about compensation increases without inflation figuring in every discussion. In 2022, amidst the first global pandemic in over a century, the average price of gas skyrocketed to $5.75 per gallon (up from a low of $2.68 in May of 2020). The inflation rate for 2022 finished at 6.5%, and today (for the moment), gas prices sit as low as $3.49 in some areas.  The federal minimum wage will increase to $9.50 per hour this year, varying significantly from state to state.  You can visit The Horton Group page on minimum wages for the state-specific wage rates.

Investopedia.com defines inflation as “a rise in prices, which can be translated as the decline of purchasing power over time.” Among today’s inflationary pressures we can count damage to crops, livestock, lives, and property from recent climate change events, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine spiking the costs of natural gas and grain, and a new strain of avian flu resulting in eggs at $6.00 per dozen.  The pandemic itself was a force majeure expense for everyone, with shortages ranging from microchips to baby formula.

And yet, we have emerged from this tough time with an appreciation for U.S. workers that we haven’t experienced since the 1950s. Employers continue to be affected by the great labor shortage and unexpected increases in opportunities, pay, and benefits for workers.  Driven in no small part by younger workers unwilling to settle for low-wage gigs, companies have been hiring at significantly competitive salaries and vying for new workers by burnishing their employer brand as emphatically as they do their brand. Things have changed.

BDO USA, a global accounting firm, anticipated that budgets for merit increases in 2022 would hover around 3%, but found that in the final quarter of 2021, the increases topped out just below 4%. The talent shortage had pushed raises into the 4% range. Concurrently, inflation was approaching 1982 levels, which BDO anticipated would push salary increases still higher (the term for this is a wage-price spiral, which Americans last heard about in the mid-1970s). BDO conducted a poll of 440 organizations across multiple industries–including 127 nonprofits—in January and February of 2022 and determined that compensation budgets for all participating companies averaged 5.1%, with nonprofit firms averaging 4.4%. The last time salary-increase budgets exceeded 4% was in 2001.

BDO cautioned, “For nonprofits, this may be a significant shock for their 2022 budgets, as a 4.4% budget increase represents a 47% hike (emphasis also mine) compared to the previously standard 3% budget. It is likely that many organizations are not in a position to increase salary budgets to this degree.”

Journalist and social media strategist Lia Tabackman succinctly laid out the good and bad news in her article in 501c.com, Nonprofit Compensation Battles with Inflation: “Salary and wage increases at U.S. organizations have not kept pace with the rising prices of inflation, and recent trends suggest that in many cases there is financial gain to be had from leaving workplaces that can’t keep up. To put a fine point on it: employers who aren’t able to provide compensation increases that account for inflation risk losing their employees to those who can.”

Fortunately, there are plenty of voices in the for-profit and nonprofit worlds who offer useful guidance in addressing the challenge. BDO suggests inflation’s impact on salary gains will vary by situation.  Here are some of their tips to bolster your workforce.

• As energy prices rise, consider extra financial support for employees that need to commute by car or drive as part of their job duties. This can be delivered in the form of gas cards, parking vouchers, or passes for public transportation.
• If increasing your budget for merit increases is not feasible, consider doing a mid-year assessment to determine whether a second pay adjustment is needed and can be supported.
• Identify personnel that are mission-critical, as well as top performers to ensure their contributions are recognized and reflected in pay levels according to the organization’s pay policies and financial condition.
• While there are always exceptions, lower wage employees are the most impacted by inflation. Their salary increases typically do not result in a significant change in purchasing power. Focus salary increase dollars on those who are most impacted.
• Allocating more of the budget to pay increases for lower-paid employees can do more than just promote retention, it can help differentiate your organization as one that prioritizes fair compensation practices and demonstrates that management values its employees.

Lauren Mason, senior principal for the Career Business Division at Mercer (an HR consulting partnership) made these recommendations for employers to consider for this year’s compensation planning period:

• Prioritize Hourly Pay.  With unprecedented levels of churn in the labor market, wage growth at record pace and increasing external scrutiny, now is the time to focus on hourly pay strategies.
• Consider A Segmented Approach.  Ensure budget dollars “are focused on addressing gaps in competitiveness . . . Consider a segmented approach by offering higher wages to both new joiners and high-performing current employees in critical business segments, as well as those whose pay is below market rates.
• Keep In Mind The Employee Experience.  Employees have heightened expectations around pay, so equip leaders with the resources to communicate pay decisions effectively.

CapinCrouse, a national CPA and consulting firm serving nonprofits, provided the following from their three-part series Inflation’s Ripple Effect on Nonprofits and Their Employees.

• Nonprofit compensation is enough of a puzzle without the added challenge of market fluctuations. But while every organization is different, there are options for leaders who want to communicate the value of their team members through more than just cash compensation.
• Many nonprofits are opting to give their employees one-time bonuses rather than setting themselves up to maintain promised increases in future years. This provides an immediate benefit to employees who are feeling the real-time impact of market conditions without setting the precedent of an increased baseline wage.

• Since times of economic inflation tend to put more strain on lower-level (and lower-earning) employees, nonprofits may also want to consider providing tiered incentives such as:
• Increased retirement plan contribution percentages
• Stipends to accommodate elevated gas prices (consult with a tax advisor first to ensure they understand and disclose the potential tax implications for the organization and employees)
• Higher merit increases or one-time bonuses

In March 2022, hundreds of nonprofit workers gathered in New York City to demand that the city write a minimum wage of $21 per hour and a 6% cost of living adjustment into the city budget for nonprofit workers. Minor Sinclair, Executive Director of The Center for Progressive Reform (CPR) wrote for The Chronicle of Philanthropy to explain how CPR increased their employees’ wages, beginning with a “contingency fund” to augment salaries to help offset the impact of inflation. Staff members received a $1,000 payment from the fund in spring 2022, which CPR planned to renew in the fall. CPR also upgraded employees’ benefits packages, including a “modest allowance” to help cover utility and internet costs for staff working from home. Employees also received an extra week of vacation to be taken at the end of the year. Additionally, CPR made short and long-term disability-pay plans available to staff.

It is important not to lose sight of the fact that the nonprofit sector is the third largest employer in North America, employing one out of every ten working Americans (about 12.5 million workers). Think about the strength in those numbers. If nonprofits can’t retain quality employees, their fundraising and program delivery will suffer. During tough economic times and good, investing in people pays dividends for your nonprofit’s present and future successes.

This blog post was written by Amélie Frank, consulting copywriter to UST. To learn more about Amélie’s professional portfolio you can find her online at https://www.linkedin.com/in/amelie-frank/.