Welcome to the inaugural issue of UST’s Quarterly Nonprofit Digest, a bite-sized overview of the employer strategies, sector statistics, and resources that UST shared throughout the most recent months.

This quick 4-step reference guide—highlighting key findings from Q1—will provide you with the innovative employee engagement strategies you (and your staff) need to succeed. In this rendition of the quarterly digest, discover strategies for:

• Streamlining your onboarding processes
• Creatively engaging your dedicated staff
• Crafting a positive, vibrant company culture

You’ll also gain access to helpful checklists, survey templates and best practice tips for developing both new and existing employees.

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Question: We are looking to hire millennials in an effort to create a more dynamic workforce. What are other companies doing in terms of workforce standards, benefits, policies, etc. to attract this age group?

Answer: The first step in attracting the best and brightest candidates of any age, including millennials, is to ensure that your employer brand is compelling. Tell your company’s story and show applicants your unique value proposition. Studies show that millennials want to learn about the company’s culture prior to applying and expect an application process that is simple and fast. These employees also expect an employment experience that includes opportunities to learn, balance work/personal life and contribute quickly to the business.

Additionally, take an objective look at your workplace policies that may help in attracting and retaining millennials:

• Learning and development opportunities.
• Goal-setting and performance processes.
• Coaching, feedback, and recognition/reward systems (including training company leaders as coaches and mentors).
• Unlimited PTO policies (draft with legal counsel due to state and municipal laws regarding vacation and sick leave).
• Flexible work schedules.
• Telecommuting or off-site work.
• On-site fitness and other wellness programs.
• Off-site teambuilding activities.
• Social media policies (create these with legal counsel to avoid National Labor Relations Act and privacy violations).

Interestingly, according to a recent study entitled “The Millennial Leadership Study,” 91 percent of millennials aspire to be a leader and out of that, 52 percent were women. Almost half of millennials define leadership as “empowering others to succeed,” and when asked what their biggest motivator was to be a leader, 43 percent said “empowering others,” while only 5 percent said money and 1 percent said power. When asked about the type of leader they aspire to be, 63 percent chose “transformational,” which means they seek to challenge and inspire their followers with a sense of purpose and excitement. The study also found that millennials are known to seek companies that offer flexible work schedules and telecommuting, even if they make less money. Finally, the study found that 28 percent of millennials said that work/life balance was their biggest reservation about being a leader.

Q&A provided by ThinkHR, powering the UST HR Workplace for nonprofit HR teams. Have HR questions? Sign your nonprofit up for a free 60-day trial here.

In the latest rendition of UST Live we welcomed reputable nonprofit leaders from across the U.S. with expertise in employee engagement best practices. In this session, the panel discussed innovative strategies for keeping their dedicated staff engaged (and productive), while emphasizing work-life balance and creating employee development opportunities.  

Watch now to discover:

• Common hurdles nonprofits are facing with keeping their staff engaged
• Ideas on how to reimagine the employee experience
• Methods for measuring engagement within your workforce
• Tips for maintaining a focus on developing your talent

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 next UST Live sessions—scheduled for June, September, and December—where we’ll discuss strategies surrounding nonprofit sustainability, HR and compliance and leadership development. 

The employee experience is how employees feel about what they encounter and observe over the course of their employee journey at a nonprofit organization—involving many different interactions and touch points across your organization. When looking at the journey of an employee—from the first day on the job, to the day of their exit interview—take into consideration their needs and how they evolve over time. 

From an HR perspective, viewing the employee experience as a whole can be overwhelming. By identifying the various stages and assigning a point person to each stage of the employee journey can make it easier to adjust or apply new processes.

The employee experience can be broken down into four main stages, each stage identifying a shift in what the employee needs, from the application process to when the employee leaves the organization.

Application Process

Think of applicants as a customer, create a simple and straightforward application process. A complicated, time-consuming process could put you at risk of losing potential candidates due to a rigorous application process. Responding to all candidates, regardless if they make it to the interview stage, should be a part of your process. Unsuccessful candidates may re-apply down the line for a role they’re better suited for or could be a potential customer one day. Treating each applicant with respect goes a long way as this is a representation of your brand.

Onboarding Process

Ensuring that you successfully onboard a new employee is critical. How do you know if your current processes are right for the journey of the employee? Be willing to ask and listen for feedback from the moment an employee joins your team. Utilize technology that makes it easier to collect their views, questions, and feedback through out the employee journey. For instance, onboarding surveys are a great way to collect and act on the feedback provided. With new employees, they can provide a fresh perspective on how your company operates and even offer insight on experiences with previous employers. Taking advantage of the opportunity to listen to employees during this stage, can help prevent minor issues from becoming bigger problems down the line. A smooth onboarding process can result in immediate productivity and long-term sustainability.  

Create a Sense of Belonging

Once an employee is established and has found their footing within their role, they need new challenges to continue their learning and development. These challenges motivate them, creates a boost in both engagement and productivity—a win-win for the employee and the organization. A lack of progression can lead to a decrease in productivity and/or employees looking elsewhere for new employment. It’s also important to gather feedback on a consistent basis, this shows you’re actively listening and taking action on their insight to help develop your staff.

The Departure of the Employee

When an employee decides to leave, it’s important to have an exit strategy in place to create a smooth departure. This is a vital part of the employee journey as the exit interview is an opportunity to gather honest feedback. This insight could help your organization make improvements to increase your employee retention and improve your employer brand.

Nonprofit organizations need to ensure they are focusing on the employee experience—aligning and understanding the stages of the employee journey. Employees can provide different types of feedback, all depending on their stage in the employee experience, so be sure to listen and have the tools in place to gather their feedback. Use their insights to improve how your organization operates, this offers an opportunity to better engage your staff and retain them for a longer duration.

As long as companies are doing business, employee performance and productivity conversations will not go away—regardless of where employees are physically working from. Work has changed dramatically in the last year and so has the performance review. Many nonprofits are still overseeing a remote workforce which means they’ve had to conduct performance reviews remotely as well—one of the more challenging meetings to conduct virtually.

Employees already tend to be nervous when the time comes for evaluation but with a thoughtful approach and the right structure, leaders can make the processes productive (and comfortable). While you may be able to comment on goal achievements, with limited in-person interactions properly evaluating your staff can be challenging and becomes even tougher when you’re delivering feedback while dealing with technical issues, screaming kids, or barking dogs. You want to make sure employees feel at ease by reminding them that it is a two-way conversation simply meant to help recognize accomplishments, identify strengths and weaknesses and to establish future goals. It’s also important to remember that employees have been under extreme and unusual circumstances since the global pandemic presented itself nearly a year ago. By taking into consideration the elements over which your employees had no control and making scoring adjustments, leaders can show both fairness and appreciation for their efforts and dedication to the organization.

Consider these tips when conducting a remote performance review to help make the process more efficient and effective—even in a virtual environment:

1. Provide feedback beforehand – this allows the employee time to review and process your remarks so they can ask more thoughtful questions during your call.
2. Connect via video Chat – for these kinds of conversations video is the only way to go. It not only provides the opportunity to personally engage but can also provide further insight into an employee’s reactions.
3. Be kind and show compassion – bear in mind the vastly different and varying circumstances your employees are operating under and provide a little more compassion, flexibility, and leniency.
4. Allow for small talk – many people are still craving social interaction so before diving into the performance review itself start off by talking about anything that’s unrelated to work.
5. Set the tone – performance reviews can be uncomfortable enough when done in-person and maybe even more so virtually. Be open and pay close attention to body language—both yours and theirs.
6. Use screen sharing –
7. Gather a variety of data – working remote with decreased visibility into everything that might be going on, direct input through self-evaluation and peer feedback can help round out review conversations.
8. Don’t forget to mention COVID – recognizing your employees’ ability to adapt and overcome obstacles caused by the pandemic are worth mention—they not only had to establish home offices, navigate virtual meetings, and adjust their processes but they also had to overcome the isolation of remote work while finding work-life balance.
9. Listen carefully and with intent – make sure you pause to give them time to respond or ask questions without interjection and pay special attention to the words they chose to use
10. Speak compassionately – when discussing areas for improvement keep in mind that everyone is human and susceptible to hurt egos. Offer helpful advice, thoughtful recommendations, and constructive criticism.
11. Solicit feedback – a great performance review should be a two-way conversation. If you’re dealing with an employee who is uncomfortable being honest ask open-ended questions that encourage a response.
12. Provide details for any high or low ratings – it’s important for employees to know what they are doing well and the areas where they can improve, and specifics are critical to their success.
13. Establish attainable goals – employees still need to know they can grow within an organization, even during a pandemic. Create specific goals for career development and provide specific details on how to achieve them.
14. End on an upbeat note – ending on a positive note is imperative to boosting employee self-esteem, performance, and engagement. Make sure you take the opportunity to recognize and show appreciation for your employees.
15. Follow up in writing – as soon as possible after the conclusion of your meeting, forward documentation of the call to your employee. A lot can get lost in translation so ensure everyone is on the same page especially when sensitive topics like low scores or salary were involved.

Going forward it can be helpful to implement stronger tracking systems such as utilizing online project management tools like Monday.com or Microsoft Teams and scheduling regular check-in meetings to discuss workload, accomplishments, and frustrations.

Performance reviews give employees the feedback they need to improve job performance while also enabling them to work with their managers on career development plans. When done properly, virtual reviews can be highly beneficial to both the employee and the organization—increasing productivity and engagement.

What is inclusion in the workplace? Inclusion is defined as a proactive approach in the recruiting and engaging of people with different perspectives, backgrounds, and demographic identities. Nonprofit leaders see the importance of building a more inclusive workplace as it helps employees feel more comfortable, valued, and productive. Creating a workplace that is welcoming and inclusive, encourages employees to be innovative while also cultivating a culture of accountability.

Having a workplace with a diverse mixture of people who all feel valued within a unified, positive culture can be essential to unlocking an organization’s full potential. Employees have the ability to flourish in a diverse workplace and organizations can benefit from new ideas, new skill sets and employee engagement.

Here’s four strategies to help create and cultivate an inclusive working environment:

1) Applaud Differences Amongst Your Employees: An important way to show employees that you embrace and respect their backgrounds and traditions is to encourage inclusiveness in the workplace. For example, offering a separate space or private room for prayer or meditation. Employees with certain religious backgrounds can use this space to practice daily religious rituals without being disturbed.

2) Train & Support Leadership Team: Leaders play an essential role is encouraging inclusion strategies and efforts. Offering mandatory training and discussion groups to your leadership team is vital as they are acting role models to your employees. These types of trainings can help leaders learn how to better manage a diverse team. Also, it can help leaders become aware of certain biases, teach them how to be an active listener and to actively encourage different viewpoints.

3) Take Time to Listen to Your Employees: To have a better understanding of the needs and wants of your employees, conducting a survey can help highlight where the inclusion and engagement issues currently exist. Taking the time to complete an assessment of an organization’s current demographics and processes can be a great starting point to learn where to apply new strategies that promote inclusiveness.  

4) Create a Productive Meeting Protocol: Meetings should be designed to allow everyone in the meeting to feel comfortable to share ideas and contribute feedback. Consider distributing meeting materials in advance and listing out questions and topics to be discussed during the meeting. For workers in different time zones, consider rotating meeting times. This shows consideration to those employees having to start their workday earlier or later in order to attend the meeting.  

While introducing these strategies may vary from business to business, the most important thing is that every employee is on the path towards a more inclusive work environment. The potential for positive outcomes when striving for inclusion can be significant, often resulting in new ideas, fresh perspectives and helping employees perform at a higher level.