Tag

employee retention

Sep 11

Accelerate your mission with an effective HR strategy

By Sponsor Insight

by Jeremy York, SHRM-SCP, SPHR, lead consultant and president

As many executives are aware, human resources (HR) is a vital function of any organization. An effective HR plan helps maintain a happy, inclusive, compliant, and effective workforce. If you want your organization to succeed, you must put into place strategies that allow your greatest asset — your people — to succeed.

For example, learning and development (L&D) can be critical in equipping employees with the skills they need to be effective in their roles — which, in turn, enhances employee engagement and business performance.

Employee benefits is another aspect of HR that needs to be regularly examined, especially as the needs and wants of today’s workforce evolve. Many organizations haven’t explored ways to adapt company benefits to the current workforce’s expectations.

At InvigorateHR, we understand how essential HR is for organizations to achieve their mission. Founded by Jeremy York in 2013, InvigorateHR is a human resource consulting firm that partners with its clients to develop solutions that are tailored for short-term and long-term success.

We work with a variety of nonprofit organizations, partnering with them on everyday people management strategies, compensation analyses, training, and one-off issues. As the world of work evolves, HR must as well.

Our approach is dynamic and our foundation rests in transparency and integrity. We are a forward-thinking company that sees the “big picture” which enables us to translate needs into tangible results.

And let’s be honest, today’s workforce challenges are tough. But we can be your strategic HR business partner and help you navigate through those tough workplace challenges.

About Jeremy York
With over 20 years of HR experience and leadership, Jeremy York has a profound understanding of the needs, wants, and challenges that organizations face. He has worked with and advised all levels of management on critical human resource strategy and business operations for both for-profit and non-profit organizations. He is an advocate for developing cultures that are socially responsible and that are diverse, equitable, and inclusive for people of all sectors of society and educating on the importance of emotional intelligence.

About InvigorateHR
InvigorateHR keeps at the forefront of the latest people management and development practices. Our services include People Consulting, Training and Development, Coaching, DiSC/Five Behaviors Assessments and Workshops, Talent Acquisition/Recruiting, Speaking Engagements, and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) Strategies. Please visit invigoratehr.com to learn more about our services.

Nov 14

More than a pay raise: Retaining Indiana’s nonprofit employees requires a comprehensive wellness approach

By Feature

Indiana Youth Services Association launches pilot project to address nonprofit youth workers’ challenges

Disengaged, burned out, overwhelmed. Those are the adjectives often used to describe nonprofit employees in today’s work environment.

According to the Society for Human Resource Management, the voluntary nonprofit employer turnover rate is at a historic high — outpacing the turnover rate in the overall labor market. In 2022, the nonprofit industry had a turnover rate of 19 percent, compared to 12 percent for the overall labor market.

The challenge of retaining and recruiting nonprofit employees in a highly competitive labor market also comes at a time when nonprofit organizations are dealing with increased demands for services, changes in fundraising, and higher costs driven by inflation.

However, the well-being of nonprofit employees must take a priority, according to David Westenberger, CEO, Indiana Youth Services Association (IYSA), a statewide association of 30 Youth Service Bureaus in about 70 counties.

“Within our field, we haven’t done a very good job of taking care of our own people doing the work,” said Westenberger, who has been raising awareness about the need for nonprofit employers to support their employees beyond pay raises and title changes.  “In the field of youth work and social services, people in the field over a long period of time eventually mirror the population they serve more than retain the overall wellness and health that they had early on.”

Without adequate insights about the challenges nonprofit employees face and a comprehensive approach to address them, nonprofit organizations could be undermining their ability to achieve their mission, Westenberger said.

A comprehensive approach to employee wellness

Earlier this year, Westenberger and the IYSA team, launched a pilot project that addresses the overall wellness of nonprofit youth workers. The framework for the project includes the Eight Dimensions of Wellness outlined by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) and insights from ACEs (adverse child experiences) training.

During each year of the three-year initiative, representatives from four Youth Service Bureau organizations undergo monthly training that addresses one of SAMHSA’s eight dimensions of wellness — emotional, occupational, social, financial, environmental, physical, spiritual, and intellectual. Each month, participants hear from experts in each of the eight fields reflected in the dimensions of well-being. The also collaborate on supportive strategies and ideas that are later integrated in their workplace employee programs.

IYSA provides the participating organizations with stipends to support the initiatives that help their staff members grow in each dimension.

“For emotional well-being, one of the organizations contracted with a local agency to offer mental health counseling services for their staff,” Westenberger said. Other proposals included providing employees with gym memberships, implementing walking meetings, giving time for employees to be active during the day, and serving nutritious food during meetings.  

The participants, who regularly report on their progress in implementing employee programs around the eight dimensions, will serve as mentors to the other eight organizations that will undergo training in 2023 and 2024.

Addressing a cycle of trauma

The IYSA pilot project follows extensive research that revealed numerous challenges for nonprofit workers in the field of youth services.

The association, which also supports numerous youth-focused initiatives, including increasing awareness about human trafficking, ACEs (adverse childhood experiences), medical amnesty related to underage drinking, launched surveys to gain insights about the challenges faced by youth workers on a day-to-day basis.

A financial analysis revealed that 78 percent of survey respondents experience moderate to significant financial stress, 67 percent are in debt, and 46 percent hadn’t save enough to cover an emergency. It also revealed that employees spend an average of 1.1 hours dealing with their personal finances while at work.

A 2022 IYSA survey related to the eight dimensions of health revealed the following:

  • 40 percent of survey respondents rated their emotional wellness as fair, poor, or very poor.
  • 36 percent rated the quality of emotional wellness support from their organization as poor or fair.
  • 43 percent rated their physical wellness as fair, poor, or very poor.
  • 29 percent rated the physical wellness support programs from their organization as fair or poor.
  • 64 percent rated their financial wellness as fair, poor, or very poor.

Survey respondents who rated their organizations as supportive with emotional wellness provided these comments about their employers:

  • “I am always taken care of and am constantly being checked up on to see if I am okay.”
  • “My employer is understanding and willing to listen and support and encourages us to take care of our minds as well as our bodies.”
  • “The employer does check-ins on staff to see how well we are doing or if we have any questions about programming or suggestions.”
  • “We can take a quick break if we are overwhelmed.”

Some suggestions provided by the survey respondents included providing employees with a quiet place so that they can relax for a minute, being supportive and listening to concerns, counseling, mental health check-ins, and an easily accessible platform for scheduling counseling and therapy.

Westenberger said that the surveys revealed the need to engage in a more comprehensive wellness strategy.

“In the field of youth work and social services, we have employees who, emotionally and financially, mirror the population they’re serving,” he said. “About 60 percent of the people working in the youth services field have their own trauma because they entered the field because of their childhood experiences. They have a passion to make things better for young people — to change the system and circumstances for children.”

A history of childhood trauma coupled with the demands of working with a traumatized population during pandemic is detrimental for many youth workers, Westenberger said.

“Like most other things, the pandemic brought to the forefront how much secondary trauma there is,” Westenberger said. “So, you’ve got people with high ACE scores where it is part of their intrinsic drive to do the work. And they’re working with populations who are experiencing high levels of abuse and neglect.

“We are asking, ‘What are some of the things in your workplace culture that could change to support employees and how can you provide resources to support them?’,” he added.

Aug 08

Nonprofit leaders must take a hard look at employee engagement in today’s job market

By Sponsor Insight

by Christine Shepherd, managing partner, PlanningPlus

When I was entering the workforce in my late teens, a solid, well-written resume and interview skills were everything. As a job seeker, long tenure and job stability were key factors in the job hunting and interviewing process. If you were looking for positions in management and leadership, a stable and consistent work history was considered a major plus.

Now, more than 25 years later, the job market is in a different place. Various job experiences paired with shorter tenure have slowly become the new normal. Career paths are not always linear. And the massive number of job vacancies and an unprecedented employee turnover rate have led to a significant paradigm shift in employment power.

According to the article Rewriting Employee Engagement, published by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) on Feb. 3, 2022, “19 million (people) resigned between March 2021 and July 2021.” Talking heads and critics tried explaining this labor movement as a blip in time — a response to an influx of COVID relief funding. As time went on and more jobs continued to sit open, it has become evident that employers no longer hold the power.

In the article, the author Eva Andres goes on to say, “It’s a desire for change fed by pandemic-era introspection … What we’re seeing now is shift of power from employer to employee, a humanistic labor evolution in which people are revisiting their values and what they want to do with their lives. That is forcing employers to adapt to employees’ needs instead of the other way around.”

Yes, that’s right. The hiring organization is now in the hot seat.

So how do we assess how we are doing with employee engagement and what can we do better? As defined by SHRM, employee engagement “is the extent to which people enjoy and believe in what they do for work and have the perception that their employer values what they bring to the table.”

The Great Resignation, as it has been called, requires employers to pause and evaluate if and how they are engaging with current and prospective staff. Research has shown that there are six main drivers for employee engagement that an employer should consider: work, people, total rewards, opportunities, company practices, and quality of life.

Of these six drivers, employers often consider two or three out of the six, most often total reward (compensation and benefits) and opportunities (career pathing and job advancement).

It is critical for employers to understand that employees are motivated and driven by different values, goals, and outcomes. For nonprofit organizations that often have limited resources and flat organization charts, it is imperative that leaders seek to understand what is meaningful to employees, what they value, and why they chose to work for their organization. It’s also important to understand how to add value in the lives of employees and how to make a difference to them — and for them.

Making organizational changes, even good ones, takes time, and it must start at the beginning for it to be lasting change. Start with current policies and procedures, job descriptions, performance plans and employee handbooks. Evaluate and assess the message, tone, and clarity of communications with staff members. Beginning with current recruitment and retention strategies will help identify the areas in which the nonprofit is currently doing well with employee engagement as well as opportunities to do better.

It’s important to involve employees in the process and ensure you are working with honest and candid feedback about current retention and recruitment practices.

PlanningPlus has helped dozens of for-profit and nonprofit organizations assess and enhance their employee engagement strategies. We understand that with a candid assessment, a critical eye, and a true desire for change, you can truly be a value-add in the lives of all your employees.

Mar 21

The impact of IT on employee retention

By Sponsor Insight

by Cody Lents, partner and customer steward, COVI, Inc.

As business leaders, we have a lot on our plates to accommodate a new worldview and attract the next generation of talent. Decent pay and a job are no longer enough to lure prospective employees, at least not the ones we want. Businesses must stay informed and honestly care about our people and the issues they face daily. To retain our employees, we must guide them to a better future at home and work.

The future of IT is more than just using technology to automate, streamline, and manage operations as much as possible. It’s aligning it to enhance the employee and customer experience, increasing internal cultural, and external delivery demands. The problem is that the more tech we use, the more tech we must end up managing. This requires expensive skill sets and nuanced management skills. Leaders have been quick to adopt expensive skill sets; however, quality management is lacking.

Few companies are equipped with the technology to accommodate both the older and younger generations. Millennials will make up about 75% of the workforce by 2025. Gen Z has spent most of their lives with fast and efficient internet access, along with smart and portable devices that are constantly connecting each other to the world at large. 91% of Gen Z employees say the company’s technological sophistication impacts their decision to work there. 10% of employees (no matter the generation) have walked away from a job due to technological frustrations. And the complication doesn’t end with office tech. After all, 37% of millennials say working with multiple devices is challenging and stressful, and they don’t want to switch from a computer or phone for work and life activities.

It’s true that the older the generation – the less likely they are to adapt to ever-changing technology. There is a common stereotype that veteran employees resist technology and new workflows because it will require too much stress and a departure from the way they’ve been operating for decades. In reality, many of these people have seen several changes. From typewriters to computers, from mail to fax to email, older generations have continued to adjust their workflows and are much more adaptable to technology changes than many realize.

Simply put, old technology solutions do not allow companies to keep up with many current-day issues, including employee retention. Additionally, poorly implemented new tech won’t deliver solutions to these issues either. Technological choices and implementation can largely impact your company and your employees’ success, culture, productivity, happiness, and of course, loyalty. This directly correlates to what your customer’s experience.

Unfortunately, IT teams often have their hands tied when it comes to keeping up with modern tech because of the amount of time it takes to maintain old technology and security needs. We must make tech training beneficial, entertaining, and easy to keep individuals of all generations engaged. This starts by, fully explaining the company’s values, making the technology and process easy to understand, and investing in a multi-faceted approach to implementing new tech. There also must be a designated place for employees to get answers and present questions for any tech-related concerns. These tactics ensure that IT teams have the time, process, and tools they need to successfully support the company culture. It’s more than just tech. It’s people.

We can eliminate employee turnover issues. We can attract top talent. But to do so, we must evolve.

Aug 30

From the front lines: Nonprofit employees share highs and lows of working during a pandemic, social unrest

By Feature

NFPN survey reveals employees’ perceptions about how they’re coping during a crisis — and why some are thinking about leaving their jobs

by Shari Finnell, editor/writer, Not-for-profit News

Second in a series of articles based on a “How Are You Doing?” survey conducted by Charitable Advisors

As reported in a previous Charitable Advisors’ Not-for-profit News (NFPN) article, a survey revealed that nearly 54 percent of Central Indiana nonprofit employees are thinking about leaving their jobs within the next 12 months. Of the 461 employees who responded to the survey, 40 percent said that timeline would apply to a 90-day timeframe.

With high employee turnover impacting everything from productivity to overall employee morale, numerous survey respondents gave further insights on why they left their job, why they’re thinking about leaving their job and, in some cases, why their employers are getting it right and, consequently, why they’ve decided to stay.

One survey respondent, who asked to remain anonymous, said that the pressures of shut-down orders, downsizing, lack of direction from leadership, an increased workload, and, later, a demand to return to the office amid rising COVID-19 cases led her to resign from her previous position.

The employee, who agreed to a telephone interview, said that she always has been drawn to the nonprofit sector because it’s rewarding to support the Indianapolis community she grew up in. “I have been working with nonprofits for 10 years,” said the employee, who furthered her education by graduating from the Lilly School of Philanthropy in 2018. “I worked briefly in for-profit, in sales, and I really didn’t feel like it was fulfilling for me as an individual.

However, she recently faced the challenging decision of leaving a nonprofit job before securing another. “Going through the pandemic was a time of great uncertainty. It was difficult,” she recalled. “Our organization didn’t have good leadership. While everyone was reacting in the moment, employees’ fears and concerns were not addressed until it was past time to address them. People’s concerns seemed to be dismissed. There’s something to be said for leading with empathy and acknowledging the unknowns, while at the same time accomplishing your goals and getting things done.’

The employee said that she experienced bouts of high anxiety during the pandemic, especially when the outbreak was first reported in Indiana in March 2020. “Uncertainty is a difficult spot for me,” she said. “I was concerned about my own health conditions, and I raised concerns with HR. When I did get answers, the response was, “Hold tight.” She also faced similar challenges in connecting with her direct supervisor. “They were very dismissive of our concerns,” she said.

When employees were asked to come into the office — before the city’s “stay-at-home” order was lifted. “I flatly rejected,” she said. To her, that request reflected “tone deafness” to employees’ fears and concerns.

Searching for job satisfaction

After quitting her job, the employee said she devoted time to self-care and volunteering for other organizations. “My first step was to reflect and to give myself breathing room to deal with the trauma and the incredible unknowns that were happening,” she said.

For her next job, she decided to be more selective about choosing her next employer. “I was looking for culture first and foremost, and compassionate leadership,” she said. “I also was looking at organizations that addressed some of the inequities that were being highlighted. Fair compensation also was on the list. Given my level of education and expertise, I was so burned out (with my last job) that it wasn’t worth it to continue with that compensation. I was looking for something more established.”

As part of the culture, the employee said, a flexible work schedule was essential. “Having gone through collective trauma, we now better understand that burnout is an issue that we should take seriously,” she added. “I don’t think a lot of organizations put time and resources to truly combat it. They don’t put time, effort and research to ensure it results in real action.”

In many cases, she said, you must show up for work — no matter what. If people call in sick, we don’t take them seriously. We now have a better understanding of how deeply connected we are. We need to make health a priority — both mentally and physically. We learned we can trust our coworkers, more and we can still accomplish things even if they’re not sitting there next to us. Understanding work-life balance is a huge issue.”

Getting it right

Although a significant number of employees indicated that they were poised to go after another job, others were positive about their jobs and employers. Of those surveyed, 36 percent said they “gained new respect for our leadership and our mission over the past year.”

Ashley Ross, development coordinator at Visually Impaired Preschool Services (VIPS), said she committed to the nonprofit sector because of the rewarding work. Her organization always has been supportive of understanding employees’ need for work-life balance, Ross said. “Before the pandemic began, my organization was already pretty understanding of remote work/flexible schedules. I worked in the office every day, but if I ever needed to be at home because of an appointment, there wasn’t push back; in fact, we are encouraged to make our work-life fit around our personal life,” she said.

While the flexible work schedule was a “nice-to-have” option for Ross, she now considers it a priority for any employment. “Since the pandemic started, I have now been working entirely from home for about a year and a half.,” she said. “I truly love working from home. Before the pandemic, I would only work remotely if I needed to be home for a specific reason. I would not have told my boss, ‘Hey, I don’t feel like getting out of my pajamas, so I will be working from home today.’ But now, knowing how much I can get done from the comforts of my home, I don’t feel the guilt I felt before by saying, ‘I would prefer to work from home today.’”

Ross said she also recognizes the benefits of collaborating with co-workers in the office. “My organization is in a very unique position because we are now finishing up our capital campaign to build a whole new facility for the families we serve and to also have a larger office space,” Ross said. “I am excited to get moved into our new space, have my own office, and engage with my co-workers again. However, I still intend to work at least a couple of days a week from home once we do move, and the organization is very understanding of that. The pandemic has shown employers that if you have trust in your employees, they can do their job well no matter their location. Having that freedom to choose where I work has been a huge reason why I plan on sticking around at my organization long term.”

Mark Koopman, executive director at Hoosier Burn Camp, Inc., shared the benefits of working for a smaller organization during a pandemic. “When you’re working for a smaller nonprofit, you can be more nimble because most folks are already wearing multiple hats. There wasn’t a paralysis,” Koopman said in a telephone interview. “We were able to come together and, say, ‘Let’s figure this out. How can we still serve our population in a way they deserve and need to be served?’ but, at the same time, realizing that business as usual needs to change.”

Because of the trust that already had been established within the organization, Koopman said that there was an ability to collaborate and move quickly as a team to come up with new ideas to reach constituents. “That’s part of our secret sauce,” he said. “Going through a challenge like that together, there’s an appreciation for the struggle. We were working in sync as a team. When you get through it, it’s not just an individual level of satisfaction. It was a collective satisfaction. There’s a sense of belonging. We felt like we got sucker punched as we made alterations to our programming, but we got smarter and better at it. In hindsight, we did a lot of things pretty well.”

Koopman also said that it was important to expect others’ opinions and stances during that time, whether based on religion, politics or COVID. “It’s important to meet people where they need to be met and respect where they’re at, whether it’s based on religion, politics or COVID,” he said.

Coping with burnout while focused on the mission

Patricia Cortellini, director of agency relations for Second Helpings, said the critical mission of the nonprofit organization was significantly heightened in the wake of the pandemic throughout 2020. Second Helpings distributed 1.8 million meals — up 75 percent from the 1.1 million distributed in the previous year.

“Our work became more important personally to each one of us,” Cortellini said. “Food is such a basic need. We all believed in the mission but the pandemic brought it home. We hear from a lot of people who were saying things like, ‘We didn’t get COVID because of your meals,’ ‘I’m home with COVID, so I can’t get out,’ or ‘We couldn’t leave the building because we’re immunocompromised.’”

Throughout 2020, the team at Second Helpings navigated numerous challenges, including implementing a hybrid work schedule and changing the model of how they delivered food. “Everything changed,” Cortellini said. “This year is harder than last year when our model included having the national guard here to get us in a rhythm.”

While the mission makes it all worthwhile, the day-to-day challenges can take a toll on employees on the frontlines, especially with the Delta variant resulting in another surge in COVID rates throughout Central Indiana, Cortellini said.

“People are getting burned out,” she said. “We don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. It isn’t over yet.”

Some of that stress has been alleviated with hybrid work schedules, with employees alternating working from home and in the office. “Being able to work from home two days can give you a break from the day-to-day stress. and focus on projects without all the interruptions. We found staff can be very effective at home.”

However, she said, the clear advantages of meeting in person can’t be underestimated. “When we are able to meet face to face, so much more information gets relayed. You can read people’s expressions. It’s also hard to jump into a conversation during a Zoom meeting. I believe the hybrid model of working will stay with us.”

Developing a strategic retention/recruitment plan

Deirdre Byrd, director of HR consulting for VonLehman CPA & Advisory Firm, said nonprofit employers can gain a significant number of insights about what it takes to attract and retain employees as a result of the pandemic.

“COVID highlighted for employees and employers that much of the work that takes place can be done remotely,” Byrd said. A flexible schedule also allows for more work-life balance, she noted. “Instead of starting the day with a commute to the office, an employee could start earlier and take a break during lunch time to help kids with assignments,” Byrd said. “It’s not surprising that, on the side of it, we’re not going back to the way things were.”

As part of Byrd’s work, she’s hearing from many prospective employees who are prioritizing remote work, hybrid work or flexible schedules when vetting employers.

Nonprofit employers will need to move forward by being realistic about what they can and cannot offer current employees and new hires, Byrd said. “Value doesn’t necessarily have to come in the form of straight compensation,” she said. “It can be non-monetary, such as development … the opportunity to grow with the organization. It may not mean vertical growth; it may be lateral growth, with opportunities to further build skills.”

Byrd said leadership teams need to outline five key areas to have an impact on retention and recruitment, including making sure that each employee has the right skills for the position to increase alignment; identifying what sets you apart as an organization; connecting goals and expectations to the organization’s mission and performance; offering employee development plans and providing attractive compensation, including non-monetary benefits such as hybrid work/remote work, flexible work schedules, childcare or elder care and similar benefits to assist with employees’ personal lives.

Developing clear ways to address burn out also is critical, Byrd said. Throughout the organization, there should be efforts to ensure relationships are constructive, with schedules including one-to-one employee meetings and regular team meetings.

“It’s important to talk to employees, not only about work but get to know them as people,” she said. “Create an environment of trust, which is foundational to a safe environment where employees are supporting one another and can be their authentic selves. They should feel safe to experiment and try something new.”