“I’ve never seen anything like this.”
I’ve heard this line on repeat over the past few weeks as I’ve talked about the current state of the workforce to colleagues and friends in the nonprofit sector.
The past few months have shepherded in what many are calling “The Great Resignation”, with more than 65% of U.S. workers seeking a new job. At the same time, businesses across sectors that held on hiring during the uncertainty of 2020 are now hiring at rapid rate. This high volume of job seekers and job opportunity is creating significant disruption in the workforce and has leaders and managers across sector scrambling to retain team members and plug capacity gaps.
While this is problematic across all industry, it is particularly straining for the nonprofit sector, which is systemically under-resourced in human resources. For those of you who are friends and supporters of Common Impact, you know that the core organizational building blocks such as technology, finance, and operations are sorely underfunded at most organizations. Of all these critical functions, human resources often gets the short shrift, with few organizations having the capacity, expertise or budget for dedicated strategic HR and talent management.
The Great Resignation is testing the sector in new ways. Nonprofit leaders, already dealing with a year plus of crisis, will need to manage their programs with a less trained and tenured team. Nonprofit staff, already suffering from burn out of varying degrees, will need to compensate for open positions.
As a sector, we will need to fight the immediate fires that are arising. We also need to take this moment to make the case for deeper investment from funders in the nonprofit workforce. Skilled volunteer efforts can play a powerful role on both fronts. They can provide short-term tactical HR support – providing best practices for hiring and negotiation, quantifying the full benefit of nonprofit roles, and structuring internal career trajectories. They can also build the systems and support we need from our corporate and philanthropic funders to sustain organizations past this current crisis – to hire the right leaders, build proactive, equitable hiring practices, and to foster sustainable, connected workplaces. These solutions are within our grasp. Once unlocked, they will enable nonprofits to deliver a powerful professional experience to job seekers of all ages.
danielleholly.com 