Holiday music, decorations, and a sweet tooth that doesn’t seem to quit— it must be that time of year. A time for friends, family, and endless celebrations, the holiday season definitely has a way of bringing people together.

So what better time than to throw a festive office party to commemorate yet another successful year? (Or even to ease the pain of a bad one.)

While holiday office parties can seem more like a chore than a reward for both you and your employees, following a few simple steps can help transform your party from dull to unforgettable.

Party Do’s
 

1. DO set a realistic budget—your budget will help narrow down food, venue, and entertainment possibilities; remember, successful parties aren’t necessarily the most extravagant and expensive
2. DO pick a reliable committee—selecting a few willing volunteers will allow you to delegate and utilize multiple perspectives, alleviating unnecessary amounts of pressure and stress
3. DO consider your office culture—Keep your employees’ interests in mind when planning the event’s atmosphere; whether laid back or high energy, cater to your organization’s needs
4. DO provide the food—if your company is consistently hosting potlucks, switch things up a bit and treat your staff to a pre-made meal; consider hiring a caterer or hosting a food truck
5. DO plan activity options—Have engaging opportunities for your employees to mingle; simple activities such as a make-your-own cookie station or a festive photo booth can go a long way

Party Don’ts
 

1. DON’T place an emphasis on alcohol—set the tone for moderation beforehand; offer incentives for designated drivers and consider offering more alcohol-absorbing food
2. DON’T forget about employee policies— in order to avoid sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior, send out a friendly reminder emphasizing that this party is a company event and should be treated as such
3. DON’T overcompensate for lack of bonuses—if your employees aren’t receiving bonuses this year, don’t throw an over-the-top party; they may question how money is being allocated
4. DON’T turn a blind eye—as a supervisor, you are responsible for your employees’ actions at the party; be sure to set a good example and keep an eye out for any potentially problematic behavior (including overindulgence and sexual harassment)
5. DON’T force people to participate—while side activities can be very interactive and entertaining, make sure they are optional; the objective is to make everyone feel comfortable, and some people might resent the forced activities

Throwing a holiday office party requires the utmost care and an eye for details. Though it’s important to emphasize responsible behavior, remember that these annual parties are meant to be a reward for your employees. Given the right venue, food, and attitude, your holiday office party will be a hit
 

Read more tips on creating a successful holiday office party here.

To ensure consistent leadership development within the workplace, coaching has become a highly prioritized method used to train, mold, and encourage employees. And while a sports coach and an office supervisor share similar objectives for team growth, office coaching requires a unique set of skills specific to the working environment.

Devoid of strict time restraints and monotonous drills, great office coaching requires patience, consistent hand-holding, and an assortment of skill-set conditioning.

No matter how talented a supervisor is, an organization’s success rate is greatly impacted by the competence of its workers. Specifically, nonprofits heavily rely on their employees’ ongoing drive and development in order to further advance their mission.

Here are 6 essential elements required for successful coaching:

1. Long-term education—Workplace coaching requires an extended hand-holding process where one must help walk employees through each step of the way; this ensures that workers are applying their new skills in an accurate and time-efficient manner
2. Multifaceted training methods—Rather than solely focusing on your employees’ specific job requirements, it’s important to help them gain a thorough knowledge of the organization as a whole; this will give them a greater understanding of how their jobs affect office productivity and interact with other positions
3. Value mistakes—Since no  employee is perfect, don’t harp on every mistake they make; your workers will appreciate their triumphs much more and will learn from these speed bumps throughout the learning process
4. Genuine feedback—Positive and constructive responses to an employee’s progress will help create ongoing goals as well as instill a sense of accomplishment within the individual
5. Ask questions—Ask open-ended questions on a fairly regular basis in order to check in with your workers’ memory retention and engagement; this will not only build a trust between you and your workers, but it will give both parties a chance to evaluate where the current strengths and weaknesses lie
6. Flexible time limits—While there are some unavoidable time restraints set within the workplace, it’s important that there is an ongoing list of goals, both short-term and long-term, that have no expiration date; employees must be allotted time to reflect on and reevaluate their work

Effective coaching requires a formulaic methodology, which can only be achieved through trial and error. Backed by mutual trust and strategic thinking, the best workplace coaches inspire their employees to continually raise the bar. Great coaches encourage stronger internal relationships and a constant evolvement of talent—paving the way for a more successful organization.

Read more coaching tips within the workplace here.

Sales Representative, HR Recruiter, Payroll Specialist, Marketing Coordinator, CEO, Board Member. At first glance, these job titles appear to be unrelated—requiring different sets of skills and uniquely ranked within the office hierarchy. But these seemingly diverse positions uphold one glaring commonality: the need for innovation.

Innovation most often occurs when something new or different is introduced— often a product or service. Giving nonprofits a leg up on their competition, creativity and innovative ideas can help advance mission objectives.

Learning how to increase productivity, whilst saving time, money, and other resources, requires an extensive process of trial-and-error. However, due to a lack of encouragement and seldom office-wide participation, many nonprofits are handicapping their potential innovators.

Innovative ideas within the workplace are often unheard or simply ignored. Afraid of stepping outside of procedural guidelines, many employees shy away from sharing their creative input—especially to higher authority figures.

Follow these 4 strategies to make innovative thinking an accepted standard for every job position:

1. Set aside time and funds to help creativity levels grow. Providing ample resources for innovation will enable your workers to produce more ideas, which can lead to greater creativity flow.
2. Encourage office-wide participation, regardless of an individual’s job description. It’s simple: the more people who collaborate with one another during a brainstorming session, the greater the likelihood of interacting ideas.  Successful innovation is often the product of multiple ideas.
3. Harness a sense of confidence prior to tackling more ambitious goals. Have your team initially focus on solving simple problems through innovative thinking.  Once your employees see their ideas transformed into effective realities, they will feel better equipped for more out-of-the box thinking.
4. Foster consistent, risk-free brainstorming sessions. While not all ideas are great, they can be the stepping stones needed for innovative achievement. Innovative brainstorming is a time to make mistakes, so create an unfiltered environment where your employees are free to share any and all ideas.

Innovation provides organizational growth opportunities and keeps your nonprofit from remaining static.  Through allocated resources and abundant reassurance, your employees will adapt innovative thinking as a second-nature behavior. Building a unified team effort, through open brainstorming opportunities, will create inclusive internal relationships and strong external impressions.

Learn more tasks to breed innovation here.

Guest Post republished from The Bonadio Group

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has released two updates to accounting standards that affect nonprofit organizations.

Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2013-06, Not-for-Profit Entities (Topic 958) Services Received from Personnel of an Affiliate, requires that if a nonprofit receives donated services from an affiliated group, the cost of the services must be measured in the nonprofit’s financial statements at the donor’s actual cost.

ASU 2012-05, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230) Not-for-Profit Entities: Classification of the Sale Proceeds of Donated Financial Assets in the Statement of Cash Flows, generally requires organizations that convert donated securities nearly immediately into cash by selling the securities to classify the related cash receipts as cash inflows from operating activities, unless the donor restricted the use of the contributed resources to long-term purposes. This change is effective prospectively for fiscal years beginning after June 15, 2013.

Read more here.

There is something inherently difficult about making a new employee’s first day truly successful.  Regularly the hiring manager is so worn out from the initial hiring process that the importance of continuing to woo the new hire is lost on them.

The pitfalls of failing to make your new employee feel welcome and successful on their first day is two-fold though; in part it deflates their expectation about what their experience working with your organization will be. More importantly though it devalues their time at your nonprofit and elongates the onboarding time.

Imagine showing up to work on your first day only to find that nothing has been prepared around your arrival. No computer has been set up. No orientation paperwork has been prepared. No introductions are made. Overall, it seems as though no one at your new job cares that you were hired. How long would it be before you began looking for another new job?

Now imagine a more ideal situation: Your hiring team sent you a welcome note with a first day agenda before you began, and then on your first day, your desk, computer, office supplies, etc. are all ready for you. Co-workers casually drop by between meetings to welcome you aboard and your hiring manager makes vital introductions between you and your immediate team. Orientation materials are prepared and flexible, with small projects and onboarding goals given to you; lunch invitations are extended to help you meet your new co-workers.

Chances are you wouldn’t be as quick to resume your job search because your new organization and co-workers seem excited to have you along.

That initial sense of belonging and preparation goes far.

By demonstrating to new employees that you are excited to have them on board, and that you’ve taken the time to help them get up to speed, you’ve helped lay the earliest groundwork for success. And then as the employee goes through the onboarding process, they have the right contacts, and the right tools, to find the information they need about your organization, donors, and clients to further your mission.

What other onboarding sins have you seen companies commit? Do you have a favorite successful onboarding story?

Management, donors, lenders and regulators all rely on not-for-profit entities’ financial statements to tell the organizations’ stories. While many individuals come face-to-face with financial information daily, much of it, when presented in financial statement format, is not intuitive or self-explanatory.

This article is the second in a series intended to help non-profit stakeholders better understand financial statements in order to make intelligent use of the information. The first article, Financial Statement Basics, reviewed the three primary financial statements:  the Statement of Financial Position, the Statement of Activities and the Statement of Cash Flows.

Next, we will look more closely at this “accounting trinity,” examining the relationships between statements and the process of capturing financial data and producing statements.

The Accounting Trinity

The three primary financial statements constitute the organization’s center of gravity.  They are a three-ring circus.  The Statement of Activity draws the most attention, but you need to watch in all three places!

How do the statements interact?  The Statement of Financial Position is the sum total of all Statements of Activities over the life of the organization.  The Statement of Activities and the Statement of Cash Flows report very similar information.  The Statement of Activities reflects current-period activity on an accrual basis (income recorded when earned and expenses recorded when committed).  The Statement of Cash Flows reflects how cash was created or used during the current period.  The Statements of Activities and Cash Flows are formatted very differently, however.

Items to look for and consider on every financial statement include:

• Is there enough cash?
• Are receivables/payables growing?
• What’s the bottom line?
• What are administrative expenses?
• What are functional expenses?
• Which numbers are estimated?

Read the rest of the article, which covers Internal Controls and Governance here.

Now that the deadline for states to enact their own UI Integrity laws has passed, employers must realize the growing importance of compliance.

For those who fail to respond to a state request for information, the penalties quickly add up, and could end up costing them their right to fight improper claims.

The expert claims administrators at Equifax Workforce Solutions (WS) have written a white paper entitled Unemployment Insurance (UI) Integrity: A Focus on Compliance to help impart meaningful advice around the federal mandate.

“In 2009, with unemployment rates nearly double historical norms, UI benefit payments increased significantly and reached an annual high of nearly $80 billion. As the effects of this recent recession continue to impact unemployment reserves, a renewed focus has been placed on the integrity of the UI system as states look to replenish insolvent trust funds while minimizing benefit overpayments moving forward.”

– Greg Good, Equifax Workforce Solutions

For more information on how your state’s legislation (or lack thereof) will affect your organization in the next few months, UST members can contact their WS claims representative directly.