Episode 36: How to Prevent Staff Turnover
Because nonprofits aren’t able to pay employees market salaries they tend to be understaffed–and often employees do the job of several people. Though common, this type of culture creates high turnover. Learn some non-traditional (and no or low cost) ways to keep your employees feeling appreciated, fulfilled, and appreciated.
LINKS:
NONPROFIT SPOTLIGHT: Inner City Youth Orchestra
Podcast Transcript
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Welcome to On Air with Amber Wynn, where nonprofit leaders learned to fuse passion and commitment with proven business strategies to create long-term funding, impact, and sustainability. And now, here's your host and resident Philanthrepreneur Amber Wynn.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Hey fam, it's your girl, Amber Wynn. And we're back. And today we are talking about a very important subject, how to prevent high staff turnover. Now, the nonprofit sector does a lot of good, amazing things to improve community, but it's also responsible for doing a lot of harm, in particular to the staff that it employs. And I'm gonna use employ lightly because a lot of nonprofits, don’t pay their staff what they're worth. Some of that has to do with the fact that they're not informed about how to bring in and generate multiple streams of revenue. So they give very little. A lot of it is nonprofit leaders trying to survive off of grants, which you can't do, so the salaries are tied to the grants and then when the grants expire, so do the positions. There's so many reasons, right. When we come back from our first commercial break, we're gonna dive in to the causes for high staff turnover and then how to prevent it. All right, so when we come back, we'll get to the topic.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Starting a new career in a new sector with unfamiliar job titles and new jargon can lead to frustration and burnout.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
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Speaker 2 (03:09):
We're back. You're on with Amber Wynn Philanthrepreneur and today we are talking about how to prevent high staff turnover, which is very prevalent in the nonprofit sector. What are the causes? Well, typically you will find nonprofits trading people's passion for pay and equity. What does that mean? That means that people come to nonprofits because they believe in the cause, because they believe in what you're doing. And sometimes we sort of take advantage of that. We know that people are committed to their communities. We know that people are committed to their jobs and so we just give them just enough to survive. And especially in these times when inflation is just off the roof, people may want to do the work, but the reality is they have to live as well. And so we see a high level of turnover in nonprofits and that's very dangerous. It's very dangerous because when you have a high turnover in your organization, there's not a lot of continuity in the programming.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
People in communities get used to people. You have a program coordinator. They've established relationships not only with the community and with your clients, but also with funders and potential collaborators. And if you are constantly experiencing a turnover, there's gonna be some hiccups in the way that you deliver your program. So we don't want that. It's also at a cost to the nonprofit organization. When you invest time and energy training your people, when they leave, they leave with that institutional knowledge. Research has shown that it costs more to hire and train a person than it does to keep them on, right. So for example, it's cheaper for you to give somebody a raise than it is for you to hire a new person, get them acclimated, get them trained, there's a cost for that. So I want you to think about that. It's better for you to invest in good people, to keep them there, than it is to continuously replace them.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
But if you are doing things like only paying your people a stipend, I get that all the time. Well, how much are you paying them? Well, we give them a stipend. People can't live off of stipends, right?. Or if you're only employing them part-time with no benefits, people have dental issues and people have eye issues and everybody wants to make sure that they can get some medical coverage. Come on, you're doing the work of God and as a response instead of being rewarded it’s basically like you're being punished. That's how I look at it. And so if you're doing this amazing altruistic work and not getting compensated for it, what's the natural thing to do? The natural thing to do is to leave. And that's what perpetuates the high turnover. Another reason why people get leave is because they're burnt out. What happens when one person quits, then the ED says, Okay Amber, I'm gonna need you to pick up one third of what it was that Charles was doing.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
And then Jane, I'm gonna need you to pick up the other third. And so now I'm already getting paid less than my worth and because this person left and the work has to be done, you're gonna dump more work on me. So that is another reason why people quit. It's like, listen, I'm already doing my job, not getting paid for it. These people leave and then you dump more on me. So I want you to think about that. It's not enough to say this is our mission or the community needs us. What you have to do is put yourself first. We talked about that in a previous episode. Then you need to put your staff second. Meaning, the decisions that you make, the things that you do, are driven by good intentions and making sure that you take care of your people. That's what I really wanna say.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
You may have good intentions, but you don't have the money. I get that. But making sure that you do what you can to create a strong infrastructure, cuz that's what it comes down to. I tell people all the time, you can afford them. No, I can't. I don't have the money. So then it is your responsibility to get the money. How do you get the money? You invest the money that you get into things that's gonna create more money. So I have a free masterclass that I offer Nonprofit Founders, The Four Secrets to
Successful Nonprofit Organizations. And in that masterclass, you learn what it is you need to do so that you can generate multiple streams of revenue. Because the answer is not pimping out your staff, meaning you know, you work hard, work hard, work hard, but I don't pay you. That's not the solution.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
The solution is for you as the Nonprofit Founder, as the Executive Director, to learn how to increase your revenue. That is the solution. That's how you put your people first. You say, okay, maybe the first six months I can only pay you X, Y, and Z, but I'm building up my infrastructure, I'm bringing in board members, I'm diversifying my funding streams so that by month seven I can give you more money. And then by month 12 I can get you to the salary that you are entitled to get. It's not having people believe they're supposed to work for less than what they're worth. That's really what I'm trying to get you to understand, and then to help you get to. Cuz it's one thing to say, Oh, you need to pay your people. Yeah, everybody knows that. And I don't think any Founder or Executive Director out there really wants to underpay their staff. I don't believe that.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
I just believe that those people don't understand or know where the resources are so that they can do that. So that's why I'm here. I'm here to show you how to fund your nonprofit, how to pay your people what they're worth so that you can keep great people on staff and keep continuity into your organization. So what do you do? What you need to do is to until you can pay them their worth, do other things. Like what Amber? Well give them other perks. If you can't pay your staff $60,000, can you pay them for a day? What does that mean? Well, they need to take a day to go take their kid to the doctor or whatever you tell them, Amber, go ahead, take the day off and I'm gonna pay you. Why? Because that's just one day. As opposed to the salary that you're not giving them, you can offer them things like an altered work schedule.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Maybe they can do a nine 80, meaning that they work nine days, 10 hours so that they can have an automatic day off. They can pick a Monday and another person can pick a Friday and another person can pick a Wednesday, whatever day works for them so that you have coverage at the office. But they have an automatic day that they're off to do whatever they need to do. What's another thing you can do to prevent high staff turnover if you don't have the money to pay them? Well, maybe you can pay for a workshop, a training. A person says, I really wanna learn social media and there's this course for $149. And you say, Well bet I'm gonna pay for that. It's just $149. You get to help them increase their skills and you also get to probably benefit from that.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
If they're gonna learn social media, then they're gonna bring it back to the organization likely. So you could pay for some type of education. You could do things like, especially if you are in a, I don't know, facility where it requires parking, pay for their parking. Instead of paying $200 extra a month for salaries, you pay $200 once and I don't know or maybe you can do some type of recognition program. Employee of the Month gets to park in a special place so they don't have to drive around, drive around looking for parking. You get one parking assigned to your organization, let them park there. Yes, you're the Founder and the Executive Director. But if this is a guaranteed spot, it's one way to demonstrate to your staff, okay, you're the Employee of the Month, everybody's voted on it, and you get to park there for 30 days. And you rotate.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
That at least shows them that you're acknowledging their work, their commitment to the organization. You could also do other things, simple things like praise them, right? If you have a newsletter, do an article on your staff and say, Amber is an amazing individual. This is how committed she is to the community. This is how committed she is to the organization. No, it's nothing monetary, but people like to know that they are appreciated. If you just work them and work them and work them. And even if you say to them all the time, I appreciate you, Thank you. Eh, doesn't go as far as if you say to the public, to the people that they're serving, Amber is an amazing person. It tends to go a little bit further. Other things you can consider, excuse me, is purchasing some tickets or getting some tickets donated because you're a 501C3.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
If you reach out to a company and say, Hey, could you donate some tickets to my organization? You could potentially get a tax write off. They'll do it. So get some tickets donated to a concert or from a concert or tickets donated to an amusement park or something like that. And then give them away to your staff. What it says is, Yeah, I know I'm not paying you your value or your worth, but here go take your family out with these tickets so that you don't have to come outta pocket to try and provide entertainment for your family. I got you. You can do that. Or give them comp time. I know that you worked extra long on Saturday, take Wednesday off. These are the things that says to your staff, I see you and I value you and I appreciate you. Right now, I'm not in a position where I can pay you your value or your worth, but I can give you a little token of my appreciation.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
You can do things like mentor, bring your staff in and say, What is it that you'd like to do? What's your end game? Where would you wanna be? Maybe the person is a Coordinator and they say, Well eventually I'd like to be an Executive Director like you. Then you say, bet, let's create a mentoring program where I give you certain tasks that if you were to interview for an Executive Director position, you can say you've had experience doing. What does that do? No, I can't pay you, but I know you're not gonna be here forever. And when you leave, I will help you to be qualified for those positions. So maybe every quarter you focus on something. Well, I'm gonna teach you how to do accounting. Well, I'm gonna teach you how to write a grant. Well, I'm gonna teach you how to network. I'm gonna teach you how to develop a program.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Whatever it is that this person is interested in doing, mentor them. Mentor them as a way to say, I believe in you and I believe in your dreams and your goals. I'm gonna help you get there. And then finally, if they are excited about something, sometimes you get into a position and you just, I don't know, it's rote. And if they come to you and say, Hey Amber, I was thinking what if we started a drill team? Now that may not be a part of their job description, but if they're excited about it, why not let them do a pet project? You would say, of course. Well, that's wonderful, as long as you keep doing your job at the level that you're supposed to, I'm more than happy for you to do this project. That's gonna keep them connected, that's gonna keep them excited.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
And if they bring it to you, don't bring it to them and say, Hey Amber, how'd you like to do this extra project? No, that's more work. You wanna find out what gets them excited. Maybe during one of your check-ins, say, Hey Amber, how are you doing? And they may be like, Oh, I'm okay. Well what would you like to do? Give them a pet project so they can get excited about it, so they can bring new energy. These are some of the non-financial ways that you can help to prevent high staff turnover. It's about engagement. I've also done things like if a person says I'm just overworked and I'm burnt out, I'll say to them, Well what if we got you an intern? This person can come in and do specific project based things because your county, your city, they typically have these work-based projects where they will pay interns to come into your organization.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
And it doesn't cost you anything, but it helps to alleviate some of the stress from your staff member. So, all this to say, we really want you to look at ways to keep your staff engaged, committed, and not overworked, right? If it's non-financial, sometimes just praising your staff goes a long way. But there are other things you can do to help alleviate the load. But if you wanna learn more, like I said, join me with my free masterclass Four Secrets to a Successful Nonprofit and I can lay out specifically for you what it is that some of these other nonprofits do, who are successful to help keep their staff, who they've invested time and energy training. And what they do to generate revenue, diversify funding streams, all of that. Cuz I only have a half hour here on the podcasts, but I have courses where I actually walk nonprofit founders through some of these topics that I'm talking to you about. All right, so we're gonna pause, but when I come back, we have a question from Denise about the difference between collaboration and partnership. When I return.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
This is you and this is your business. From invoicing your first client, to your 10th client, to your hundredth client, you'll need to get paid quickly. Pretty soon you'll be ready to hire some help and you'll need to pay them. As your business grows, Wave is there to grow with you.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
We're back, you're on air with Amber, and today we're talking about how to prevent high staff turnover. And now we have a question for Ask Amber.
Speaker 5 (18:33):
Hi Amber, this is Denise from Texas. I would like to know if you can explain the difference between collaboration and partnership in the nonprofit sector and what circumstances it's most beneficial for either term to be used. Thanks.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Thank you, Denise. That is a very important question. I hear it all the time. As a matter of fact, one of my clients said to me, Oh, I'm so excited this corporation wants to collaborate with me. And I'm like, No, you don't wanna collaboration, you want a partnership. And they're like, What's the difference? So the terms are used interchangeably, but they mean two different things. When you collaborate, it's typically you guys have your own separate organizations with your own separate resources and you come together, but you’re operating separately. So, a nonprofit will collaborate with another nonprofit to put on an event. But when you partner, when a company says to you, Oh, we wanna collaborate with you, you say no, but we can partner. Because a partnership means that there's a whole separate, what's the word I'm looking for? There's a co-mingling of resources, meaning that the corporation is going to give you money in order to work with you.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
So a partnership; when I do my corporate sponsorships, I never say collaborate. I say we'd love for you to be a community partner. Partner suggests partnership and partnerships means that you are giving resources to my organization. We can partner on a project, that means you're gonna give me money. So the circumstances in which you use it is if you collaborate with another nonprofit because maybe you're gonna use your space and then the person's gonna deliver it. That's a collaboration. It washes out. But when people want to leverage who you are in the community and your connection in the community, they need to pay to play. A corporation will always say, Oh, we wanna collaborate with you. You don't wanna collaborate them. You want to form a partnership. And in the partnership you're happy to leverage your connections with the community. You're happy to get them in front of your constituents, your clients, the people that they can't reach, they gotta pay you though.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
So collaboration is when everybody's equal and they're bringing the same things to the table. A partnership is when an organization or a company brings resources, i.e. pay to play, in order to leverage the connections or resources that you have. I hope that helps. And I hope you start using the correct language when you're working with or when a corporation approaches you. Cuz I hear it all the time. Oh, they wanna collaborate. No, no, honey, no. All right, I'm gonna get off that soapbox. It's one of my pet peeves. Next we are moving into the section that I enjoy the most, which is spotlighting our nonprofits; the hardest working people in the world. Today, we are going to spotlight Inner City Youth Orchestra. The mission of inner city youth Orchestra is to cultivate musical expression as a vehicle for personal development and to bring to fruition the full musical and academic potential of young inner city residents of Los Angeles. I don't know if y'all know it, but I love classical music. I love strings. And it's something that I learned when I was in college because I could have it as my background music without it distracting me. I'm not the type of person who can listen to R&B or Neo Soul and not start singing the words. So I learned to have a deep appreciation for classical music, and it excites me that we are bringing this musical option into our communities. So let's check out Inner City Youth Orchestra.
Speaker 6 (24:44):
<music>.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
So amazing. So <laugh> Inner City Youth Orchestra teaches inner city youth the great music of the world and provides opportunities for them to perform that music in the most magnificent settings in our community. What's amazing about this organization is, as you know, music instruction provides problem solving skills, critical thinking, self-reliance, self confidence, self discipline, and the crystallization and pursuit of meaningful purpose. If you are interested in supporting this amazing organization, please visit them at icyola.org. Amazing. I love it. All right, so if you are interested in having your nonprofit spotlight on my episode, please contact me at amber@amberwynn.net. What you'd need to provide is a video under two minutes, making sure that the last slide has your contact information because the whole purpose is to get you in front of not only potential clients, but potential funders. And so I would love to spotlight one of my nonprofits that I haven't spotlight yet.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
And now I wanna close out with my Mindset Minute. And it's focusing on what we've been talking about today is how to prevent high staff turnover. And I want you to just look at your staff as your most valuable asset. Your staff is your most valuable asset. Think about it. Your people are the ones who actually do the work. Without having a staff you'd have to carry the weight of doing everything on your own, which is gonna lead to your burnout. So you wanna take care of your people. They also, they represent your nonprofit. They're the people who are actually in the community doing the work. So if they are happy, they are going to speak about your organization in a positive light. If they are not, then they won't. They will talk about how cheap you are. They will talk about how they are struggling, can't make ends meet financially.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
And that's not how you want your organization to be represented in the community because our nonprofit community is small. And so if you have your staff who's supposed to be representing you, talking badly about your organization, trust and believe it's gonna get back to the funding sources. You wanna treat them well, do not poverty pimp them. Do not say, Well, I don't have enough money so I can't pay you. That's not their responsibility. A nonprofit is a business and every business has expenses. As the Founder, as the leader, Executive Director, it is your responsibility to bring in the resources to pay your staff. It is not their responsibility to take less because you have failed at your job. So what I'm going to implore you to do is to find out more information on how to diversify your funding streams cuz the information is out there, the opportunity for you to diversify your funding streams, create more opportunities to bring in resources so that you can pay
Speaker 2 (28:37):
your staff, is there. It's just about you taking the time to do it. And I'm here to help you. I have all types of resources on my website, www.amberwynn.net. As I shared with you earlier, I have a free masterclass that I provide information on the top four things that successful nonprofit organizations do. Check it out, it's free. And then finally, we wanna make sure that you create continuity in your community because the world needs nonprofits. So if you take care of your people, your people will stay loyal to you, and then you're able to do what it is that you started your nonprofit to do, which is to take care of the people in your community. Your staff are the people in your community, cuz typically we hire from within our own community. So I want you to see your staff as a part of the people that you serve.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
Serve your staff by making sure that they have the resources they need to take care of their family. And so that's all I have for you today. But if you know a nonprofit organization that may be experiencing a high rate of staff turnover, please share this episode with them. Maybe they are so far in the weeds that they just don't know what to do. Maybe they don't know that I'm here to support them, to help them diversify their funding streams and to generate more revenue so that they can take care of these people. Cuz you know they love them, they're doing the work, right? So be sure to share. Be sure to subscribe to my channel. And be sure to join me next week because we have more exciting information that's going to help you strengthen your nonprofit. But until then, I want you to take care of yourself, like you take care of your community. See you next time.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and leave a review on iTunes. Head over to www.amberwynn.net/podcast for the links and resources mentioned in today's podcast. See you next time.
