Non-profits spend a lot of time securing funding, with a good portion of that going to pay employee salaries. We invest a lot in human capital as opposed to physical capital, yet we don’t always think and act strategically to ensure that we have the right people, doing the right jobs, at the right time. While ‘passion for the cause’ is an essential ingredient for working in this sector, it is no longer enough. How do you ensure that your organization has the best combination of people with the skills, knowledge and attitudes to achieve organizational results? How can your organization better integrate the skills and knowledge of both paid staff and volunteers? What are successful organizations doing to recruit and retain top talent? What do you do when you don’t have the right people? Lynne Toupin makes the case for investing in your organization’s human resources.
Five good ideas
- Align skills, knowledge and interest with the jobs to be done
- Pay competitive salaries and benefits
- Plan for succession
- Develop and sustain a culture of ongoing learning
- Integrate your human resources – both paid and unpaid
Five good resources
- Good to Great and the Social Sectors: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great by Jim Collins, HarperCollins
- A People Lens: How your Organization Can Adopt a People First Philosophy, by Colleen Kelly, Executive Director, Volunteer Vancouver
- Non-profit Jobs Need Better Pay by Rick Cohen, Nonprofit Quarterly on-line version
- The New Volunteer Workforce, by Eisner, Grimm, Maynard & Washburn, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Winter 2009
- The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
Lynne Toupin
Executive Director, HR Council for the Voluntary & Non-profit Sector
Lynne Toupin is an independent consultant working with non-profit organizations to help them achieve clear and measurable results. Previously, she was the executive director of the hr Council for the Voluntary & Non-Profit Sector, a national body that works with organizations, educators, labour and government to identify and address issues related to paid employment in the voluntary and non-profit sector. She has led several national non-profit organizations, including the Canadian Co-operative Association and the National Anti-Poverty Organization. Lynne co-chaired the Accord Table for the Voluntary Sector Initiative and served on the MacKay Task Force on the future of the financial services sector in Canada. She has a Masters of Education from l’Université de Montréal and has worked in the field of education in Manitoba as a teacher, school principal, curriculum consultant and special assistant to the Minister of Education.