Diversity in the workplace goes in and out as a hot topic. When economic times are not so great, the topic seems to take a backburner to the more pressing issue of the lack of job security for all of us.
What’s in Your Manual?: Nonprofit Employee Handbooks
While the very smallest nonprofit organizations may not find it necessary, any organization with more than one or two employees should consider creating a written handbook outlining non-contractual employment terms and work conditions.
Paying Attention to Turnover in the Nonprofit Sector
"Where are they going to go?" "They're lucky to have a job." These are, unfortunately, actual statements I've heard in the past year from nonprofit managers offered as rationales for not taking steps to advance human resources practices within their organizations....
Human Resources Maturity and the Three P’s, Part 2
In part 1, I outlined a model of human resources maturity among nonprofit organizations based on the clear delineation of position, person and performance. I also examined the first two phases of this maturity including their implications for the design and the effectiveness of key human resources processes. These processes include recruitment and selection, compensation, performance management, professional development and career/succession planning.
Human Resources Maturity and the Three P’s, Part 1
During my years working as a consultant to nonprofits, I have observed three basic phases of organizations' human resources maturity. This maturity can be defined in terms of how much delineation exists between position, person and performance. Each phase has...
Salary Ranges, Part 2: Anatomy of a Range
In my previous post, I made a case for the use of salary ranges as the foundation of a formal compensation program for nonprofit organizations. Particularly for organizations experiencing or have experienced significant growth, the use of salary ranges can go a long...
Salary Ranges, Part 1: Why Ranges?
In a recent post, compensation consultant Ann Bares questions whether salary ranges, long a staple of compensation programs among America's companies and organizations, are still a useful tool given the relatively slow pace of salary annual growth during the past two...
The Power of Why
"Why?" "Because I said so." This exchange, perhaps a staple of parent/child relationships, has no place in management. In fact, communicating to employees the why of their work -- the context, value and relevance of their work -- is vital to both training efforts and...