Citizen Schools is a national organization which partners with middle schools to expand the learning day for approximately 4,500 low-income children in seven states across the country.  Citizen School does this by mobilizing a second shift of afternoon educators, who provide academic support, leadership development, and “apprenticeships”—hands-on projects taught by volunteers from business and civic organizations. 

Guiding the overall work of Citizen Schools is a balanced scorecard, a results-based management system that looks at an organization’s success across a number of measures, such as fundraising and programmatic goals. Based on the balanced scorecard, every staff member has individual goals on which they are evaluated.

According to Kristin Brennan, Chief Talent Officer at Citizen Schools, the integration of the balanced scorecard into performance management promotes accountability to organization-wide goals for every staff member. “When we map staff goals to the organization’s goals, we can see, and staff can see, how those individual goals drive our overall accomplishments,” says Kristin.

To manage staff progress against their individual goals, all staff meet with their supervisors for a bi-annual and annual performance review. Using the balanced scorecard as a guide, staff are evaluated against the following criteria:

• Business goals – essentially “what” a staff member accomplished. Business goals reflect quantitative metrics, for example specific fundraising targets or number of clients served. These goals tie directly to the metrics of the balanced scorecard.
• Core competencies – essentially “how” a staff member accomplished their work. Core competencies could include project management, strategic planning or building partnerships. Competencies are a qualitative measure of how an employee met their business goals.

Kristin describes the adoption of this performance management framework as “common sense.” Three years ago, the organization integrated individual business goals into the review process. “As a data-driven organization, we needed an objective way to define the work that needed to get done,” says Kristin, “While the foundation of the balanced scorecard made this change possible, it was the scale and diversification of positions that made it necessary. As we grew from 200 to 400 staff, we saw the introduction of highly specialized roles that required a more objective approach to performance management.”

“Having goals tied to the balanced scorecard lends a degree of focus across our growing organization. Staff performance cannot exist in silos. Instead, our work and accomplishments all reflect overarching organization goals,” adds Kristin.

The results of this performance management system have been tangible. For example, the organization has a business goal for diversifying the corps of teaching staff. In the past few years, this number has grown from 30% to 50%.

For organizations that do not have a balanced scorecard, Kristin suggests a few ways to tie overall organizational measures to individual performance:

1. First and foremost, understand your organization-wide goals. Answer the questions: What matters to us? What are we trying to achieve?
2. Define the quantitative measures for every position. Tie these metrics to the overall organizational goals.
3. Define the core competencies required for every position. Figure out what qualities are needed to meet the quantitative goals.

Citizen Schools has been kind enough to share their balanced scorecard with the Commongood Careers community. Download the sample balanced scorecard here.

We hate to have to tell you this (we know you have a lot on your plate) but it’s something you should know: it’s not enough to be qualified for that position. 

By the time you get to the final round of interviews, it is highly likely that you have the qualifications and experience to be able to do the job — and the other candidates being considered have those things, too.  That means you may have to step it up a notch.  One way to gain an edge over the competition is to simply have more of what they’re looking for, but here’s another: your personality.  You can do all the right things in the interview, but without demonstrating your personality fit, the interviewer is still going to have doubts about you.

Remember that speed dating event you went to a while back?  We know you didn’t take a checklist of ideal mate qualifications with you.  So how did you decide who you wanted to see again?  Personality.  Hiring managers do the same.  Sure, some things are deal breakers — if the position requires ten years of experience with quantitative analysis and you haven’t even heard of linear regression, your personality won’t get you the job. But when given the choice between two candidates of similar abilities, hiring managers will choose the person they would most like to work with — every time. 

So is your true personality shining through?  OK, not your super-relaxed, “I’m going to kick it with my buddies on a Saturday night” personality, but your “let’s pitch in and get this done” positive attitude and “seize the work day” personality?  We know that sometimes you let your nerves get to you, but it is to your advantage to be yourself — how else will you know if this is right for you?  Have confidence in who you are and what you can bring to the table.  Imagine yourself as the interviewer, and ask yourself: would I hire me?  Then perhaps imagine yourself as your most judgmental friend, and ask again: would s/he hire me?  Why or why not?  Remember, from the first point of contact, hiring managers are forming impressions about who you are.  You want those impressions to be accurate.  (For more tips on how to show yourself in your best light, we’ve enclosed this article to help you out).

What shouldn’t you do?  Be someone other than yourself.  After all, if you aren’t a good fit, it’s best to find another job where both you and your organization would be happier.  Be memorable, but for the right reasons: for being competent, thoughtful, engaged, and your authentic self.  Make sure to bring your best self—but make it uniquely you. 

Sincerely,

Commongood Careers

We all know that bright, committed and creative people join and work in social sector because they are incredibly mission driven. Whether they seek to eradicate poverty, increase the college enrollment rates of low-income youth or fight for the environment, mission is everything. It’s why people join nonprofits organizations and why they will, if necessary, accept lower salaries, reduced resources and changing priorities.

Mission is everything…well, almost everything. Despite this incredible devotion to mission, studies have shown that nonprofit organizations experience significant employee turnover. This churn hurts many organizations and it can affect your career as well.

Why does this happen? We have a number of theories, two of which we’ll explore now with your help. Our belief is that turnover is high because people in nonprofits do not feel that their talent is being adequately developed and therefore their ability to advance is compromised. Another driver creating turnover is the difficulty of many employees to effectively participate in the decision-making processes of their organizations.

Why are these issues so neglected? Our experience indicates that many nonprofits tend to concentrate decision-making power in the hands of a limited number of people. This practice may frustrate staff and cause them to feel disconnected from the operations of their organization. Similarly, the lack of career development can be blindsided by an organization’s drive to achieve results. Too often, staff development may be considered a luxury rather than a necessity.

In order to evaluate these theories we need your help. We need your voice. Commongood Careers and Empowering Work Practices are dedicated to improving human capital practices in the social sector and we want you to be part of that effort.

To drive change, we need data. We invite you to participate in a brief survey that focuses on career development and decision-making. The survey will take less than 10 minutes to complete. Your responses will be confidential.

As an added incentive the first 250 people who answer the survey will be eligible to participate in a drawing for one $50 iTunes gift card.

In addition, all survey respondents will be eligible to participate in a drawing for one of three free two-hour consultations with Empowering Work Practices to examine your organization’s decision making and career planning efforts. Empowering Work Practices is a consulting firm dedicated to fueling organizational growth through practices that generate candor, accountability and results.

Thank you in advance for participating in the survey. We appreciate your time and we look forward to hearing your voice.

Click here to take the survey.

KaBOOM! is a nonprofit organization that helps communities map their playspaces, build playgrounds, and prioritize more and better opportunities for play for their children.  KaBOOM! prides itself on having a positive, upbeat and fun organizational culture. Based in Washington D.C., KaBOOM! has grown from 12 to over 80 employees in the past few years. Its rapid growth can be attributed in part to the intentional presence of the organization’s culture, specifically the role of culture in connecting employees to each other and to the organization’s mission.

According to Kate Becker, Vice President of Program Management, employee engagement with the organization’s culture begins in the recruitment process. “When you walk into our offices, you quickly see what KaBOOM! is all about. Our space is open, colorful and even has playground equipment. As prospective employees take a tour, they experience the openness of the office and camaraderie between staff first-hand.”

This first-hand experience of culture continues in the on-boarding process for new employees. The HR team ensures that all new hires are presented with materials that represent the values of the culture, such as an internal publication entitled Fundamentals that outlines the history and purpose of KaBOOM!, as well as a toy plastic bucket to be used in an organizational ritual called “giving sand.”

“Employees are encouraged to write appreciative or inspiring notes and leave them in each other’s buckets as pieces of ‘sand.’ When a new employee starts, we try to make sure that they receive a few pieces of sand in their bucket,” Kate says, “This is a fun way to connect our culture of play to the work that we do, as well as live one of our beliefs of giving credit where credit is due.”

In addition to “sand,” employees are encouraged to share “ripples,” or as Kate describes, “stories of impact that we hear from the field. These stories have a big impact on day-to-day morale and remind staff of why we do the work we do.”

KaBOOM!’s strong culture has been intentional since day one; however it has evolved over time. “We’ve gotten more sophisticated about how we infuse culture in our employees. Much of this has to do with instilling the importance of culture at the senior most level of the organization, and then making it a strategic priority to communicate the importance of our culture across the entire organization,” says Kate.

As the organization has grown larger, the importance of culture has become even more important to building staff cohesion and employee satisfaction. Kate says that the culture has its greatest impact on the “day-to-day, whether it’s a team service activity or staff gathering to eat PB&J. It’s the maintenance and regularity of these types of activities that keep staff happy and engaged.” 

For organizations seeking ways to leverage culture in its employee recruitment and retention practices, Kate had the following suggestions:

1. Make culture an organizational priority. For example, encourage managers and their direct reports to carve out time for organizational rituals and activities. At a senior staff level, make decisions that support employee participation in the culture.

2. Strategize for the culture you want to have. Culture is going to develop regardless of your attention to it.  By determining what you want your culture to be – such as your organization’s values and personality traits – your organization can then build a strategic and intentional culture.

3. Think top-down and grassroots. An organization’s culture comes from many inputs. It’s important to involve senior staff to reinforce cultural initiatives, as well as encourage an inclusive adoption of the culture across staff. Solicit feedback from staff at all levels and include a variety of staff in the planning of cultural initiatives.

As the economy begins to pick up, employees everywhere (the ones who have tirelessly “done more with less”) smell the fresh air and think about what life might be like in a different role, or in a different organization.  Now that more options are opening up, people who were “just happy to have a job” are starting to realize that they’ve been stressed out and over-worked for a while, or that they feel that their professional growth has hit a plateau. (Are you one of the people sniffing the winds of change? Tell us what is driving you to change jobs or leave the sector.)

So what should you do to minimize turnover in your organization? It’s time for a pulse check.  Be proactive: connect with each of your staff members about his or her individual job satisfaction, and take action to show that you’re really listening.  But beware: how you handle this conversation is crucial—your staff may still be worried about their job security, so they must trust that something other than “everything’s great!” won’t get them fired.  Once you have a trusting, supportive atmosphere, her are a few crucial things to do during your conversation:

Find out what’s lacking, and then find creative ways to offer “more.” Someone saying they are leaving because of a “competitive offer,” is just like someone saying, “It’s not you—it’s me,” to end a romantic relationship.  Is it true?  Sure, it’s probably true some of the time—and in those instances there is nothing else that you could have done (besides offer more money) to make a person stay.  But most of the time it is simply the easiest, least hurtful explanation for leaving an organization—but it may not be the complete truth.  Sure, a competitive offer is great—there are few people who would say no to more money in their paycheck—but money’s power as a motivator is often greatly overestimated.  After all, you are working with a subset of people who have deliberately chosen to earn less money in order to have a career with a deeper meaning.  Everyone has their own motivators, and its up to you to understand what is important to each member of your staff—and thus what would make them happier and more effective in the job they have now.  Ask your staff what is missing from their role right now, and find creative ways to give them “more.”  Here are a few “more” things you can give them (besides money, of course):
• More freedom to direct their own projects, to prioritize what’s needed, and to work in their own style
• More flexibility to work their own hours, to work unconventional hours, or work from home
• More challenges that will help them develop professionally and also add value to your organization
• More input into and ownership of key decisions that affect their job and the strategic direction of your organization
• More balance by thinking hard about priorities and eliminating work that your organization can live without

Tune in to the dreams of your staff.   When you were in kindergarten, everyone asked you what you wanted to be when you grew up.  It was a question asked with the belief that you were just started on a journey—that you were on your way to becoming something else.  Now, if you go to a cocktail party, everyone will ask what you do—a question that assumes that you’ve “arrived.”  But while it is easy to think of people and positions as something static, most of us are constantly striving to improve ourselves and become better than we were before.  Do you know what your employees want to be when they “grow up” (to take their next job)?  What do they want to do next?  How can you help them achieve that goal?  Does it align with the needs of your organization? By tuning in to the dreams of your staff, you can better understand the challenges and next steps they are looking to take, and make sure that your staff are built in to the internal talent pipeline of your organization.

Share your future staffing plans, and get staff input.  For every position that you have, you should be thinking about a potential succession plan.  Make sure you include your staff in these plans (especially now that you know where each of them want to go), and share your thoughts with them.  If you have a staff member who you think might be great for another position in your organization after more training or more experience, tell him about it. Be honest and clear about where you see him fitting in to your organization’s future—what skills he needs to gain, what weaknesses he would need to strengthen, and what further experience he needs.  Hopefully, he will be flattered that you see this potential in him, and will happily work even harder to continue developing.  While you may have thought about him in the future of your organization, if he never hears of your plans, he may assume that there is really no future for him there—and may already be quietly looking elsewhere.

By being proactive, listening, and genuinely showing that you are truly committed to the growth and the needs of each member of your staff, you can minimize turnover at your organization.

Americorps positions, if used strategically, can be a great way to expand your capacity—provided that your organization devotes the necessary resources needed for Americorps members to succeed.  Each position should be considered as carefully as a new staff position, and its purpose should be thoughtfully aligned with organizational mission and goals.  As we wrote about last month, volunteers are people too, so one of the biggest mistakes a nonprofit can make is to add new Americorps positions without providing the necessary support for the people filling those positions to become impactful additions to your team. 

In fact, Rick Cohen, in a recent Blue Avocado column about the potentially hurtful effects of public policy programs on volunteering,  voices some legitimate concerns that some nonprofits might use Americorps positions in ways that will be ultimately detrimental to the sector.  To combat this, he argues, it’s important that nonprofits ensure that they leverage Americorps volunteers in an impactful way, and “structure their jobs as first steps in nonprofit careers.” 

So how can you ensure that your organization can leverage the talent provided by the Serve America Act? Assign a phenomenal manager to oversee the work of your Americorps volunteers. A dedicated resource with phenomenal management skills to manage your Americorps positions is important for several reasons:

1) Americorps positions are time bound, with built-in high turnover.  The time-bound nature of the Americorps program means that turnover is guaranteed to be high, as many Americorps members serve for only one year.  Much can be learned and accomplished in one year, but if there is no “bridge” from one year to the next, many of the gains will be lost after each member exits, leaving the next Americorps member to “reinvent the wheel.”  Without a permanent and involved manager to make sure that institutional knowledge and external relationships are carried over from one year to the next, each year can become a repeat of the last—your own personal version of the movie “Groundhog Day.”  A manager can ensure continuity and continuous improvement from year to year, so your impact can continue to grow and improve.

2) Americorps volunteers need appropriate training and guidance to be effective.  Like all employees, Americorps members need to learn how your organization works, your theory of change, and how they can contribute to accomplishing your mission.  Since the backgrounds and previous experiences of Americorps members are diverse, a manager who works with Amercorps volunteers needs to be able to assess, on an individual level, what support and training each person will need to be successful in their role.  Without appropriate training, Americorps volunteers will either be overwhelmed or bored, and, as a result, your effectiveness will suffer.  Great managers “get” people—they have an ability to understand what makes different people tick, what motivates them, and what challenges them.  With so many people stepping into and out of these roles on a regular basis, a skilled manager who can tailor their approach to the unique talents and challenges of each individual will ensure that each Americorps volunteer can contribute to their full potential.

3) Americorps volunteers, even more so than other employees, are at risk of burn-out.  Americorps volunteers are willing to work for very little pay in exchange for an education award and the chance to do something meaningful.  Many of them are willing to work above and beyond the hours required of them, and the nature of the work in the nonprofit sector ensures that there is always more work that could be done.  Newcomers to the nonprofit sector may have a hard time setting boundaries and creating manageable workloads.  A great manager can help passionate volunteers find balance, modify their workloads, and, of course, tell them to go home when they begin to work themselves into the ground.  The last thing you want your organization to do is to convince your would-be future executive director to leave the sector because they perceive nonprofit positions to be unsustainable.

4) Your Americorps members need to be developed as nonprofit professionals to become a key element of your talent pipeline. Americorps service is rapidly becoming the first step for many young people (and more experienced sector switchers as well) to beginning a nonprofit career (Want to know more? Check out our article, “The New Entry Level: Hiring from Leadership Development Programs”).  Hosting Americorps corps members in your organization is an opportunity to win a life-long champion for your organization and to develop a strong pipeline of talent.  To make sure this potential is realized, it is important that Americorps members are exposed to many different facets of your organization and your mission, and shown the ropes of nonprofit careers, both within your organization and without.  If you do it right, when you need to hire for a new position, you will have many passionate and qualified Americorps alumni ready to join your team—making your biggest problem which one you should choose.  A manager with a responsibility to make this happen can help facilitate professional development opportunities for Americorps members, serve as a mentor and guide for them in their next steps, and be a continuous point of contact between them and the organization until they are ready to return as full-time staff members.

So enjoy this summer: think big, think strategically, and think about making the next addition to your organization a phenomenal manager.

In January of 2009, Lester Strong was hired as the new CEO of Experience Corps, a national organization that places adults 55 and older as tutors and mentors for elementary students struggling to read in urban public schools . At the same time, the program was transitioning from being a program within a larger nonprofit to an independent 501(c)3.

Employees were experiencing a good amount of change during this period. New administrative systems were being put into place and job descriptions were shifting. So Lester decided to implement a compensation strategy to help motivate staff through this period of change.

“I knew that the scope of work was going to change when we became our own 501(c)3,” Lester said, “As a new CEO, I wanted to recognize the hard work that brought the organization to this place, as well as prepare the staff for the challenges that lay ahead. So I sat down with all of the employees and said, ‘Here’s a small bonus for the great work you’ve already done and, frankly, for the increased amount of work I’m going to ask you to do.’”

In addition to the bonus, Lester decided to set salary levels after 9 months as a freestanding organization. “Job descriptions were changing and we needed to wait to have a better perspective from which to make informed decisions about scope of work and salary for each employee. The bonus helped to motivate staff until we would have the opportunity to set salary increases.”

Lester reports that staff received this information very positively. They were happy to receive the bonus up front and recognized that this “perk” was a call to commit to the work ahead of them. According to Lester, “The next 9 months were really successful. Staff took on greater responsibilities and worked harder. During this time, we created a 5-year strategic plan and integrated new standards into our literacy intervention model.”

“After this ramp-up period, we evaluated people who had been with Experience Corps for more than a year and increased salaries predicated on their new roles.”

Even for organizations that are not going through a major transition, a small bonus can be an unexpected and welcome motivator to employees. Lester described this type of bonus as a “thank you up front.” 

As Lester learned at Experience Corps, a little bit of financial incentive can go a long way.

2. Identify your core competencies. Core competencies are the skills and characteristics that position someone for success in a particular job role, such as staff management, quantitative analysis, or teamwork. By determining your top 4-5 core competencies, you will be able to assess your potential fit with a position, as well as highlight your specific competencies in your application materials.

3. Invest in informational interviewing. Informational interviews can help further define what you’re looking for in a job. Don’t be afraid to reach out to a connection on LinkedIn, a member of your alumni association, or someone you met at a fundraising event. Most nonprofit professionals enjoy talking about their work, and are open to helping job seekers gain more information about a particular role, organization, or mission area.

4. Build your personal network.  Many nonprofits do not post their open positions on job boards. Instead, they rely almost entirely on their personal networks to identify candidates. Remember to invest time in building your personal network, as well as communicating with the members of your network to make sure they know you’re on the job market!

5. Do your homework. Research the role, organization, and mission area before you apply to a position. Not only will this help you understand your potential interest in the position, but it will also help you connect the dots in your application materials. An informed job seeker stands out from the crowd.

6. Personalize every cover letter. Nothing sends you to the bottom of the “no” pile of resumes faster than sending off a generic cover letter. Never send a letter to “To Whom It May Concern.” And when you cut and paste the same cover letter to every job on Idealist.org, believe us, hiring managers can tell.

7. Illustrate your core competencies in your resume. Don’t just list your accomplishments in your resume. Based upon your top core competencies, use real-life examples of how you’ve demonstrated these skills or characteristics. For example, illustrate a staff management competency by describing specific ways that you provided support and assessed employees in the past.

8. Prepare for interviews. If you tend to be nervous during interviews, try to practice responses ahead of time, or do a “dry run” with a friend. In addition to practicing responses, remember to prepare a few smart questions that illustrate that you did your homework and that you are genuinely interested in the position.

9. Stay in touch with your references. Good references can easily turn bad if you forget to keep in touch with them. A brief email every month or so to update them on your job search status, as well as a “heads up” note to inform them that a potential employer may be in touch with them, will prepare these important people to speak highly of you when the time comes to provide a reference.

10. Stay positive. A job search can be tough, especially in today’s economy. Being positive, smart, articulate, energetic, thoughtful, flexible, and passionate are crucial characteristics in most nonprofit environments, so maintain your confidence and positive attitude. Job searching is difficult but no one wants to hire someone who seems unenthusiastic, demoralized, or defeated.

1. Not doing your homework. We’ve talked with so many potentially great candidates who know absolutely nothing about the position or organization to which they are applying. Before speaking with a prospective employer, study the job description, as well as the programs, mission, staff, and other aspects of the organization. Doing some research in advance will not only demonstrate your interest and ability to be prepared, but it will also help you think through ways that you are uniquely qualified for the job.

2. Saying “um,” “like,” or “ecetera.” Most of us use filler words like these in our day-to-day speech. Still, in an interview setting, this can come across as poor communication skills. To avoid sputtering a case of the “um”s during an interview, take a breath and slow down. It can also help to practice some the answers to commonly asked questions in a mirror before the interview to master this skill.

3. Offering too much personal information. It’s ok to share relevant personal information, such as your connection to the organization’s mission, but otherwise keep your private life out of the interview room. Sharing too much personal information can be a sign of poor judgment or communication skills, and can also make the interviewer uncomfortable. Instead, prepare to discuss only information from your professional life that supports your candidacy.

4. Trashing your current or past employers. Negativity is a huge red flag to interviewers. If you badmouth your past employers, what reason are you giving a prospective employer that you won’t do the same to them? Instead, demonstrate your critical thinking skills and ability to work through challenging situations by sharing any learnings gained from difficult work experiences.

5. Bragging. Bring a sense of humility to the interview process. Even if you’ve accomplished amazing feats in your professional life, discuss these with grace and without a big ego. By appearing too overconfident, you run the risk of putting off a prospective employer, as well as communicating that you have nothing to learn. Instead, focus on sharing results from your professional life, and let these accomplishments do the “bragging” for you.

For more friendly advice on what to do (and not do) during the interview process, read our article Meeting the Nonprofit:Ten Interviewing Tips.

At various conferences, through dedicated convenings such as the one that I was fortunate to have recently attended, and by conducting research including Career Pathways to Philanthropic Leadership, the Council is increasingly focusing its attention on the human side of foundation work. For example…

• Who makes important human resource investment decisions?
• How are individuals selected, prepared, and managed?
• How can we improve the status quo?

All of this is a good start and I wouldn’t say that it is “too little, too late,” especially because I am so appreciative of all efforts moving in this direction, but, as a sector, man oh man do we have a long way to go!

These are issues and problems that have been largely ignored for the better part of a century. And foundations, as a whole, have historically been more of the cause of the probli than its solution when it comes to human resources.

Traditional philanthropic thinking has classified almost all overhead as wasteful, slashed HR functions as expendable, and created a sector of unstable, unsustainable, inefficient, and ineffective organizations. The current state of HR in the larger foundation community and the nonprofit sector at large can best be categorized as abysmal, but it is not without hope.

I am happy to see a new wave of institutions emerging, most notably led by a few major institutions and the maverick venture philanthropists who fund social entrepreneurs. Some of these folks truly appreciate the importance of investing in human capital. They have seen that their grantees and their own institutions are better able to generate social return on investment when they recruit the right leadership, compensate them appropriately, manage them effectively, and ensure that they continue to develop and grow as individuals.

I would encourage the Council in everything that it does to find and connect with these enlightened next-generation funders, hold them up as exemplars, and position them to be teachers and evangelists for the rest of us.

There is a moral imperative at work here. We must get better at talent recruitment, management, and development. To fail in this endeavor, or to continue to fail to try to improve, is an enormous waste of resources and a corruption of our social mission.

—posted by James Weinberg

James Weinberg is Founder and CEO of Commongood Careers. He also serves as a board member on Emerging Practitioners In Philanthropy.

Of particular interest, the Council on Foundations shared a research report entitled “Career Pathways to Philanthropic Leadership.” This baseline study looks at potential keys to success for emerging leaders in philanthropy, as well as offers insights into the total appointment process.

The key findings from this research include:

1. Nearly 80 percent of the 440 foundations appointing CEOs and executive directors during the study period filled them not through internal promotions but from candidates outside the
foundations.

2. Most of the successful candidates held executive positions in their immediate prior position as either chief executive or vice president before successfully landing in their current position.

3. The majority of the successful candidates made the transition from fields outside of philanthropy— primarily from the business and nonprofit sectors.

4. Of the successful candidates, nearly 20 percent were from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds and about half were women.

5. Thirty percent of field leaders who were interviewed said mentors played a major role in their career advancement.

6. About 85 percent of the interviewees expressed significant skepticism about the willingness of trustees, search consultants, and other hiring decision makers to be influenced by leadership
development efforts (such as fellowship programs that train new leaders) as they contemplate hiring decisions about executive candidates.

The report is now available for download on the Council of Foundations website, and is a must read for current and future philanthropic leaders.

• While professional employer organizations (PEO) are a cost-effective option for some nonprofits to reduce their HR-related overhead, these services do not always deliver better benefits for employees. A common probli for nonprofits using PEOs is a lack of options and control over the details of benefits plans. As reflected by a recent Listening Post Project survey, nonprofits are opting to dealing with rising medical costs by increasing the shares of their employees’ medical costs, as opposed to moving to an outsourced PEO.
• In this recession, many organizations appear to be less concerned about employee retention. However, most employers cannot afford to lose their best staff, and need to focus on offering competitive “quality of life” benefits. Benefits such as flexible schedules and reduced work weeks meet the often heard demands of employees searching for more work-life balance. Offering these types of benefits are key to employee retention, especially for organization that have had to make other sorts of cutback due to economic conditions.
• Many employers are looking for “extra” benefits they can offer their staff, but that are not a significant expense to the organization. Some low/no-cost perks include (1) professional development benefits such as mentoring, defined career ladders, online trainings, and attending conferences; (2) work-life balance benefits such as flexibility in working from home occasionally, compressed work weeks, less than full time work weeks at reduced pay, unpaid sabbatical opportunities; and (3) mission-oriented benefits such as time off for volunteering, organization-wide community service days. (For other ideas, please check out our article Rethinking Benefits for Nonprofit Employees)
• We may be witnessing a permanent decline of generous benefits and pension plans designed to keep employees anchored at individual organizations for decades. On the rise seems to be a generation and culture in which everyone is more of a consultant, bouncing around a number of—not just jobs but—careers in their lifetimes. And this shift will bring with it, more individual benefit plans and less organizational support. The economy has created a brief acceleration of this trend out of necessity, but it seems likely that it will continue.

For the full transcript of the discussion, please visit the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Whenever possible, define a position that is realistic and an ideal candidate profile that exists in more than a handful of people. Are you looking for a set of skills and competencies that often do not co-exist within one person? Recognize that if you go forward, your search may be challenging and may not lead to a successful hire without concessions being made. Consider recasting the position into something more realistic and test your job description with colleagues and peers to ensure that it is reasonable and clearly communicates the nature of the role.

Giving up the search for a unicorn (or needle in a haystack, if you prefer) doesn’t mean that you are compromising your position requirements or search standards. Rather, the process of defining a position realistically will force your organization to identify and prioritize which skills, responsibilities, and experiences are most important to making a position work. The result will be hiring the right person into the right role.

For more hiring missteps to avoid, and best practices to follow, check out our article Avoiding 10 Common Search Pitfalls.

During a recent interview for a COO position, one of our clients (let’s call him Joe) was giving a tour of their program’s school campus to a candidate. Joe noticed that the candidate was peeking into every bathroom they passed along the way.

Puzzled about the candidate’s behavior, Joe asked, “Why are you checking out our bathrooms?”

With the utmost sincerity, the candidate responded, “In my experience, the best performing schools have clean bathrooms. If students don’t respect their public space, or if administrators don’t recognize the need for students to respect their public spaces, schools tend to suffer in other areas as well.”

Joe was highly impressed with this example of the candidate’s understanding of how education is more than just about books and knowledge, but also about healthy learning environments. 

Upon relaying this story to his Service Manager at Commongood Careers, Joe stated with enthusiasm, “He had me at bathrooms!”

He went on to add, “This is exactly the type of stuff I need a COO to notice. This example of thoughtfulness and attention to detail showed me that this guy really gets it!”

Interview behavior can speak 1000 words. But in this case, it just took the word “bathrooms” to hook this employer.

As many hiring organizations are in the unique position these days of having too many resumes for their open positions, it’s tempting to instantly disqualify candidates who, at a glance, do not appear to be a match the expected profile for an open position.

So when a resume reads “20 years of experience in…” for a position that only requires 5 years of experience, you may be tempted to slide that resume to the bottom of the pile.

However, before discounting candidates based on their years of work experience or seeming “over-qualification,” there are a few things you may want to consider:

1. Establish the core criteria of a position – for example the required skills and type of previous experience – and stick with it when screening applicants. If an “overexperienced” candidate clearly demonstrates success against your criteria, then he’s probably a good fit after all. (Note: this is a best practice for evaluating all of your candidates.)

2. Avoid making assumptions, such as “this person will be unhappy in this position,” “we’ll never be able to afford this person’s salary,” or “someone at this level isn’t a good fit for this role.”

3. Just because someone has held senior management or other leadership roles, don’t penalize her in advance for applying to a front line or mid-management role. (Remember, leaders are team players too.) Again, look for evidence of fit in the applicant’s experience and skills, not simply in their former job titles.

4. When considering candidates who have more years of work experience than required for a job, one question that often comes up for hiring managers is “why would this person want to do this job?” Look for answers in the applicant’s cover letter, or probe on this during a phone interview. There are most likely valid reasons why he’s drawn to your open position or organization.

5. At the end of a good conversation, delve into what it’s really like working at your organization. Paint an honest picture of the role. For example, if you’re concerned that an experienced candidate won’t “roll up his sleeves and jump in,” make it clear that this is an essential part of the role, as well as your organization’s culture.

Today more than ever, the nonprofit sector may be missing a major opportunity to figure out pipeline development once and for all. We’re witnessing an unprecedented influx of talent to the nonprofit sector, including a surge of recent graduates, career changers, and older employees. At Commongood Careers, we’ve seen the volume of resumes for our clients’ searches triple or quadruple in many cases. Even organizations that are not advertising any positions are receiving unsolicited resumes and requests for informational interviews.

So how can we take advantage of building relationships with these talented people, and ultimately create pipelines we can tap down the road?
One example comes from Acumen Fund, a nonprofit global venture fund that addresses global poverty. For the upcoming summer, Acumen Fund had 10 intern spots open and received applications from over 700 candidates. They asked themselves, “What can we do to engage the other 690 candidates?” After a couple of emails and meetings, they decided to run an experiment: invite the non-accepted candidates to a private conference call briefing from senior Acumen staff. Not only was this a way to Acumen leaders to thank these candidates, but also offer ways to stay engaged with both the organizations and the social innovation space as a whole.

Sounds easy, right? Creative ways to engage talent like the approach taken by Acumen do not require tons of staff bandwidth, and result in laying the foundation for future touchpoints with talent that has expressed interest in your organization. Use these opportunities to invite these talented individuals to volunteer, donate, blog, or participate in your organization in other ways. Track these candidates over time, even if it’s as simple as adding them to an email list and sending them a quarterly note. Engaging talent early and often is bound to contribute to the success of your organization’s future recruitment efforts.

Positioning social enterprise as a business that creates social value, the article discusses the need for venture philanthropists to better define measures of social return, as well as offers a warning to nonprofits to avoid launching ventures that could potentially distract an organization from its mission-critical work.

Will portfolio work turn epidemic? Probably not, although its incidence is growing, according to recruiters, career coaches, and others who follow trends in work culture. James Weinberg, a recruiter for nonprofits, sees an uptick in those willing to work this way - and those willing to hire them.

More job candidates are asking Weinberg for part-time work, saying, ” ‘I’m trying to knit together a career’, or ‘I’d like to have multiple roles that will allow me flexibility,’ ” observes Weinberg, chief executive of Commongood Careers in Boston. Sometimes, executives work on a shared basis for several groups, splitting their time between jobs, he says.

Read the full article.

There is an ongoing debate in the nonprofit sector on what makes an organization a social entrepreneur. Forces for Good, a recent voice on the subject, provides a fresh approach to this topic.

To make the distinction between social entrepreneurs and traditional nonprofits, authors Crutchfield and McLeod-Grant spent four years researching the management techniques of hundreds of nonprofits.  Their findings target the management techniques of twelve nonprofits that they conclude are examples of high-impact, socially entrepreneurial change agents.  In their analysis of these organizations, Crutchfield and McLeod-Grant posit that these groups do not measure success through revenue increases, brand recognition or organizational chart sophistication.  Instead these twelve social trailblazers measure success by the change they are affecting in the piece of the world that they are attempting to improve. 

While old-school nonprofit management looks to governance, organizational structure, fundraising and other internally facing strategies to build a strong organization, social entrepreneurs focus their energy externally through six creative techniques.  These techniques (such as one that advises nonprofit groups to cross sectors and include for-profit partners into the execution of the mission) challenge traditional nonprofits to rethink goals and strategies in the execution of their mission. By exposing limitations and even flaws in traditional thinking, Forces for Good identifies commonly held myths about nonprofit management that are indicative of an outdated system of thought.

The authors conclude that the twelve nonprofits in study focus on the end-goals of creating impact and improving society rather than focusing on building a secure, fiscally sound organization, as their traditional counterparts so often obsess.  The authors offer well researched and thought out examples of innovative approaches to management employed by these groups. The case for innovation and out-of-the-box thinking is also supported by the authors’ warning against reckless management based on wild idealism.  The success of the organizations featured in Forces for Good is instead a product of an unwavering management philosophy that postures mission above tradition.

For several reasons, we believe nonprofits would actually benefit from stating “BA or Equivalent Experience Required” (instead of “BA Required, Masters Preferred”) in their job descriptions:

(1) It’s more legally compliant. Requiring a BA can be construed as discriminatory. Stating “BA or Equivalent Experience” in a job description helps an organization stay compliant with hiring laws.

(2) It nets candidates possessing a range of experiences, not just a specific educational background. This strongly supports our tried and true best practice of hiring based on core competencies—such as qualities and characteristics gained through experience of all kinds.

(3) It fosters a diverse workforce. To many, attending college is not a path taken, either by choice or by circumstance. For those not attending college right out of high school, they may be starting their professional career earlier than most, thus gaining more on-the-job training from an early age.

But what does “or equivalent experience” mean exactly and how can a hiring organization best measure this requirement, especially in comparison to an academic degree?

What’s important is that candidates being considered for an open position have the right competencies—skills, knowledge, technical abilities, and personality characteristics—to succeed at a job.

In some instances, a specific type of educational background is required. This is certainly true of practitioners in healthcare organizations, for example. We’ve also found this to be the case occasionally in the fields of finance and IT. Even in these cases, however, it is typically specific coursework or certifications that are required, not a degree.

We want to know what you think about this topic. What are the advantages and challenges of stating “BA or Equivalent Experience” in a job description? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment.

Some members of the Commongood Careers service team recently decided to take the plunge and go paperless. However, in addition to the immediate benefit of creating less waste and saving more trees, our team soon realized some genuine work efficiencies resulting from going green.

“Instead of spending my time sorting through piles of applications, I now do all of my screening electronically in our database,” says Kevin, a Commongood Careers Service Manager, “The result is less time spent shifting papers around, and more time spent getting to know candidates for our nonprofit searches.”

“Besides saving time, going paperless has created less clutter in our office,” added Allyson, another Service Manager, “We now are mindful of our paper consumption. Paper can be an unnecessary use of space.” (How Zen-like of Allyson.)

If you have other ideas for ways to green the workplace, please leave a comment below.

BELL (Building Educated Leaders for Life)
Citizen Schools
Hands On Network
Jumpstart
Nonprofit Finance Fund
Teach for America
Year Up

A very special congratulations to these organizations! We at Commongood Careers are honored to be helping to hire talent and build the teams of these organizations.

We know first-hand the value of employee referrals. Out of all of the searches we’ve completed in the past year, nearly 50% of placements have come either from the Commongood Careers network or the network of the hiring organization. When we begin any search, we reach out to our professional and personal contacts to explore their interest in a given position or to find out if they know anyone who might be interested. Besides drumming up buzz about a specific position, this strategy also helps us stay in touch with our networks and develop a talent pipeline.

Hiring interns is another effective way for entrepreneurial organizations to build relationships with developing talent. When hiring interns, it’s critical to make sure there is a valuable role an intern can play in your organization. Remember, interns are typically looking for meaningful work experience and exposure to the mission-critical aspects of your organizations. A summer of taking lunch orders or shredding paper is not a meaningful internship. Interns are typically bright and ambitious; employ these talented resources wisely and you may be surprised at what they can accomplish.