The Great Resignation: What It Means and How To Capitalize On It
The Great Resignation: What It Means and How To Capitalize On It
By Susan Kavanaugh, Relationship Manager
We’ve always known the turnover rate for nonprofit organizations is measurably high. Lower wages, high stress, typically longer hours, and overall fluctuating operating budgets all impact an employee’s decision to stay or go.
Ironically, in mid-2022, the industry faces a higher turnover rate than ever before. A February article in Forbes projects that by 2025, 45% of nonprofit employees will be seeking new jobs. That is nearly half of the workforce.
What’s driving this phenomenon?
Multiple factors are influencing this, “like lemmings-to-the-sea event.” Aptly referred to as The Great Resignation, the acceleration of turnover is occurring in all economic sectors. Most anyone you talk with will say it’s all because of Covid-19. In doing so, employees needed to work remotely and found themselves not needing to commute, pay for childcare, clock in and out at their normal times, and experience estrangement from family members. Instead, employees gained more control as they found a work-life balance that enriched their relationships and improved their outlook on work.
Only 20% of employees worked from home before the pandemic, with an increase of 71% working from home due to companies creating workarounds for their staff to avoid the sometimes deadly and physically altering experience of Covid-19. Now that vaccines make the virus less harmful, employers want employees back in the office, and guess what? The staff members who once enjoyed water-cooler conversations and time away from home have embraced new values and are confidently resigning. In droves.
Companies are offering higher salaries, greater autonomy, and flexible work schedules, allowing many people to work remotely part of the time, if not full-time. So, what can nonprofit executives and managers do in an industry that saw tremendous turnover as part of the status quo?
Now is a time for change and a time for executives to PROSPER. Here’s how:
1. Focus on Relationships, Not Results
NPO leadership may need to do some deep soul-searching to embrace not just their best qualities but also their worst ones. Control freaks may face demise, so learn to be open to change in this area. Imagine each member of your staff is a client. Get to know them on a personal level. Become a servant leader. Create trust. Admit when you are wrong. Watch for a domino effect as your staff improves their relationships with current prospective donors. Results will come.
2. Embrace Change
“The only constant in life is change.” Roll with it and try to enjoy that experience by thinking outside the box as often as possible. Many nonprofits, grown tired of virtual events, are experimenting with more popular types of fundraising. Goodbye fundraising galas; hello online donor programs. Talk with your colleagues about efforts they find successful. Actively engage your NPO’s board, so you won’t have to rely on your own ideas. And read, watch, and listen. New trends are developing every day. Find those which work for you.
3. Learn to Accommodate
What if all your employees want to work remotely? If you can still cultivate your relationships with them, and they in turn can cultivate relationships with donors, downsize the storefront. Write On Fundraising is entirely remote, and we are now reaching record fundraising numbers for our clients. The company manages to focus on the relationship first, authenticity, and collective devotion to our client services. When your employees are happy, everyone will be happy. The remote work model can include regularly scheduled team meetings, enjoyable activities, and watercooler conversations (think #Slack).
The word “new normal” often thrown around, but it is no joke. In the past three years, the nation has encountered unspeakable events; political upset; diversity, equity and inclusion challenges; and the acknowledgment that everyone in the world will no longer accept the status quo. As nonprofit leaders let’s get on that bus. It may take some extra effort to find the right seat, but when you do, your world will right itself again. You’ll rediscover your mission and passion once more.