Employee Engagement: Incentives in the Non-profit Setting

One of the assumptions that Fisman and Sullivan make in The ORG make is that “you need deep pockets to play the game.” This may work for Google or Facebook, but how do non-profits, who are generally not of deep pockets, effectively “play the game”? The authors are referring to recruiting and maintaining talent. Even in the non-profit field, competition happens. In a community mental health center, therapists leave one agency for another very similar one, because of some perceived benefit. A promotion maybe, but it could also just be better health insurance, more vacation days, or a shorter commute.

So how do you, as a non-profit, incentivize the work of your staff when you have limited resources? You can’t offer a gourmet chef, like Google, or on-site massage therapy, like eHarmony. (Or could you...let me know, I might be interested...). Factors that influence employment engagement often include finding meaning in one’s work, clarity in expectations and communication, support, and recognition or appreciation for one’s work. These are the same regardless of what resources an organization is able to offer...so it doesn’t matter what goodies you can offer; if your staff does not feel engaged, they won’t stay.

How do you increase employee engagement? First: gather data about engagement at your organization.
1. Find out if you are maintaining your staffing levels.
If you don’t keep track of how many hires and terminations are happening in different departments, you won’t know whether or not you have an engagement problem. See if there are any benchmarks for your field or area, and compare yourself with other organizations that are similar to you.
You can also determine if there are fluctuations monthly or quarterly, or by department. If any patterns start to emerge, you can investigate if they might be related to a common cause--low morale, departure of key staff that might cause others to follow, or other issues related to disengagement. An organizational consultant can help you analyze trends in your data.

2. Explore the reasons that staff leave.
You may not get the exact truth; employees may want to maintain relationships and not burn bridges.  You have to carefully word your exit interview survey so that staff feel comfortable being open and honest about the problems they may have perceived with their working conditions. Try to ask specific questions; staff will often choose “personal reasons” rather than “dissatisfaction.” Compare the two examples below:

1. Why did you leave your current position?
A. Relocating
B. Accepted other job
C. Pay
D. Management
E. Working conditions
F. Going back to school
G. Retirement

2. Why did you leave your current position?
A. Personal reasons
B. Dissatisfaction with Management
C. Dissatisfaction with Pay
D. Dissatisfaction with Working Conditions

Which of the two would you find more palatable, if you were to fill out an exit interview questionnaire? You are likely to get more honest, non-defensive answers with the first one. See also how items A, B, F, and G in Question 1 all fall under “Personal”? And C, D, and E in Question 1 correspond with B, C, and D in Question 2, but you may feel more comfortable marking items in the first question and not in the second, all because of how the question is framed. Again, this is an area where a consultant can help develop a survey that meets your unique needs.

3. Respond to your data.
From your analysis you should know now where your problems are, and what specific issues your staff feel disengaged about. A PDSA cycle can be useful here (Plan-Do-Study-Act): Plan where and how you will intervene, Do your intervention, Study the effect it had, and Adjust accordingly.

Plan: What strategies will you implement incentives, raise morale, or otherwise  increase employee engagement? Where will you implement them? For how long? Who will be responsible?

Do: Implement your changes. Document reactions to them.

Study: Examine the impact of your changes. Do you see improvements? Is there less turnover? Are fewer employees reporting dissatisfaction upon exit interviews? (You may also want to look for indicators of engagement with your current staff rather than just the ones that are leaving; this will be the topic of an upcoming post.)

Act: Respond to what you learned. If your intervention was successful, roll it out to the rest of the organization. If there are areas that can still be improved, adjust your interventions to address them.

There can only be benefits to investing in finding out what makes your staff tick. Even if you’re not rolling in start-up money, you can offer positive, rewarding experiences to your staff. If they find their work rewarding and important, if they feel aligned with your mission--and can express how the work they do relates directly to that mission--they will be more likely to consider their workplace an environment in which they feel they are one of many making a difference for those they serve.

Look for more posts in this series on Employee Engagement.