{"id":1573,"date":"2013-07-31T10:17:18","date_gmt":"2013-07-31T14:17:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/?p=1573"},"modified":"2022-06-27T10:30:16","modified_gmt":"2022-06-27T14:30:16","slug":"secret-managing-nonprofit-staff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/secret-managing-nonprofit-staff\/","title":{"rendered":"The Secret to Managing Nonprofit Staff"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why did you choose to work at a nonprofit? How about your staff? Certainly it\u2019s not for the money.<\/p>\n

But to understand the answer is the key to managing your employees.<\/p>\n

After all, it\u2019s really easy to screw this up. Way easier than in corporate America.<\/p>\n

During my fourteen years in corporate America, my expectations as an employee in order of importance were:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. To be paid bi-weekly<\/li>\n
  2. To be treated with respect by my boss<\/li>\n
  3. To work with my boss to set annual goals so I understood what success looked like<\/li>\n
  4. To make a significant contribution to the bottom line of the organization (in my last years at Showtime Networks, that meant extracting money from Don King<\/a>)<\/li>\n
  5. To secure a very nice year-end bonus if I delivered aforementioned significant contribution<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The list isn\u2019t quite the same for managing nonprofit staff, is it?<\/p>\n

    Here\u2019s what nonprofit people care about:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. To be given the opportunity to have a voice<\/li>\n
    2. To make a significant contribution to a cause that is deeply and personally meaningful to them<\/li>\n
    3. To be treated as a three dimensional person and not just as \u201ca worker\u201d<\/li>\n
    4. To work with a boss to set goals and expectations so that success is clear<\/li>\n
    5. To be paid bi-weekly<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Nonprofit folks have made a tradeoff. No year-end bonus. The anxiety of wondering if there\u2019s enough cash in the bank to even get paid bi-weekly. It\u2019s about commitment to the work or cause itself and the stakes feel really high.<\/p>\n

      The most important item for nonprofit people is having a voice<\/i>. Great nonprofit managers understand this.<\/p>\n

      Here\u2019s what a nonprofit staffer wants to feel and think.<\/p>\n

      \u201cDecisions aren\u2019t being handed down to me. I believe my thoughts, insights, and opinions have real value in shaping decisions.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

      As an organizational leader managing staff, there are a lot of ways you can help your employees feel empowered. Here are two that have worked really well for me.<\/p>\n

      TWO IMPORTANT TIPS FOR A CEO<\/b><\/h2>\n

      My eldest daughter Scout once referred to me as the \u201cmight\u201d in our family.\u00a0 I thought this was \u201cmighty\u201d high praise. She did mean power, but it was a double entendre, because I used the word \u201cmight\u201d so often.<\/p>\n

      The power of \u201cmight\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

      Here\u2019s what Scout meant. Instead of directly leading someone to an answer, I begin a sentence with a staff member (or a daughter) with this phrase: \u201cYou might want to think about \u2026\u201d<\/i> I also think of it as helping a staff member \u201ctry something on\u201d<\/i> in response to some problem they are trying to solve. It offers a sense of ownership. It can even lead to a conversation about why someone might not<\/i>.<\/p>\n

      The power of ownership<\/b><\/p>\n

      One day Glennda, my lead programming person (today an Executive Director in her own right) came into my office with a knotty problem she was struggling with. She asked for my help.\u00a0 I asked her a simple question:<\/p>\n

      What would you do if I weren\u2019t here \u2013 if the decision was entirely yours?<\/i>\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

      With that, Glennda spoke for maybe 5 minutes, outlining the pros and cons of each different option. Without my saying a word, she reached a conclusion about how to resolve it.<\/p>\n

      I spoke two more words: Sounds good.<\/i> And with that Glennda left the office with her problem resolved.<\/p>\n

      Sound good<\/i>? Hope so. You might<\/i> want to consider this approach. It might<\/i> lead to a boost in morale, a more cohesive management team, and that little bit of the world you are changing could get just a little bit bigger.<\/p>\n

      Do you have any other tips you\u2019d like to share? Please weigh in below in the comments.<\/p>\n

      NEXT: <\/b>What To Do When You Can’t Afford Staff Raises<\/b><\/a><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      I was a good manager in corporate America and very good when I landed in nonprofit. Here’s the difference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1579,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,29,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ceo","category-staff","category-senior-staff"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Secret to Managing Nonprofit Staff<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Why did you choose to work at a nonprofit? Certainly it\u2019s not for the money. 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