Managing People in Nonprofit Organizations: Part II

1
Managing People in
Nonprofit Organizations Part II

• Thomas P. Holland, Ph.D.
• Institute for Nonprofit Organizations
• University of Georgia

2
This is Part II of the training unit on
Leadership and Management of Nonprofit
Organizations.This part focuses on managing
people.
3
Managing People includes

• Writing job descriptions
• Preparing personnel policies
• Hiring
• Delegating
• Problem solving
• Motivating

• Communicating
• Managing meetings
• Making presentations
• Appraising performance
• Developing staff
• Dealing with conflicts
• Firing

4
Defining a New Job Role

• Recognize need through problems in completing
  work assignments or
• Anticipate need when planning for new service or
  program
• Specify tasks and competencies through
  examination of current job roles and gaps
• Identify how new role fits with organizational
  structure, work flow
• Write job description
• Estimate costs, including salary, benefits, taxes

5
Writing Job Descriptions

• Define the tasks, functions, responsibilities
  expected of the position
• Specify to whom person reports
• Identify the knowledge, skills, experience, and
  qualifications needed to do the job
• Describe the criteria and means for assessing
  work performance
• Set salary and benefits

6
Competencies

• Competencies are sets of behaviors that include
  skills, knowledge, abilities, and personal
  attributes that are critical to successful work
  accomplishment.
• Identifying competencies needed to accomplish
  organizational goals serves to
• describe the ideal workforce
• inform management decisions about feasible
  objectives
• guide employee behaviors and expectations
• provide basis for job descriptions, hiring, and
  for staff training and development
• Identify work tasks that should be outsourced

7
Personnel Policies

• Set forth the guidelines and rules governing
  behavior as a member of the organization,
  including
• Classifications
• Requirements
• Prohibitions
• Procedures, regulations
• Ensure consistency in personnel decisions
• Minimize staff dissatisfaction, grievances

8
Typical Components

• 12. Confidentiality
• 13. Conflicts of interest
• 14. Harassment substance abuse rules
• 15. Safety regulations
• 16. Performance reviews
• 17. Staff development
• 18. Termination
• 19. Appeals, grievances
• 20. Work products and files
• 21. Forms for
• Time off
• Expense reimbursement
• Annual reviews

• 1. Job classifications
• 2. Terms and conditions of employment
• 3. Affirmative action
• 4. Recruitment procedures
• 5. Compensation
• 6. Benefits
• 7 Work schedules
• 8. Attendance and leaves
• 9. Holiday schedules
• 10. Leaves of absence
• 11. Vacation time

9
Generating Applications

• Prepare job description
• Decide if role is to be staff or volunteer
• Advertise the position, starting internally
• Provide sufficient information for reader to do
  self-screening
• Title and general responsibilities
• Required skills, experience, education,
  limitations
• Closing date for consideration
• Identify application forms and supporting
  documents required (ie. resume, recommendation
  letters, references)
• Contact information

10
Screening Applications

• Examine applicants career objectives
• Work history, jobs, dates, gaps
• Competencies match those needed by organization?
• On best candidates, gather and evaluate reference
  letters
• Get others views of applications
• Select a few finalists for further investigation

11
Interviewing Applicants

• Contact those on final list to set interview
  times, location, expectations
• Prepare interview questions and follow them
  consistently in every interview
• Questions must focus on performing the duties of
  the job, not about characteristics unrelated to
  job (ie. age, marital status, religion,
  handicapping conditions)
• Consider open-ended questions, such as
• Why do you thing your skills are appropriate
  for this position?
• What was your biggest challenge in past job and
  how did you handle it?
• Introduce them to others in organization
• Ask about salary expectations and when person
  could begin work

12
Compensation

• A systematic approach to providing monetary value
  to employees in exchange for work performed
• Forms
• Base pay
• Commissions
• Overtime
• Merit pay
• Travel, meals, housing allowances
• benefits

13
Candidate Selection

• Get impressions of everyone who saw applicants,
  starting with interviewer(s)
• Ask which they prefer and why
• Ask about perceived gaps, problems
• Look for one with most positive recommendations
• Take recommendation to final decision-maker
• Inform finalist by telephone and letter

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Orienting Newcomer

• Go over in greater detail the position,
  expectations, limitations, policies and
  procedures, resources, questions
• Take to office and provide keys, supplies,
  important documents, and individual copy of
  personnel manual
• Tour facility and introduce staff, including
  executive, supervisor, mentor
• Invite group to meet for lunch, encourage other
  social interactions
• Schedule any needed training
• Meet with person regularly to resolve questions
  about position, performance expectations and
  reviews, common challenges

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Make use of Volunteers

• Traditional busy-work not interesting or
  motivating to most people
• Begin with workforce needs and identify tasks at
  all levels that may be done by volunteers
• Must engage staff in planning
• Follow similar steps of preparing job
  description, recruitment, screening, orienting,
  training, supervising, firing
• Monitor performance and satisfactions, make
  adjustments to retain good volunteers
• Recognition and appreciation are essential for
  retention

16
Delegation

• Assign responsibility for accomplishing a goal or
  objective to a member of the staff
• Allow that person to formulate activities needed
  to accomplish assignment
• Builds motivation
• Increases competencies
• Risk of assuming Why bother? I could do the work
  in much less time.

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Steps of delegation

• Give whole tasks to individuals/ teams
• Select the right person/team for tasks, matching
  skills and interests with tasks
• Clearly specify results expected, not the methods
  for accomplishing them
• Make sure recipient understands and agrees with
  assignment
• Agree on criteria for monitoring progress, times
  for reporting feedback
• Maintain open lines of two-way communication
• Set up means for addressing problems/ barriers
• Evaluate and reward successful performance

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Problem Solving

• Problems inevitably arise when people try to work
  together
• Impulse is to react in ways that have been used
  before
• Satisficing looking close to familiar solutions,
  selecting easiest one (fewest demands) to apply
• Instead, seek to understand why you and others
  think there is a problem
• Ask what do we see, where, how occurring, when,
  with whom, why, own role in it?
• Seek to frame the issue in ways different from
  past
• Engage others in examining definitions and
  potential solutions
• Set priorities in addressing components

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Further steps in problem-solving

• Examine potential causes for the problem ask for
  views and advice from staff, peers, managers,
  outsiders
• Brainstorm to identify creative alternative
  approaches to solving it in long term, including
  asking others views, opinions
• Screen alternatives for feasibility, likelihood
  of long-term resolution, risks and benefits,
  potential consequences

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Staff Motivation

• Motivating others starts with motivating
  yourself. Enthusiasm is contagious. What
  energizes you?
• Find out what motivates other individuals (ask,
  listen, observe, recognize differences, honor
  them)
• Note important distinction between satisfiers and
  hygiene factors
• Link assignments and rewards with individual
  motivations, and keep fresh on this as work and
  people change over time
• Align tasks with mission and goals of
  organizations, and help others stay clear of
  those links. Heres why you and your skills are
  so essential for our success.
• While positive relationships are important, make
  sure policies, assignments, and procedures are
  clear and fair to everyone
• Recognize and celebrate successes in variety of
  ways

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Communications

• Everyone should submit periodic progress reports
  to supervisors each is crucial audience for
  other
• Hold regular meetings with staff to discuss
  progress on assignments, with individual/team
  summaries, open feedback
• Learn to listen actively ask for clarification,
  check to see if you and others understand one
  anothers points
• Demonstrate practices of open communications,
  asking for and giving feedback
• Encourage staff to initiate discussions when
  tasks accomplished or barriers encountered
• Solicit views of ways to deal with barriers
  invite others to help solve problems.
• Spread news of successes show appreciation for
  others

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Managing Meetings I

• Meetings are costly in staff time, so must be
  productive
• Decide specifically what should be accomplished
  with meeting
• Identify who should attend, based on purpose of
  meeting
• Decide on meeting agenda and work plan
  (structure, format)
• Make sure agenda engages participants early and
  actively. What do you want them to do and why?
• By each agenda item, indicate the type of action
  sought (decision, vote, brainstorming,
  assignment) and time estimates for each item
• Conclude with brief evaluation of meeting

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Managing Meetings II

• Invite participants, providing clear statement of
  meeting purpose and expectations for participants
• Make sure that agenda and background materials
  are distributed to participants well in advance
  of meeting
• Open meeting with summary of purposes, making
  sure everyone understands expectations and goals
• Clarify ground rules (such as participate
  actively, stay focused on topic, maintain
  momentum, get to closure)
• Make sure someone takes notes and distributes
  them
• Clarify own role in meeting model the behavior
  you want others to follow

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Managing Meetings III

• Manage the time carefully, keep the process
  moving
• Make sure that extraverts dont crowd out the
  introverts by calling on silent ones and
  reminding those who have spoken
• Ask participants to help you keep track of time
• If time gets out of hand, ask participants for
  input on resolution
• Do periodic checks on satisfaction, suggestions
• Check your conclusions with group on conclusions
  and delegated tasks
• Leave 10-15 minutes at end for open evaluation
• Try to end on time and on positive note

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Presentations

• Identify the goals and purposes of your
  presentation, what you want to accomplish with
  this audience
• State clearly the top 2-3 things you want these
  listeners to hear and take away.
• Start presentation with brief overview of the
  purposes and plan of the session, why topic is
  important for them.
• Maintain positive tone, engagement with audience,
  use humor when possible, give examples of key
  points
• Make sure that handouts or slides address key
  points, use consistent format. Check out computer
  in advance. DO NOT read slides or handouts.
• Maintain eye contact, talk a bit louder and
  slower than usual in conversations, stand still,
  use gestures, smile
• Invite questions and feedback.
• Conclude with restatement of the major things you
  want audience to take away.

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Performance Appraisals

• Provide informal feedback on performance when
  first noted in work. Dont allow negative
  build-up.
• Design formal appraisal method based on job
  description, assignments, and expectations
• Use standardized forms, available to everyone in
  advance (many are available on Internet)
• Include closed-ended ratings and space for
  comments
• Announce schedule to everyone, then stick to it
• Remind individuals of scheduled reviews
• Invite individuals to offer changes to job
  description and to evaluation forms

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More on Performance Appraisals

• Record accomplishments, exhibited strengths and
  limitations, recommendations for improvement
• Use observed behaviors of that employee, not
  hearsay or rumor
• Invite employees input, self-assessments,
  accomplishments, needs for improvement
• Provide honest, constructive feedback based on
  own observations
• Disagreements are acceptable note them
• Nothing should be surprising if you have given
  informal feedback as work has proceeded
• Allow employee to add own statement at end of
  form
• Conclude with next steps for improving
  performance, resources, and expectations for
  demonstrating change

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Many Ways of Staff Development

• On-the-job experience
• Formal or informal learning
• Apprenticeships, internships
• Career counseling
• Coaching, mentoring
• Continuing education
• Professional conferences
• Job rotations, cross-training
• Peer learning, feedback

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Forms of Learning for Individuals

• Training helping person learn specific
  knowledge or skills.
• Coaching guidance on mastering skills or solving
  interpersonal problems (using, for example, 360
  assessments, Joharis window, Myers-Briggs,
  stress management techniques)
• Goal setting helping people formulate goals and
  priorities for improving their own effectiveness
• Performance appraisal modifying ways of
  assessing employee performance more carefully and
  using feedback to improve.
• Job descriptions useful when job duties are
  ambiguous and expected results unclear.
• Cross-training rotating individual to other
  positions in organization
• Career planning for individuals who have
  outgrown their roles and want new skills and
  challenges.
• Procedures manual formalizing the approved
  methods for handing common problems in work.
• Process improvement steps to improve the
  effectiveness of ways people do their work and
  interact.

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Andragogy vs Pedagogy

• Addresses current, real-world problem
• Person highly motivated to solve current problem
• Involves actual applying new ideas and materials
• Exchange ongoing feedback about trial experiences
• Self-directed, learner centered
• Based on competence and trust

• Addresses pre-formulated problems
• External motivations by rewards and penalties
• Involves applying ideas already provided
• Periodic feedback via tests
• Learner is dependent on the teacher
• Based on power and control

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Requirements of Adult Learners

• Must be willing to grow, take risks, face new
  experiences
• Openness to ongoing feedback from trials of new
  ideas
• Trust instincts, engage in self-directed learning
• Requires high internal motivation to pursue
  growth, mastery of new skills, self-improvement

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Requirements of Supervisors

• Include learners in development planning to build
  engagement and ownership
• Schedule regular times to discuss progress and
  concerns
• Provide ongoing feedback and support
• Maximize opportunities for feedback focused on
  successful applications of new ideas

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How Supervisors Help Staff Learn

• Help person identify needed improvements in
  performance
• Encourage person to see knowledge as contextual,
  created together
• Create partnership via learning contract
• Foster atmosphere of trust, openness
• Offer ideas about inquiry, critical thinking,
  making decisions, personal choice,
  self-assessment
• Recognize individual learning styles
• Use job experiences as opportunities to learn
• Promote learning networks, learning exchanges

34
Roles of Coach and Mentor

• Coaching focuses on a specific job skill
• Agenda set by supervisor
• Short-term engagement
• Provides specific feedback to improve skill
• Tell person how to do task
• Watch as she tries
• Give feedback to fine-tune
• Person tries until she gets it right

• Mentoring focuses on overall career development
• Agenda set by mentee
• Long-term engagement
• Provides more general, non-directive interactions
• Explore work issues together
• Discuss options, possible consequences
• Offer suggestions, support, encouragement

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Styles of Learning

• People have different approaches to learning,
  such as
• Visual, auditory, tactile
• Reflective, experiential
• Explore the differences by searching the Internet
  for learning style.
• Make use of several of the questionnaires to
  identify your own style and to understand those
  of others.
• Identify the implications of these differences
  for the performance of work teams.
• Identify approaches to staff development
  activities that would take into account the
  differences among participants.

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Steps in formal, systematic staff development

• Assessing what knowledge, skills, abilities are
  needed by learners
• Designing the learning activities, including
  goals and objectives, methods for implementation,
  and criteria for evaluation
• Developing the training methods, materials,
  schedule, budget
• Implementing them
• Evaluating whether goals and objectives have been
  reached (and may address the quality of the
  training itself)

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Self vs Other Directed

• Self-directed development learner decides about
  goals, what experiences are to be sought, and how
  to do so
• Other-directed Supervisor responsible for
  setting goals, planning activities, applying
  criteria.
• Mixes are common.

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Planning for Staff Development

• Determine goals, based on assessments, gaps in
  performance or job requirements, participants
  interests
• Identify competencies needed, set goals
• Specify knowledge, skills needed to reach goals
  formulate each into learning objectives
• Identify resources, activities, methods, and
  persons needed to complete each objective
• Formulate learning activities for learning styles
  of participants
• Specify criteria and procedures for assessing
  completion of each goal and objective
• Set out the sequence steps for implementation,
  timetable
• Identify the costs for each step formulate into
  budget

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Times and Ways of Evaluation

• Before training What evidence is there that
  identified methods will really result in
  participants mastery of needed knowledge and
  skills?
• During implementation (formative) monitor
  engagement collect feedback from participants
  use short tests
• After completion (summative) compare current
  skills with prior levels supervisor observes
  work performance use outside expert evaluators

40
Handling Conflicts

• Definition when two or more values or
  perspectives are contradictory in nature
• May be internal (within self) or external
  (between two or more people).
• Conflicts are problems when they hamper
  productivity, lower morale, cause inappropriate
  behaviors if poorly handled.
• Conflicts are useful when they
• Raise important but unaddressed problems
• Motivate people to attend to them
• Help people learn how to recognize and benefit
  from differences

41
Things that provoke workplace conflicts

• Poor communications, employees surprised by new
  decisions, dont understand reasons for
  decisions, come to distrust supervisors
• Alignment of resources doesnt match work
  expectations, disagreement about who does what
• Personal differences, conflicting values and
  actions, dislike of aspects of others (that we
  dont like in ourselves)
• Abuses of power, authoritarianism
• Inconsistent or uninformed leadership, passing
  the buck, repeated poor handling of an issue,
  managers dont understand the jobs of
  subordinates.
• Organizational culture of blaming others for
  problems

42
Ways People Deal with Conflicts

• Avoid or ignore it. May worsen conflict over
  time.
• Accommodate give in to others. May be useful
  when you know you will have a better opportunity
  in the near future.
• Compromise mutual give-and-take when you want
  to get beyond the issue
• Collaborate seek ways of working together for
  mutual goals without trying to solve issue
• Compete Try to get your way, expressing strong
  convictions about your position, seeking to
  persuade others. May include efforts to
  discredit opposition.
• Warfare polarizing the conflict, using formal
  and informal power to undermine opposition and
  gain control of organizational resources.

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Conflict Managementin increasing order of
difficulty

• Recognize that some differences are useful and
  always present
• Prevent initiation of conflicts by developing
  clear policies and culture of shared
  responsibility for solving problems
• Set limits on ways conflict may be expressed
• Help individuals understand triggering factors
  and alternative responses
• Help individuals find different ways of coping
  with consequences of conflicts
• Resolve basic issues underlying the conflict

44
Supervisory Actions to Minimize Conflicts

• Keep current on job descriptions, making sure
  that roles dont conflict and no tasks fall into
  cracks
• Build positive relationships with staff, meet
  with them regularly, ask about accomplishments
  and challenges
• Get regular status reports, including needs and
  planned next steps
• Provide staff development opportunities on key
  aspects of work
• Develop procedures for handling challenges,
  drawing upon employees input
• Hold regular meetings to communicate status of
  projects, resources and challenges, new
  initiatives
• Foster culture of shared responsibility and
  mutual problem-solving

45
Steps in Managing Conflicts

• Know what you dont like in yourself, and
  recognize that we react negatively to those
  things in others.
• Stop arguing, move to discussion between adults
• Manage yourself in interactions. Speak calmly
  even if other doesnt. Maintain eye contact.
• Move discussion in private room.
• Allow person time to vent without reacting or
  interrupting.
• Check to make sure you have heard their concerns
  correctly. Ask clarifying questions as
  appropriate, making no judgments about responses.
• Clarify where/whether organizational policies
  touch on issue.

46
Further Steps

• Identify points where you agree and disagree.
• Address the issues, not the person. Rule out
  personal attacks.
• Keep focus on the mission and on the future, not
  the past
• Listen carefully, respectfully
• Seek mutual solutions. Ask what could we do to
  fix this problem? If more complaints, go back
  to previous steps, then ask question again.
• If possible, identify at least one action that
  can be done by one or both of you.
• If not, ask for a cooling off period before
  meeting again. Could we agree to disagree?
• Seek advice from manager.
• Consider inviting in mediator if appropriate.

47
Firing

• Should come only after several attempts to change
  behavior, with documented feedback and warnings
  to employee and based on specific personnel
  policies
• Take time to talk with supervisors and managers
  about step, gathering ideas and suggestions
• Meet with employee promptly and speak clearly,
  constructively, avoiding blaming
• Document decision in letter to employee with copy
  to personnel file
• Restrict employees access to organizational
  files and resources

48
Firing Specifics

• See SHRM handout for overview
• Issues to consider
• Last paycheckno statute in GA regarding when to
  provide.
• Last paychecklast leverage
• Suggest providing last paycheck when you receive
  all company-owned property.

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Firing Specifics Contd

• Vacation and other payno GA statute since no
  requirement to provide
• Pay per company policy, if any
• If no policy, suggest following company precedent
• If no precedent, suggest using vacation pay as
  incentivee.g. for not being disruptive as they
  leave the building.
• COBRAGA has mini-COBRA statute
• Companies with 2-19 employees must cover for
  remainder of month plus offer COBRA for another 3
  months

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Firing Specifics

• Severance Pay
• No requirement to provide but can be used as an
  incentive similar to vacation pay

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Immediate Termination

• Egregious policy violation or behavior
• Suggest sending employee home for 3 dayspaid.
  Important cooling-off period.
• Gives you time to
• Investigate fully
• Make an informed, rational decision
• Plan termination meeting if needed

52
Things to Remember

• Firing should not be a surprise
• Do not humiliate or disrespect the employee
• Do not debate the decision
• Do not apologize for the decision
• Tell the other employees that
• The employee is no longer with the organization
• You will not be providing any details
• They should not make any assumptions or speculate
  about what happened

53
Internet Use Policies

• Consider adding to your employee handbook
• The Internet is a double-edged sword
• Can exponentially increase productivity
• Email, research, your organizations Web presence
• Can exponentially increase goofing off
• Surfing, social media, etc.
• Other dangers
• Illegal downloads
• Viruses and spyware, even if youre protected
• Unauthorized software that conflicts with
  authorized applications that are critical to your
  operation
• Video streaming and gaming that hogs bandwidth
  and makes the entire network sluggish

54
Further Resources

• www.managementhelp.org
• www.mncn.org/infocentral.htm
• www.rileyguide.com
• http//hrweb.berkeley.edu/guide/conflict.htm
• www.hg.org/employ.html
• Search Internet for any of the topics on slide 3