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According to survey, leadership gap has widened by 43%

May 01, 2009

Leadership succession may not be a top issue on many nonprofit leaders’ minds these days. According to a recent survey report published by Bridgespan, the need to recruit new talent and plan for leadership transitions is more pressing than ever before.

Published in April 2009, the report “Finding Leaders for America’s Nonprofits” suggests that the leadership deficit previously forecasted by Bridgespan in 2006 has widened. According to the report, senior job openings grew to 77,000 in 2008, a figure that is 43% greater than what had been predicted in Bridgespan’s 2006 survey report, “The Nonprofit Sector’s Leadership Deficit.”

Additionally, and despite the current economic conditions, 28% of organizations surveyed plan to fill over 24,000 senior management roles in 2009.

Where will these leaders come from? While Bridgespan suggests that talent recruited from the corporate and government sectors can step in to fill these roles, that is just one piece of the puzzle. The need for organizations to develop leaders from within has never been greater. The ability to identify “next generation” leaders within your own organization, and then provide career ladders, mentoring and other professional development opportunities will also help to address the leadership challenge. By thinking creatively and broadly – both within and outside of our organizations—there are solutions to the leadership gap.

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In the News, Sector Reports, Talent Issues

Congratulations to the 2008 Social Capitalist Award Winners

January 14, 2008

Fast Company published its 5th annual Social Capitalist Awards, and we are so proud of our client organizations on this year’s list. A very warm and well-deserved congratulations to our clients:

BELL (Building Educated Leaders for Life)
Citizen Schools
Civic Builders
College Summit
DonorsChoose.org
New Leaders for New Schools
Points of Light Foundation & HandsOn Network
Reach Out and Read
Room to Read
Year Up

We are honored to help each of these organizations build stronger teams, scale operations, and ultimately create deeper impacts in the communities they serve.

Read the full list of winners.

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Sector Reports, Social Innovation, Talent Issues

The Growth Imperative: How Can Organizations Plan Ahead?

November 30, 2007

In a recent report titled “The Global War for Talent” published by Aberdeen Group, a global research organization, researchers suggest that companies that focus their efforts on future workforce planning have a consistent advantage in talent acquisition. Sounds like a no-brainer, right? But what about organizations that are growing at such a rate that future growth is difficult to predict? This is a common challenge of some entrepreneurial nonprofit organizations whose growth outpaces their ability to plan for growth.

To address this challenge, Commongood Careers has a few suggestions:

1. Know the skill sets you seek. Create a list of common skills and competencies required for hires, both for specific roles and for all employees. If you build these profiles today, you’ll be better prepared when a position opens up in your organization.

2. Be able to connect quickly with candidates who possess those skills. Smart organizations are always “recruiting” to some extent; keep track of and keep in touch with any potential employees you may meet even if you’re not hiring for an open position today. Then, when it comes time to fill an open position, you’ll have a few leads in mind from the start.

3. Elevate talent acquisition planning to a strategic level. Your organization wouldn’t launch a new fiscal year without a budget, right? Planning for new hires is just as important. Build hiring plans, even if they are just forecasts or estimates, into your yearly planning process. A little work on an organization chart in advance will help to avoid hiring “fire drills” down the road.

Other suggestions for how nonprofits can best plan ahead for hiring? Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment to this blog entry.

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Hiring Advice, Sector Reports