HR Workforce Solutions
By Nonprofits, For Nonprofits
PT Barnum’s quote, “There is no such thing as bad publicity” is not the case when an employee comes forward with a claim of harassment or hostile work environment and, to make matters worse, discusses the company’s handling of the situation on social media or in the press.
If you’re a company like Uber, you can hire the former Attorney General to manage the issue. But if you’re not, what can you do to get things under control? And how could your company have avoided the issue to begin with?
Presented by ThinkHR, this on-demand webinar highlights the latest best practices and tools to prevent harassment and discrimination claims.
You’ll learn the key components of respectful workplace cultures for prevention as well as practical ideas for conducting investigations into claims of improper conduct to help resolve issues when they arise.
Watch the webinar recording today!
This webinar offers 1 HRCI and SHRM-approved credit. Want access to more HR-certified webinar opportunities and a live HR hotline? Visit www.chooseust.org/thinkhr/ to sign up for a FREE 30-day trial of the UST HR Workplace, powered by ThinkHR.
Take a moment and ask yourself about your perceptions of who in America gives the most from before this study came out.
Would you have been mostly likely to assume that the very rich gave the most, or that the middle class and working poor gave the most? If you guessed the first, you, like many of those culling through the study results, would have been in for quite a surprise. Throughout America, those who live among the needy, who see the specific needs of others on a daily basis, are more likely to give a higher percentage of their median discretionary income to charitable causes.
In short, the study found that:
Perhaps most importantly the study leads to the suggestion that as the nation continues to recover the cities and states with the most generous residents may be in a better position to offset unemployment and other financial setbacks.
Find out how generous your city is, and see how your state stacks up in terms of overall giving.
*This was found by researchers at the Women’s Philanthropy Institute at Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy. Read the full findings of how women interact with philanthropic causes here.
Being a part of the working world, we’ve all encountered moments of failure. Take this scenario for example: You’ve been assigned a task, you’ve completed your research, and you believe you’ve done all you could do to prepare—however, things still don’t work out in your favor. While we all recognize the importance of learning from our mistakes, employees can struggle to bounce back from missteps. From a project that didn’t meet its target objectives to an important missed deadline, what is the best course of action to take to help your employees recover?
Employees can take on failure in one of two ways:
1) People can bounce back from their mistakes with a clear mind and resolve.
2) People can feel crushed, lose confidence and even stop doing the things that made them successful.
How you communicate with your employees can have a huge influence on their performance. For the nonprofit sector in particular, it’s crucial to maximize what limited bandwidth there is—in order to achieve steep mission objectives. When building resilience in your employees, you must consider the tactics that work and don’t work when restoring an employee’s confidence.
While building up an employee’s self-image or giving a pep talk is harmless, it doesn’t seem to provide much help to the situation at hand. A pep talk can gloss over the failure rather than addressing the problem (and potential solution) head on. To be their guide to move on from the disappointment and better manage his or her emotions is essential. Also, encouraging people to forgive themselves, while still holding themselves accountable for their mistakes, is a beneficial tactic for people to build upon their mishaps.
Follow this simple 3-step model to bounce back from failure:
1) Acceptance– People need to come to terms with the fact that they made a mistake and understand why. This helps people own their failures.
2) Forgiveness– Encourage employees to forgive themselves. Use empathetic wording, such as “This is a tough job; you’re not the only one that is having a hard time” or “Try not to beat yourself up over this.”
3) Planning– Help employees plan their way forward. Figure out what they can do to fix the damage, if possible, and how to avoid making a similar mistake in the future.
Three questions—questions that could be solved with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’—determined who could, and who could not, collect unemployment benefits.
In recent years though, the question of which employees deserve to be able to collect has become a much more complicated topic as budgets have been restricted and more and more jobless workers apply for unemployment benefits.
But now, another complicated topic of discussion has arisen: Should millionaires that meet all other standards be allowed to collect unemployment insurance benefits?
First debated on the Senate floor after a Congressional Research Service report revealed that almost 2,400 people with annual household incomes topping $1 million, and another 954,000 with incomes topping $100,000, received unemployment insurance benefits in 2009 the question has received shocked attention.
While these groups only make up 0.08 percent of the 11.3 million U.S. tax filers who reported unemployment insurance income in 2009, the report was released after about 1.1 million people exhausted their jobless benefits during the second quarter of 2012. The timing of the release served to further drive home the importance of finding a long term solution for state unemployment insurance trust funds, many of which have run low, as another 4.6 million jobless workers filed for benefits.
As the nationwide jobless rate continues to remain around 8 percent, and more jobless benefits run out, the question of who collects unemployment benefits must be definitely answered. But, what other questions will the answer reveal?
Have you ever critiqued a coworker because of their overbearing tendencies or their abrasive personality? Don’t worr y; you’re not alone in your frustrations. However, learning to dissect and identify your own and others’ personality traits can actually increase work ethic and strengthen internal relationships—paving the way for a stronger organization overall.
For nonprofits, employees’ collaborative efforts are often the key element to mission advancement. But clashing personalities working toward the same goal can lead to resentment and impatience in the work place.
Learning to recognize and understand others’ personality strengths and weaknesses can help you appreciate the diverse environment you work in. Specifically, nonprofits can take advantage of their diversity when it comes to improving their employment procedures and ensuring ongoing structural soundness.
Basic working styles can often be separated into 4 broad categories:
Whichever working style team members possess doesn’t really matter by itself. What most affects a nonprofit’s success is the compilation of strengths your team brings to the table and your team’s ability to successfully work together as a cohesive unit. As long as you understand and utilize everyone’s unique abilities, pertinent to your team’s progress, your nonprofit will continue to flourish.
Taking the time to alter employee handbook policies at least once a year can mitigate employment related lawsuits and ensure your nonprofit’s overall progression.
As milestone employment laws change, even laws not directly impacting employment– including state-by-state changes in regulations regarding medical marijuana and gun carry permits– your employee handbook must clearly identify and address your organization’s policies regarding legal changes that impact your organization.
If you don’t help keep your staff properly informed, you can’t expect them to decipher what’s work appropriate and what’s not. And if you do leave it up to individual employees to decipher what is an isn’t appropriate, your organization is left open to employment related lawsuits and expensive, improperly collected unemployment benefit claims.
Some of the most important policies you should re-examine, if you haven’t done so in the past 6 months are:
Remember, you need to be consistent and effective with employee handbook updates. Rather than completely changing everything, learn how to simplify wording and tweak pre-existing policies. (There’s no need to reinvent the wheel if you don’t absolutely need to.)
But the most important thing that you must do is educate your employees on their behavior and rights at the workplace; it’s beneficial to all parties involved.
Whenever the Handbook is updated, take the time to double check that you have proof of receipt from everyone since it’s imperative that you keep these easily accessible at all times. Without proof of receipt, your organization is open to improper unemployment claims, lawsuits, and all sorts of other slippery slopes.
When everyone at your organization shares the same views on organizational rules and expectations, you lessen the risk of confusion and unintended misconduct. An updated handbook leads to a consensus on expected behavior and attitude—paving the way for a more harmonious work experience for everyone.
Learn more about how to update your Employee Handbook here.
[Webinar Recording] Exclusive Ways for Nonprofits to Fund Health and Unemployment Insurance
UST has partnered with mission-driven health insurance broker Nonstop Administration & Insurance Services, Inc. (Nonstop) to offer an educational webinar recording that is designed to showcase insights and proven solutions aimed at lowering costs, mitigating risk and improving health equity for staff.
UST and Nonstop know that the traditional models of health and unemployment insurance are cost-prohibitive for many nonprofits. That’s why their co-created webinar recording addresses these challenges by providing the following key takeaways:
If you’re responsible for the financial management of a nonprofit with 10 or more employees, watch the webinar recording here: bit.ly/2p5UhvC
The largest nonprofit unemployment trust in the nation, UST helps 501(c)(3) organizations nationwide save time and money through a host of workfroce management solutions that include – unemployment claims management, cash flow protection, HR Workplace assistance, outplacement services and more. The company services nonprodits from all sectors with 10 or more full-time employees. UST encourafes nonprofits that are currently tax-rated or direct reimbursing on their own to review their options as they may be over-paying.
Headquarted in the San Francisxo Bay Area, Nonstop Administration & Insurance Services, Inc. is proudly changing the way nonprofits and their employees access healthcare with a partially self-funded health insurance program called Nonstop Wellness. The Nonstop Wellness program decreases the annual costs of healthcare for nonprofits while reducing or eliminating copays, deductibles and coinsurance. Nonstop’s mission is to ensure nonprofit;s growht and statinability —starting with health wellbeing of others.
In order for diversity to be a part of a nonprofit organization, it must start at the top. To achieve real and sustainable change in terms of racial equity toward those we serve, we must reflect that standard. According to a survey done by The Nonprofit Quarterly, CEO’s are concerned with the composition of their boards. BoardSource completed a study that compared racial diversity on nonprofit boards in 1993 and 2010. Results showed little to no change in Caucasian dominance. In 1993, 14% of members were persons of color; by 2010 there was a slight increase bringing it to 16%. With that in mind, nonprofit organizations need to take the necessary steps to ensure that their organization is an example of acceptance and diversity.
Here are the 5 steps your organization can take to achieve board diversity:
1) Leadership must lead or it won’t happen
The primary goal is that the CEO and Board Chair share a commitment to an appropriate racial makeup—they must hold one another accountable for actions toward the goal. They should be visible leaders and spokespersons for achieving diversity by educating the sector and lobbying for organizational change.
2) Be intentional — make your claim
An organization’s values and mission must be clearly articulated and visible on all outlets, including their website— providing a clear picture on where the organization stands.
3) Create a baseline
First, conduct an assessment of your board’s demographics. Then, based on the results, identify the vision going forward. With this assessment, you can establish a measurable goal to increase racial diversity within your board.
4) Give a grand welcome
When bringing on new board members, be sure to be welcoming and that the orientation is authentic and thorough. Ownership of these processes should involve all of the current board members.
5) Move beyond the numbers
An increase in percentages of racially diverse members is only the first step. Guiding new members through the flow of communication and onto the leadership track is essential. Simply waiting and hoping that the pipeline will move members forward is an insufficient strategy.
We need to think beyond a simple checklist to create and maintain diverse board representation—it’s a long-term strategy for creating change through collaboration.
No one will argue that distractions in the workplace can kill productivity – from excessive cellphone use and gossiping co-workers to internet abuse and cubicle visits. But it’s that little device, the one that is always nearby – in our pocket, on our nightstand, at the dinner table with us or atop our desk at work. That’s the one that is the biggest distraction of all and while technology helps to simplify our lives, for many employers, it’s killing productivity.
Life as we knew it a decade or so ago, no longer exist. Things have changed drastically since cellphones came into existence and more so now that our smartphones are smarter than ever before. Just last year, dscout, reported that the average cellphone user tapped, swiped, typed or clicked 2,617 times a day. That’s almost three hours a day which implies that employees are spending at least some time at work with personal devices in hand.
While we can’t avoid all distractions – emails, slack chats, meetings, the loud co-worker, we can minimize some of them and many companies are doing just that by implementing policies that either prohibit or limit cellphone use in the workplace. By removing this particular type of distraction, employers decrease the amount of time being spent on messaging apps, social media and other sites that are in no way related to their employees work. Another option being explored are “no-tech” days in which there is no email and or internal instant messaging communication happening. The idea is that there is more time for employees to just focus on pending projects or other pressing matters without the repetitive interruptions.
While neither of these measures are fool-proof, they may help in creating more productivity and better time management. For some, these tactics work, for others, not so much. Policing workers without managing their expectations can make an office feel oppressive but encouraging official breaks can be a healthier way to nudge employees to stay focused during work hours. If you want your staff to spend more time thinking about work and less time being distracted by outside sources, be the example. Then start monitoring what’s happening in your office before making any official changes to ensure you take a course of action that best suits the needs of the company and its employees.
UST maintains a secure site. This means that information we obtain from you in the process of enrolling is protected and cannot be viewed by others. Information about your agency is provided to our various service providers once you enroll in UST for the purpose of providing you with the best possible service. Your information will never be sold or rented to other entities that are not affiliated with UST. Agencies that are actively enrolled in UST are listed for review by other agencies, UST’s sponsors and potential participants, but no information specific to your agency can be reviewed by anyone not affiliated with UST and not otherwise engaged in providing services to you except as required by law or valid legal process.
Your use of this site and the provision of basic information constitute your consent for UST to use the information supplied.
UST may collect generic information about overall website traffic, and use other analytical information and tools to help us improve our website and provide the best possible information and service. As you browse UST’s website, cookies may also be placed on your computer so that we can better understand what information our visitors are most interested in, and to help direct you to other relevant information. These cookies do not collect personal information such as your name, email, postal address or phone number. To opt out of some of these cookies, click here. If you are a Twitter user, and prefer not to have Twitter ad content tailored to you, learn more here.
Further, our website may contain links to other sites. Anytime you connect to another website, their respective privacy policy will apply and UST is not responsible for the privacy practices of others.
This Privacy Policy and the Terms of Use for our site is subject to change.
UST maintains a secure site. This means that information we obtain from you in the process of enrolling is protected and cannot be viewed by others. Information about your agency is provided to our various service providers once you enroll in UST for the purpose of providing you with the best possible service. Your information will never be sold or rented to other entities that are not affiliated with UST. Agencies that are actively enrolled in UST are listed for review by other agencies, UST’s sponsors and potential participants, but no information specific to your agency can be reviewed by anyone not affiliated with UST and not otherwise engaged in providing services to you except as required by law or valid legal process.
Your use of this site and the provision of basic information constitute your consent for UST to use the information supplied.
UST may collect generic information about overall website traffic, and use other analytical information and tools to help us improve our website and provide the best possible information and service. As you browse UST’s website, cookies may also be placed on your computer so that we can better understand what information our visitors are most interested in, and to help direct you to other relevant information. These cookies do not collect personal information such as your name, email, postal address or phone number. To opt out of some of these cookies, click here. If you are a Twitter user, and prefer not to have Twitter ad content tailored to you, learn more here.
Further, our website may contain links to other sites. Anytime you connect to another website, their respective privacy policy will apply and UST is not responsible for the privacy practices of others.
This Privacy Policy and the Terms of Use for our site is subject to change.
If they’re fighting this hard, chances are they didn’t do their research!
As a starting point, make sure that you’ve gotten far enough along in the interview process that you’re questions are appropriate. The standard suggests that asking in the first meeting is too forward, but by the second or third interview you should have some idea of whether or not the salary fits your expectations and living standards.
Once you have an idea of what the salary may be, and are firmly knowledgeable of the fact that the organization (and you!) have decided you’re right for the position be “Ready For Practice.”
A short mnemonic you can easily remember to help you better retain these principles, “Ready For Practice” translates to: Research, Focus on the Future, and Prioritize.
Let’s start with “Research.”
Research
If you don’t already know them, research the standard compensation benefits for specific nonprofit jobs. Often nonprofits review their executive compensation packages annually against peer organizations, but if you aren’t looking for an executive position you may have more hurdles to jump.
Often nonprofit positions outside of the executive suite are more heavily influenced by internal structures and the current compensation of peer positions. The better you understand these ranges, the more leverage you can create to tailor a request close to the standard that the Board or CEO will accept.
Also look at the financial history of the organization you are interested in working with. If you notice that they have had a rough time for the past 5 years, it may not be in your best interest, or in theirs, for you to ask for $500,000 a year. But, if you look at their financial history and see that they have the right combination of stability and growth that would merit a larger salary for your position, ask for it.
What other tips do you have for negotiating a nonprofit compensation package? Do you have any little known (or best used) research practices others can use? Tell us about them on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn!