June 20, 2014
Creating deep passion and maintaining high employee engagement at a nonprofit can be one of the most important aspects of retaining top talent. According to The Chronicle of Philanthropy while employees at any company need a competitive salary, workers who decide to join a nonprofit often want more than just a paycheck, and may leave if that doesn't occur. This is particularly true of millennial talent. Regardless of their disciplines or degrees, this generation seeks to find a greater purpose in their professional lives. In order for them to perform at their best, they must believe their job has a positive impact on society.
The conundrum is if young workers truly want to make a meaningful difference and aren't, they will leave the nonprofit for other employment. When the motivation is money, it's easier to stay in a job even if the work is boring, unrewarding or unfulfilling – provided promotions or raises are available. However, when employees want to make a positive influence on a cause and are not given the opportunity to do so they may be easily frustrated and move on.
Engagement begins with listening
That is why careful delegation of duties is so important at a nonprofit. Managers must make sure the right talents are put to work in the right place. However, the shared passion of employees means everyone should be given a voice. At a for-profit company, an employee's passion is more likely related to their position than to the organization itself. At a nonprofit, involvement with the organization can be the primary motivator behind seeking out the job. Any employee, regardless of position, might have wonderful ideas for how the organization can expand and grow, and it is up to the manager to tap into these insights.
While operations can be a hectic at a nonprofit, leaders should take the time to meet with all employees and ask about their vision of the organization. It's important to know where they see themselves in five years, but also where they see the nonprofit in five years. Even if their ideas are not put into practice, employee engagement begins by simply giving them the chance to participate. Nonprofits are most successful when their employees believe in the mission, so leaders must make sure that all workers feel they have an engaging and meaningful impact on the organization.
Content presented by First Nonprofit Group, the leading provider of state unemployment insurance solutions for 501(c)(3) nonprofit employers.
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We’ve been a member of First Nonprofit’s Unemployment Savings Program since 2011 and highly recommend joining. The program is terrific and allows us to earn interest on our own funds while still meeting the state’s requirements on unemployment payments. In addition, the staff are great and always helpful sorting out any questions we may have. Thank you all!
CCSCT was approached by First NonProfit to discuss its Unemployment Savings Program and ways the program could significantly reduce the amount of unemployment taxes we were paying. At the time, our agency was paying approximately $80,000 per year. First NonProfit conducted an analysis to determine if making the switch would be in our best interest, and it clearly was based on our circumstances. The first year on the program, CCSCT saw a 70% reduction in its unemployment costs and each year, continues to experience further reductions as a result of having minimal claims. Some additional benefits of the program including having a fixed annual cost, an interest-baring reserve account, professional unemployment claims management and representation at all unemployment hearings. This has been one of the best decisions we have made.
We first started using First Nonprofit’s Unemployment Savings Program when we were a small startup nonprofit. We didn’t have an HR department and needed expertise in the event that an unemployment claim was made. We knew we were eligible to be a reimbursing employer, but weren’t sure how to navigate that process. They made it easy to set things up, plan for, and then manage claims when they came at a very reasonable cost. The amount of time and stress they’ve saved us dealing with all this has been worth way more than the cost. We’ve now grown to a large nonprofit and do have an HR department but have no plans to stop using their services. I highly recommend them to every nonprofit I come into contact with!
Throughout our membership in the Unemployment Savings Program, First Nonprofit understood our demands, community dynamics, and the importance of seamless services; that allowed us to serve our constituents better.
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