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Feb 03

The Power of Financial Wellness in Strengthening Nonprofit Impact

By Sponsor Insight

By: Jill Robisch, First Vice President & Manager, Nonprofit Services

In a world where attracting and retaining talent in the nonprofit sector is more challenging than ever, organizations must prioritize the financial well-being of their employees. Nonprofit staff often dedicate their careers to serving others, yet many face personal financial challenges that can impact their ability to focus fully on their mission-driven work. Supporting employees on their journey to financial stability, including homeownership, not only benefits the individual but also strengthens the organization’s impact.

The Ripple Effect of Financially Well Employees

When nonprofit employees achieve financial wellness, the benefits extend far beyond their personal lives. Financially stable staff are less stressed, more productive, and more engaged in their roles. They bring greater focus and energy to their work, allowing organizations to deliver services more effectively and achieve their missions more sustainably. Moreover, when employees feel supported by their employer in areas like financial education and homeownership, it fosters loyalty and helps retain top talent.

Guiding Employees Toward Homeownership

Homeownership is often a cornerstone of financial stability, yet for many nonprofit employees, navigating the path to buying a home can feel daunting. From understanding down payment requirements to finding affordable mortgage options, the journey can seem out of reach without the right guidance. Nonprofit organizations can play a pivotal role by connecting their employees with the tools and resources needed to make homeownership achievable.

One impactful way to do this is by partnering with financial institutions that understand the unique needs of nonprofit employees. For example, banks with specialized mortgage programs—such as low or no down payment options—can demystify the process and provide tailored solutions. Additionally, financial literacy programs focused on budgeting, saving, and credit-building can empower employees to take confident steps toward owning a home.

The Financial Wellness Ambassador Program: A Partnership for Success

At The National Bank of Indianapolis, our Financial Wellness Ambassador Program offers a hands-on approach to supporting employees’ financial goals. This initiative includes customizable training sessions and one-on-one coaching designed to meet individuals where they are in their financial journey.

Nonprofit organizations can invite our Financial Wellness Ambassadors to host workshops on topics such as budgeting, debt management, and preparing for homeownership. These sessions not only equip employees with the knowledge they need but also provide actionable strategies for achieving their goals. For those seeking more personalized guidance, our financial wellness coaches are available for one-on-one consultations, offering tailored advice and support.

A Shared Commitment to Financial Stability

By prioritizing the financial health of their workforce, nonprofits can cultivate a stronger, more resilient team. Whether it’s through facilitating access to homeownership resources, offering financial literacy training, or collaborating with programs like The National Bank of Indianapolis’ Financial Wellness Ambassador Program, nonprofits can make a meaningful difference in the lives of their employees.

Ultimately, financially well employees are the foundation of a thriving nonprofit. By investing in their team’s financial stability, organizations can unlock greater potential for achieving their mission and making an even bigger impact in the communities they serve.

For more information on financial wellness training or to connect with a Financial Wellness Ambassador, reach out to The National Bank of Indianapolis today. Let’s work together to build a financially empowered workforce.

Aug 21

Understanding burnout and its impact on employees

By Sponsor Insight

by Christy Frazier Shepard, managing partner, Planning Plus, LLC

According to a recent survey, burnout is on the rise globally, but particularly in the United States. The Future Forum Pulse survey revealed that burnout among the workforce rose by 8 percent globally and by 16 percent in the United States between May 2022 and August 2022. The rates were higher among middle managers.

With rising rates of employees reporting symptoms of burnout, organization leaders have been grappling with how to address the syndrome in the workplace. One good place to start is by gaining a deeper understanding of burnout.

What is burnout?

Burnout can be difficult to describe. However, it’s not a medical condition. According to the APA Dictionary of Psychology, burnout is defined as “physical, emotional or mental exhaustion, accompanied by decreased motivation, lowered performance and negative attitudes towards oneself and others.”

Often, people do not know they’ve reached burnout until they cross the line between “really tired” and “too exhausted to function.” Other people might be the type of personality who likes to stay busy and might not recognize when they are doing too much. Burnout also happens when work-life balance gets too far out of sync. With the rise in remote work and technology in most aspects of our daily lives, this out-of-sync balance has been a common occurrence in the last few years.

The difference between burnout and stress?

While often used interchangeably, burnout and stress are not the same thing. Depending on your personality and DISC behavior type, you may react positively to stress. Some team members find that small amounts of stress help them feel more productive and motivated.

According to the APA Dictionary of Psychology, stress is defined as “a normal reaction to everyday pressures but can become unhealthy when it upsets your day-to-day functioning. Stress involves changes affecting nearly every system of the body, influencing how people feel and behave.”

While the benefits or detriments of slight stress vary from person to person, burnout is exclusively detrimental. Too much pressure and chronic stress can lead to burnout. These cases occur when someone has been so worn down by stress that you feel — as the name suggests — burned out.

Like stress, burnout manifests differently, depending on the person. Even though we commonly associate burnout with emotional exhaustion, it can impact all areas of your life — including your physical health.

Signs of burnout

Common causes of burnout?

Like the various signs of burnout, there are a variety of burnout causes. In general, each cause leads to a central tipping point: When work-related stress or pressure becomes too much or goes on for too long, it can lead to burnout.

You may be at risk of burnout if there is:

  • Little to no control over your workload.
  • Little to no recognition of a job well done.
  • Unclear job expectations.
  • Unreasonable or overly demanding job expectations.
  • High-pressure work environments.
  • Too much work — specifically when it leads to less time to do the things you enjoy outside of work.

How to prevent burnout on your team

One of the most impactful things you can do as a manager is support your team and recognize burnout before it happens. It’s much easier to prevent burnout than to fix it once it’s already happening — by the time you notice burnout, it’s hard to reverse. Instead, be proactive about your team’s workload.

  • Frequently checking in on their capacity and resource management to get ahead of burnout and ensure team members aren’t overwhelmed.
  • Workload management tools give you a bird’s-eye view of everyone’s tasks in one place. That way, you can get a sense of if anyone is overloaded and redistribute that work if necessary.
  • Create realistic and attainable goals. Figuring out how a task contributes to a bigger initiative can take mental energy.
  • Mapping out a clear set of goals for your team to work towards can reduce confusion or overwork.
  • Schedule weekly or biweekly 1:1 meeting with team members to check in on priorities, capacity, and other questions they might have.

Reverse burnout

There are several strategies you can use to reverse burnout. The one that works best for you depends on your situation and personality. Try implementing these strategies in combination with one another for the best results.

  • Scheduling breaks. Burnout happens because you’ve been too stressed for too long. You likely have a lot of work to get done and may be feeling a lot of pressure to do it. To start pushing back against burnout, schedule breaks throughout the day.
  • Setting boundaries. All the causes of burnout have one thing in common: external pressure. One of the best ways to reverse burnout is to set boundaries for yourself. Choose a time to log off from work every evening.
  • Taking time off (if you can). This might not be an option for you straightaway but taking time off is a great way to relax and recharge. Even if you only take a day or half day away from work, this is a chance to seek work-life balance. When you do take time off, make sure to confirm with your supervisor that you’ll be offline and unavailable.
  • Take care of yourself. Often, burnout happens because we are dedicating too much of ourselves to our work. Take time for self-care. Make sure you are getting enough sleep and spending time with friends or family. Try introducing mindfulness into your day through things like yoga or meditation. This can help you combat stressors and increase wellness.

Build resilience

Burnout can happen to anyone, and just because you beat burnout once doesn’t mean it can’t creep up on you again. Here are some steps to developing resilience.

  • Build your work relationships. Many times, burnout can happen when you are isolated at work while simultaneously being under a lot of pressure. One way to build resilience against future burnout is to build and foster your work relationships. When pressure starts to mount, you have colleagues that can provide support and assistance to address the stress before it becomes burnout. You are not in this alone.
  • Align work with performance goals. Aligning work with goals means you’ll have a clear sense of why your work matters. When you understand how the work you are engaged in is contributing to the bigger picture and strategic plan, it is easier to understand and prioritize projects and tasks, even when the pressure starts to build. If you must change direction or reprioritize, you can effectively prioritize your most important tasks without worrying you won’t hit your goals.
  • Balance your work life with your personal life. In addition to getting enough sleep and connecting with loved ones, make sure you’re dedicating time to your interests outside of work. Do things you enjoy, whether that’s reading a book, seeing friends, being creative, doing a sport, or something else. Think of it like diversifying your investments—but in this case, you’re investing in your interests.

From burnout to balance

Burnout can fly under the radar. Given enough time, these symptoms can build up and impact the well-being of your team members. The best way to ensure your co-workers aren’t burning out is to spot it before it happens. That’s where workload management comes in.

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.

Sep 12

New online tool launched to combat Indiana’s workforce challenges

By Feature

Indiana Chamber’s Talent Resource Navigator facilitates connections with career development training

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

Seeking a better employment opportunity but not sure if you’re qualified? Or searching for quality career development training to equip an employee for a promotion?

Those are the types of questions that the Institute of Workforce Excellence (IWE), the Indiana Chamber’s charitable nonprofit, is addressing through its new Talent Resource Navigator, a web-based tool designed to help Indiana employers and individuals access educational and professional growth training programs from one location, according to Todd Hurst, IWE executive director.

The Navigator project, which has been in development for more than a year, streamlines the process of identifying and accessing hundreds of programs that address skills gaps in Indiana’s workforce. Funded by a $2.5 million Lilly Endowment grant, the site is free to employers and individuals. It also is available in Spanish and features a live customer service component.

The development of the online tool is in response to some frustrations experienced by employers across the state, as well as a shortage of skilled employees, according to Hurst.

Based on recent statistics, Indiana employers, like those in many other states, are experiencing difficulties in finding skilled employees to fill job openings. By 2029, 60 percent of net new jobs added in Indiana will require a postsecondary credential. However, only 43 percent of Indiana residents have a credential beyond high school.

While many institutions and organizations throughout the state offer workforce development and talent development training, many people don’t know how to access them — which is one of the challenges the Navigator addresses, Hurst said.

“At the Chamber, we continuously hear from employers that they don’t know where to turn, what’s available to them, or what they’re eligible for,” Hurst said. “Many are having difficulty finding talent. At the same time, the tool is designed to help individuals who don’t know what’s available to them or what career paths exist.”

Evolving to meet specific needs

When the IWE team first started working on the navigator project, the initial concept was to create a platform that puts everything in one place, including all state-funded programs, local nonprofit programs, and post-secondary programs, Hurst said.

“An individual or an employer could just go to one place, find a program, and learn about it,” he said.
“But we learned through conversations with stakeholders and employers across the state, while that’s great, there was still so much more that they needed.”

In some cases, Hurst said, employers and individuals recognized their challenges but didn’t necessarily know how to identify the solution or where to look in the system for the right answer.

The Navigator concept underwent numerous revisions to make it a more comprehensive and personalized experience. “We’ve evolved it to truly embody this navigator concept,” Hurst said.

Anyone accessing the Talent Resource Navigator can select from programs categorized based on location, industry, available funding, and anticipated outcomes. As a result, a person can quickly narrow down their selection to those that specifically address their needs or desired outcomes.

Another feature allows employers to perform a Talent Pipeline Assessment, which evaluates and benchmarks their current talent development strategies against nationally recognized best practices. After the employer completes the assessment, the Navigator will make recommendations about resources that align with their results.

“There’s a lot of good work happening in Indiana — fantastic regional strategies and community strategies that are really impactful,” Hurst said. “But unless you’re already plugged in, you may not know what’s available to you and how to connect to it. The Navigator is not a silver bullet, but we’re beginning to make stronger connections across organizations, among entities that may not have previously known about the other.”

Sep 20

Participant Wellness in the Era of COVID-19 and the Effect on Nonprofits

By Sponsor Insight

by Kevin Kidwell, vice president, tax-exempt sales, OneAmerica

One unavoidable fact is how the pandemic divided people into two groups. The first group are financially stable and held onto their jobs during the pandemic. They have avoided spending money and were able to increase their savings effort. In fact, the U.S. personal savings rate hit a record high of 33% in April 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.1

The second group didn’t fare as well. According to an Employee Benefit Research Institute survey, roughly one in 10 participants have taken a loan, hardship distribution or early withdrawal from their workplace retirement plan during 2020.2 Unfortunately, many more individuals didn’t have the benefit of this safety net, with a quarter of adults without a retirement plan according to a Federal Reserve report.3

This has had a great impact on our communities and the nonprofits that have served them. Need has increased, while the ability to provide services has changed or dramatically reduced.

While this sounds like bad news, we are optimistic because historical perspective of the 2008 recession shows the cyclical nature of our economy and how nonprofits recover.4

Short-Term Consequences

The economic effects of the pandemic forced nonprofits to cut more than 50,000 jobs in December 2020, according to a report from Johns Hopkins University, and it could take 18 months for nonprofits’ employment numbers to return to pre-pandemic levels, per ABC News.5

However, several of our clients have made great strides to ensure their nonprofit employees will continue to keep their jobs at least until the end of the year.

This economic impact of the COVID-19 outbreak will make it harder for some employees to achieve their short-term financial goals putting their long-term financial goals at risk.

Among those employees who say their financial situation has gotten worse during the pandemic, 44% believe it will take them three years or more to get back to where they were a year ago — including about one in 10 who don’t think their finances will ever recover.6

This year, 32% of nonprofit employees expect their employers to reduce program offerings and have hiring freezes, 23% expect pay cuts, 20%, layoffs and 17%, furloughs according to Eagle Hill Consulting, who polled over 500 nonprofit employees across the United States.7

Holistic Financial Wellness

Although we’re confident in the economic healing of nonprofits, many organizations will continue to experience impacts of the pandemic for some time.

There are steps nonprofits can take to support their own employees through continuing change, both now and as they stabilize in the future. Financial wellness will be increasingly important, and as the need for financial recovery will be great for some time, employers need to recognize their role in helping their employees achieve this.

For any organization, this starts by offering and reinforcing employees the basics:

  • Retirement plans
  • Competitive health insurance
  • Paid time off
  • Flexible spending or health savings accounts
  • Financial wellness education

These programs are important for overall employee productivity, health care costs and talent retention. In the 2021 Employee Financial Wellness Survey, PwC reported that of those whose financial stress increased as a result of the pandemic, 45% felt their financial situation had been a distraction at work. Taking this one step further, nearly three-quarters of employees experiencing financial stress also experience physical symptoms, which affects a businesses’ bottom line. People with financial stress tend to avoid getting health care, which could lead to worse health outcomes and higher health care costs later.8

Invest in Financial Education

In addition, by providing access to financial wellness education employers can also help their employees focus on specific goals, such as setting up an emergency fund, paying back retirement loans, reducing debt, and creating a realistic budget. This goes a long way in helping employees start to become more stable and regain confidence in their ability to get back on and stay on track.

By boosting employee financial confidence and offering support, you can have a positive impact on health care costs, retention, and productivity — ultimately making your organization stronger and healthier, too.

In Kevin Kidwell’s role as vice president of national tax-exempt sales, he works to provide ideas, knowledge, information – both technical and practical – in an effort to facilitate improved plan and participant outcomes. Kidwell has held various positions within the Retirement Services division since 1988. Beginning in 2000, his exclusive focus has been on health care and tax-exempt organizations.

  1. Pew Research Survey: Economic Fallout from Covid-19 Continues to hit Lower Income Americans the Hardest
  2. Federal Reserve System Report: Report on the Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2019, Featuring Supplemental Data from April 2020
  3. Pew Research Survey: A Year Into the Pandemic, Long-Term Financial Impact Weighs Heavily on Many Americans
  4. Nonprofit Quarterly: Deconstructing the (Not-So-Great) Nonprofit Recession
  5. ABC News: Study: Nonprofits lost 50,000 jobs last month from virus
  6. Pew Research Survey: A Year Into the Pandemic, Long-Term Financial Impact Weighs Heavily on Many Americans
  7. The Business Journals: Despite increases in charitable donations, half of nonprofit employees expect cuts in 2021
  8. PwC’s 10th annual Employee Financial Wellness Survey, PwC US, 2021

About OneAmerica®
A national provider of insurance and financial services for more than 140 years, the companies of OneAmerica help customers build and protect their financial futures. OneAmerica offers a variety of products and services to serve the financial needs of their policyholders and customers. These products include retirement plan products and recordkeeping services, individual life insurance, annuities, asset-based long-term care solutions and employee benefit plan products.

Products are issued and underwritten by the companies of OneAmerica and distributed through a nationwide network of employees, agents, brokers and other sources that are committed to providing value to our customers. To learn more about our products, services and the companies of OneAmerica, visit
OneAmerica.com/companies.

Aug 23

NFPN Survey: What nonprofit employees really want

By Feature

HR experts predict Central Indiana nonprofits will need to be creative in combating high employee turnover

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

(First in a series of articles about Charitable Advisors’ NFPN “How Are You Doing?” survey)
Many nonprofit employees in Central Indiana appear to be dissatisfied, with 40 percent reporting that they’re likely to change jobs in the next 90 days, according to a Not-for-profit News survey of 461 respondents. Of those, 21 percent said there’s a 50 percent chance they would change jobs and 20 percent rated that possibility as “very likely” — at least a 70 percent chance.

That number shifts from 40 percent to nearly 54 percent when the timeline for a potential job change is expanded to “within the next 12 months.” According to the 2021 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, voluntary turnover — situations in which employees choose to leave their jobs — is typically 25 percent.

When asked what mattered to them most in a job, survey respondents cited flexible schedule (68 percent), higher pay (57 percent) and remote work (47 percent) as their top three criteria.

One survey respondent said, “Don’t make me come back to the office more. I am far more productive at home. There is no need to commute 1.5 to 2 hours in a day to attend a 1-hour meeting. If virtual worked at the height of the pandemic (when you wanted it) then it can still work now (when I want it).

Another said, “The culture at my institution is completely broken. Trust between the staff and leadership at the senior and board level has fully dissolved. Within my own department I don’t feel like there are advancement opportunities for me, but more broadly, many staff feel discouraged, undervalued, and heartbroken over continued institutional shortcomings. If my employer were to provide a clear advancement plan for me and work towards more transparency between leadership and the staff, I would love to stay.”

Burnout was cited as a major problem by numerous survey respondents. One employee responded, “Get me help. I cannot do this alone and I am drowning,” while another commented that they needed “more help in the office and fewer long nights.”

The survey findings reflect recent trends throughout the state of Indiana, according to Megan Nail, vice president, Total Rewards Practice, for First Person Advisors, and state director for the HR Indiana Society for Human Resource Management.

“I hear from HR professionals and employers throughout the state of Indiana, and what they’re dealing with,” Nail said. “The pandemic has impacted mental health, wages and our ability to recruit and retain employees. I have never seen anything like this in the 20 years that I’ve been in the profession.”

Chelsea DuKate, founder and HR people consultant for Red Envelope Consulting, said employers will need to consider remote work as the new normal — not the exception in the coming years.

Unlike years ago, when employees placed a high value on the type of office accommodations their employer offered, such as an office with large windows, that is no longer the case, DuKate said.

“There’s been a total shift around the flexibility of working from home. Leaving our house to commute to work for even 10 minutes is a barrier,” she said. “A lot of people are still recovering mentally from the ups and downs of 2020, and what we’re going through even now. It’s too much effort to go into the office. They don’t want to do it, and they don’t care if their bank account takes a hit.”

When determining how to proceed with a work policy, whether it’s a hybrid model or fully remote or fully in-person, it’s important to ensure that you include employees in the decision-making process, DuKate said.

“There has to be an employee voice in whatever decisions are being made,” she stressed. “Give employees the option to take a vote before determining what’s best. As long as they feel their voice is represented, employees may still decide to leave but not leave with a chip on their shoulder.”

DuKate also said that understanding and meeting employees’ needs can be a significant step in increasing retention rates. Many nonprofits, especially smaller organizations, are unable to compete with for-profit and larger organizations on salary, she pointed out.

Besides flexible schedules, higher pay and remote work, survey respondents cited several other ways that their current employer could enhance retention rates, including the following:

  • Stop micromanaging
  • Listen to ideas to stop the high rate of turnover
  • Offer more opportunities for growth and leadership
  • Transparency and better communication
  • Non-toxic culture
  • Higher pay, advancement, connection
  • Benefits in lieu of pay, possibly a shorter work week (four days would be lovely)
  • More frequent reminders that they value me
  • Increase my pay; I’ve only had two raises in 15 years
  • More employee appreciation beyond words
  • Reduce number of weekly meetings; slow pace down a bit
  • Comprehensive benefits
  • More time off options. There has been no break since COVID started. It’s taking a toll on the physical and mental health of our team and colleagues

When employees were asked how they felt about their leadership and organization’s mission, the survey responses were nearly evenly divided in their opinions:

  • 36 percent said they “gained new respect for our leadership and our mission over the past year.”
  • 35 percent reported feeling “the same about my employer as I did before the pandemic.”
  • 29 percent said they “lost confidence or respect for my employer over the past year.”

On the question related to their relationship with their supervisors, employees also were nearly even divided in their responses:

  • 37 percent rated their relationship with their supervisor as “excellent/very good”
  • 33 percent rated it as “pretty good”
  • 30 percent responded that they “don’t feel connected to my supervisors/leaders”

The survey findings point to the need for nonprofit organizations to be more creative and intentional in attracting and retaining employees, especially if there isn’t an option for significantly increasing pay, Nail said.

“As an employer, you need to ask, ‘What type of culture are you building?’ ‘How are you connecting that to your mission?’,” Nail said. “It all starts with communication and trust, especially during COVID. The world is so busy, and there’s so much we have going on at any time. If you’re having employees work remotely, you have to be even more intentional about communication, trust and relationships.”

Nail also said organizations should recognize the advantages of being in the nonprofit sector.

“Hopefully, the positive side of all this is that it’s forcing employers of all types — for profit and nonprofit — to be really creative about understanding their employees needs and coming up with unique ways to support them,” she said. “The good news for nonprofits is that it’s not all about money. That’s certainly a part of it but there is so much more than that.

“As human beings, many of us have stepped back and reassessed what we’re looking for in life. Nonprofits can play a really important part in answering that question by providing meaningful work. Employees can really feel like they’re contributing to making our community a better place. That’s a unique value proposition nonprofit employers can leverage during this time.”

Organizations that invest time and effort in enhancing workplace culture, management and mission building and offer flexibility will be able to more effectively compete for highly qualified employees, Nail said.

“People will think twice about leaving a good culture where they feel like there’s good communication, they believe in the mission, their supervisor supports them, and it’s a job that works with their personal life,” she said. “Those things are irreplaceable.”

Jun 28

Hundreds of Hoosiers participate in free wellness program designed to combat stress, trauma, PTSD and burnout

By Feature

Eskenazi Health and Center for Mind Body Medicine training provides attendees with tools for healing in the midst of pandemic

by Shari Finnell, editor/writer, Not for Profit News

As experts seek to gain a better understanding of the long-term impact of COVID-19 on mental health, about 1,500 Hoosiers have recently enrolled in evidence-based training to proactively equip themselves with self-care tools, including meditation, guided imagery and biofeedback under Eskenazi Health’s Hoosier Heartland Healing Collaborative.

The free statewide initiative, which is sponsored by Eskenazi Health, in partnership with the Center for Mind Body Medicine, comes at a time when people are increasingly acknowledging the need for managing stress and trauma, said Megan Hider, Mind-Body Program supervisor at Eskenazi Health.

“I do think the conversation has really changed, in a good way, about how we think about stress, and our emotional health, spiritual health and how we physically function,” Hider said. “Wellness and mindfulness have become more mainstream throughout society. We’ve all been dealing with trauma and secondary trauma. We need to chip away at the stigma of trauma, whether it’s everyday trauma or a natural disaster, or whatever we experience.”

As part of the program, which was partially funded by the Herbert Simon Family Foundation, individuals participate in small groups of 8 to 10 people led by a facilitator who has gone through a two-part training program. The participants are asked to commit to a series of 2-hour weekly sessions during an 8-week period. As part of the training, participants learn numerous self-care skills that have been scientifically proven to lower levels of stress, improve mood, enhance resiliency and optimism, and help prevent chronic health conditions.

Hider said that the free training, which is open to any Indiana resident, can better equip first responders and other employees who are in a position of helping others. By learning the self-care techniques themselves, they can manage the stressors in their own lives so that they can better focus on helping others in challenging situations. “With everything we’ve been going through in the past year, it came at a perfect time,” she said.

The benefits of the training were quickly evident, said Christy Gauss, MSW, LSW, owner of SCP Consultants and a former school mental health facilitator for the Indiana School Mental Health Initiative. Gauss, who underwent intensive training to become a licensed group facilitator under the Mind Body program, said it was a powerful experience.

“I didn’t know what to expect when I went into it,” Gauss recalled. “You learn the science and skills of self-care in an environment where you have peer-to-peer support. It’s all about you and what it means in your own life before you start learning how to teach everyone else.”

Gauss said that type of firsthand learning is essential for those who support others, including first-responders, teachers and nonprofit employees. The potential for burnout can be significant for these groups, she added.

“You have to learn how stress is impacting you first,” she said. “You need to put on your own oxygen first, which we can be very bad at.”

Hider said the training can be very empowering for the attendees, who are able to devote an uninterrupted span of time to focus on themselves during each session. “It gives you space to become self-aware of your feelings, emotions and body sensations,” she said. “You’re able to learn about the physiology of the body and what happens when you’re stressed and when you’re calm.

“You are given the ability to heal yourself in a unique way that doesn’t happen in other spaces,” Hider added. “If we want to show up to places of service and places of community, we must be advocates for ourselves.”

For more information about the Eskenazi Health Hoosier Heartland Healing Collaborative or to sign up for a session, visit the program’s site here.

Jun 21

Developing a successful hybrid-work model

By Sponsor Insight

By Cody Lents, Partner and Change Manager at COVI, Inc.

Empower employees with choice
As vaccinations trend up and restrictions trend down, a significant number of workers are set to return to the office in coming months. Your extroverted employees are undoubtedly excited. However, their introverted counterparts may not share the same enthusiasm. So, how can you maximize morale and culture to enable the best performance out of both groups?: A thoughtfully-designed hybrid Work-from-Home (WFH) model that prioritizes both the needs of your organization’s employees and processes.

Lay the groundwork for success
The first critical step in transitioning into a hybrid WFH model is developing and communicating processes that level the playing field for both in-house and remote workers. Set clear expectations about your organization’s internal communications, cyber insurance, bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policy, etc., to ensure that remote workers don’t feel left behind compared to their in-person colleagues.

While remote work can be an opportunity to cut “traditional” office costs, leverage it as an opportunity to invest in your workforce. Consider using what your organization saves on overhead to provide your employees with a stipend to make working remotely more comfortable. This allows employees to outfit themselves at home with equipment like an ergonomic chair, an extra monitor, noise-canceling headphones, etc.

At the office, consider re-developing your organization’s layout to better accommodate a hybrid approach: dedicated “open-space” plans for those in and out of the office, private offices for focused work, and spaces specifically designed to encourage collaboration/socialization both face-to-face and virtually.

Invest in your infrastructure
The next critical step in transitioning your organization to a hybrid approach is ensuring your infrastructure is capable of handling the needs of employees working in different spaces. Now may be the time to upgrade your organization’s software to the enterprise level so that you can take advantage of security, communication and collaboration features.

Migrating your organization’s servers to the cloud is another way to streamline efficiency for your remote workforce. This makes it easier for your employees to collaborate and share files via a centralized location in which they can upload/save their work to.

Don’t compromise on security
With employees using a mixture of personal and company devices, it’s imperative that your organization communicates a clear security policy to ensure the safety of your data. The following three steps are a great start to a more secure digital infrastructure:

  • Determining what endpoint protection your remote workers need will aid in virus prevention. Windows Defender is a great antivirus software included in Windows 10, however, it does not meet the compliancy and security minimums of today’s security landscape.
  • Implementing two-factor authentication [2FA] is a secure way to ensure that only admins and users are allowed into accounts that would otherwise be vulnerable to cyber attacks.
  • Utilizing a virtual environment that allows devices to connect to a secure server or service, as opposed to a user’s internet connection, allows your organization to keep information encrypted, private, and safe.

Questions?
Now is the perfect time for a comprehensive technology assessment to prepare for the new-normal in our evolved workspaces. If you want to discuss what an assessment entails or if you need assistance implementing a hybrid-work approach for your organization, reach out to COVI at cody@gocovi.com for help. COVI is an Information Technology (IT) agency specializing in productivity, security, support and strategy services, located in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Jan 27

5 methods for improving employee work-life balance

By Sponsor Insight

By Barry Newman, senior human resources representative, Synergy

It might be obvious that severely overworked employees will burn out, but what about the harder-to-spot cases of employees who shoulder a little bit too much stress each day?

Improving work-life balance for your employees has been proven to create a more loyal and more productive workforce. While change can’t happen overnight, there are several methods for encouraging a healthier balance and preventing employee burn out.

Retire the nine-to-five mentality

As long as your industry and work product allow for it, try to provide more tailored scheduling for your workforce. This can make a huge impact, since 89% of surveyed professionals stated the number one thing that would improve their work-life balance would be flexible working hours. Look at each position and consider: why must this here employee be here for these exact hours? In many cases there will be certain meetings that need attending, but outside of that, allowing employees to come in early so they can finish their workday early or shift hours in another way can provide a huge boost to morale.

Offer remote working options

Today’s world is a digital one. Just as with business hours that are more flexible than ever, so too is the location from which employees work. Once again, look at each position and ask: ‘Why click does this employee have to physically be here every single day?’ If all they need is an Internet connection and computer to complete the majority of their job, there should be the potential to allow them to work remotely at least one day per month. In fact, the most engaged workers are those working remotely about 60% of the time, indicating a healthy work-life balance is critical to business success. Best yet, offering remote working options can be a great way to increase attractive benefits without adding any cost.

Tweak the office environment

People are products of their environments. Sterile, fluorescent office interiors are no longer in vogue. Employees desire to walk into a warmer workplace, one that is more vibrant and comfortable. While complete overhauls and construction from scratch can cost thousands, even small tweaks to your environment make a big difference. After all, employees spend a great deal of time at work. Think about the minor but impactful changes you can make, such as adding a new couch and TV to the breakroom, providing an unlimited supply of energy drinks and snacks, or putting a picnic table outside during the summer months.

Promote physical and mental health

An employer looking to improve their organization’s work-life balance must also consider physical and mental health, as psychological and physical problems stemming from burned-out employees cost between $125 and $190 billion per year in healthcare in the U.S.

Encourage employees to be active by enacting a step-counting contest or offering a discounted membership to a local gym. Bring in an exercise instructor once per week or month and have a yoga or other class outside at lunch or after work. Grant employees up to a $20 reimbursement for the purchase of well-being apps that can help them meditate or deal with stress in positive ways. Whatever the form it takes, promoting physical and mental health is an essential duty as an employer.

Adopt paid sick leave

Laws requiring paid sick leave are spreading, but even if it’s not a law in your area currently, it’s something that can go a long way to improving employee work-life balance. Many professionals force themselves to come into work when sick simply because they don’t want to take PTO that they’ve planned to use for their vacation or for an activity with loved ones. This is a dangerous trend since that employee who won’t likely match their normal work rate anyway can get co-workers sick. Build a sick leave policy into the employee handbook and benefits package so employees aren’t put in that situation. They will get healthy faster and appreciate their employer more.

5 ways to improve employee work-life balance

Improving employee work-life balance is more than just offering ample vacation time. While discretion will vary depending on the type and size of your organization, boosting employee morale is the duty of all managers, HR employees, and senior staff. Working together to determine what works best for your employees and implementing those strategies is the key to turning your employee experience from a seesaw to a balance beam.

Provide a boost to your HR and make your employees happier.

Barry Newman is a human-resources professional with nearly 50 years of experience in all facets of HR in a variety of industries. For the last 25 of which have been with The Synergy Companies, a leading Professional Employer Organization providing Midwest-based clients with outsourced human resources management, payroll and benefits.

Reach out to Synergy today.

Jun 13

Corporate social responsibility: How it affects employee satisfaction

By Feature, Leadership

By Ivan Widjaya, Small Business Trends |

Starbucks magnate Howard Schultz is one of many CEOs around the world that have embraced the idea of corporate social responsibility when it comes to how they run their companies.

You don’t have to be running a Fortune 500 company to be an ethically responsible company that embraces corporate social responsibility and all that it stands for. In fact, if you refuse to embrace it and all that it entails, it’s quite possible a strong majority of the people that work for you are currently unhappy in their jobs.

The definition of corporate social responsibility and the values and practices it embraces is a vast one.  Each company that embraces it has their own mantra that’s used to describe it: community investment, social impact, corporate citizenship, sustainability and many others.

In a nutshell, corporate social responsibility is all about company ethics — how you treat the environment, the communities you serve and work in and your employees. Even your competitors.

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