“Hiring and Retaining Great Employees” was the program presented by Kim Bartel and Kim Simmons during a recent Lunch & Learn hosted by the Polk County Chamber of Commerce.
Bartel and Simmons are with the Alcohol and Drug Awareness Council in Lufkin which is a nonprofit.
“I hate to refer to it as pre- and post-COVID, but we have to. COVID taught us how to do things differently and now employees want a more flexible schedule. It gave us an opportunity to think I can do things differently,” Simmons said.
“It costs us so much money to onboard these people and train them and then they leave us. You have to protect your agency. Not everybody gets an interview with us. We have to do our due diligence before they ever even walk in the door. For us, the hiring starts over the phone. We’re finding the more time we put in that process, the better success we have,” Simmons said.
“We spend as much time as we can onboarding. We tell them the bad things. We want to make sure the people we’re interviewing fit within our mission. We’re still seeing a higher turnover. Those are some of the challenges and things we’ve learned over the years,” Simmons said.
Bartel agreed with Simmons.
“Once we hire them, we need to get them to stay. With the loss of knowledge, we’re having to bring that teamwork back together. Turnover is the single biggest problem. You have to find ways to motivate people, whether it’s promoting, reinforcing or celebrating the mission,” Bartel said.
“It’s hard to compare nonprofits and for-profits, but you want to encourage growth among your employees. For any kind of good profitability, you need to be always learning, always moving forward. Leadership is key. Have a mission. Be focused and encouraging,” Simmons said.
“Make sure the expectations are clearly outlined. Be consistent in your communication. Mixed messages can lead to a lot of problems. Availability is important. Can the staff come in and comfortably talk to leadership? We have a saying, ‘Be relevant.’ You’ve got to help them be relevant the entire time they’re there,” Simmons said.
“We have got to encourage people. People will stay for a job for the way they make them feel rather than for the money. You have to meet people where they are. Transparency is key. The more transparent you are with staff, the better. It is very beneficial,” Simmons said.
Simmons and Bartel distributed a handout called ‘Employee retention for nonprofits,’ commenting that there might be things on there that could benefit for-profits as well.
The first tip is to make recognition a habit, not an event. Recognition is the highest retention that most non-profits underuse and it costs nothing. Research shows that employees who feel appreciated are four times less likely to look for another job.
The second tip is to implement flexibility as a benefit. Flexibility costs nothing and it benefits the organization tremendously. A 2023 survey of nonprofit workers revealed that 72% would choose flexibility over a $5,000 raise when considering staying at their current position. The underlying message is ‘We trust you, and we respect your life outside of work.’
The third tip is to invest in their growth. An unskilled, disengaged employee will cost you more than a trained one who eventually moves on. People stay when they feel like they are growing.
The four tips is to try to implement culture and wellness on a shoestring budget. Compassion fatigue is real and quietly running through the nonprofit sector. When staff spend their days helping people through trauma, they absorb that weight and can drain valuable staff. A culture of wellness can be built without a budget.
The final tip is to get creative with compensation. Nonprofits are not going to out-pay the private sector but the gap can be closed creatively by offering paid time off, retirement options and small stipends.
