Creating a Nonprofit Work Culture That Drives Retention

It can be challenging to keep employee motivation high at your nonprofit, especially in times of uncertainty. Building a positive environment that makes employees want to do their best work every day is more important than ever during stressful times when you need all hands on deck.

A strong work culture and high employee retention often go hand-in-hand. When employees have a welcoming, supportive place to work, they’re more likely to stick around, even when times are tougher than normal.

To help your nonprofit improve its employee retention rates, this guide will explore a few tips for improving your work culture. 

Hire for Cultural Fit

Each employee you hire contributes to your workplace culture. When assessing prospective team members, consider how they’ll fit in with the rest of your team, what perspectives they’ll bring, and whether they’ll shift your culture in the right direction.

Hiring for cultural fit doesn’t mean only hiring people with the exact same experiences and backgrounds. Instead, it’s about finding people through non-discriminatory means who share your nonprofit’s values and can work well together to further your mission. You can do this during the hiring process by:

• Writing thorough job descriptions. Each job description you create has a lot to cover, from employee responsibilities to skill requirements. It’s also a place to clearly state what your nonprofit values and what type of work atmosphere you aim to create, whether it’s supportive and team-based or independent and fast-paced.
• Asking open-ended interview questions. Interviews are your best opportunity to learn how candidates would respond to everyday scenarios at your nonprofit. Ask open-ended questions that reveal their attitudes towards teamwork, communication, problem-solving, conflict resolution, and other important soft skills.
• Facilitating conversations with team members. Consider letting top candidates speak with current employees at your nonprofit. This provides prospective employees with an opportunity to ask questions about the ins and outs of their work that a hiring manager may be unfamiliar with. Additionally, letting new employees see who they will be working with helps them decide if your nonprofit is the right fit for them.

When new employees join a nonprofit with values that align with what they want from their work environment, they’re more likely to stick around. 

Maintain Open Communication

The more transparent communication is at your nonprofit, the more employees will feel valued, trusted, and like an essential part of your team, leading to higher retention rates.

You can maintain open communication by:

• Scheduling regular employee check-ins. Give employees the opportunity to talk about their day-to-day work by having managers meet with their direct reports on a regular basis, such as weekly. This gives employees the chance to share ideas, brainstorm solutions, and ask questions.
• Surveying employees. Allow employees to routinely provide feedback by surveying them. If you want feedback that is as honest as possible, consider anonymous surveys. If you would prefer to follow up with employees and address specific concerns, then ensure responses are connected to each team member’s name and email address.
• Being transparent. While employees may not need to know every single detail about your nonprofit’s day-to-day operations, transparency about your organization’s general status and direction is essential for maintaining employee trust. This means being honest in both good and bad times so employees can stay informed and make the right decisions in their roles.

Some parts of your nonprofit’s operations may be trickier to communicate than others, and seeking outside assistance can be useful in these situations. For example, many organizations of all types—both for profit businesses and nonprofits—struggle to communicate their compensation policies and turn to human resources consultants for help crafting a communication strategy.

Provide Professional Growth Pathways

Compensation is essential for motivating employees, but the carrot-and-stick methodology only goes so far. According to psychologists Richard Ryan and Edward Deci’s Theory of Self-Determination, external motivators eventually plateau and can even have adverse effects on motivation, while intrinsic motivators can keep individuals invested at higher levels and for longer periods of time.

Among your nonprofit’s staff, you can encourage self-determination by providing optional pathways for growth. Employees who feel they have control over their career trajectory are far more likely to become personally invested in their work, increasing their productivity and loyalty to your organization.

A few ways you can provide personal growth pathways include the following:

• Making skill development materials available. Employees who take a personal interest in developing their skills are invaluable and can help your nonprofit improve its productivity and launch new initiatives. Help these employees grow their abilities by providing optional training resources, like video lecture series and micro-courses.
• Creating structured growth opportunities. Outside of courses, you might implement structured learning processes, like mentorships and job rotation programs. These provide employees with on-the-clock opportunities to learn about different roles at your nonprofit that they may want to move into.
• Sponsoring conference attendance. Empower employees to learn from experts in the nonprofit sector by encouraging them to attend conferences for nonprofit professionals. You might share a list of upcoming conferences with employees, reserve group tickets, or offer reimbursement for travel expenses.

If employees express interest in advancing their career, ensure they know that your nonprofit supports them. Have them set goals and check in on their progress to help them find opportunities to continue moving forward. 

Promote Employee Wellness

Engaged employees can become disengaged for a number of reasons, and chief among them is burnout. If employees feel stressed or overworked, their motivation can easily falter, and they may even consider taking a break from working at your nonprofit.

It’s easy to accidentally create a workplace where employees become burned out. For instance, you might create an incentive program to encourage productivity or offer unlimited time off, so employees can take days off when they need to. However, when not managed correctly, initiatives like these can cause employees to strain themselves due to increased competitiveness or internal pressures to limit time off.

Astron Solutions’ guide to employee compensation explains that your nonprofit can offer indirect compensation through wellness programs. These initiatives provide bonuses to all employees without taking the form of direct pay, meaning employees can enjoy them just by being a member of your team.

A few popular types of wellness programs include

• Access to mental health resources
• Generous paid time off policies
• Flexible work schedules
• Compensation for health-related purchases
• Employee health challenges that encourage good habits

While some of these programs might cut into staff hours, employees who take advantage of them are likely to come back to your nonprofit refreshed and ready to work, increasing overall productivity.

When your nonprofit has a positive work culture, employees are more likely to stick around and go the extra mile, whether that means volunteering to be a new employee mentor or taking on extra responsibilities during the year-end busy season. Take deliberate steps to build a positive work culture by communicating openly with employees and providing them with the resources they need to succeed at your organization.