We have known for many years that humans are driven by an innate desire to find or foster meaning in what we do, even under the most extreme of conditions. Given how central work is to most people’s lives, it is a key place to seek meaningfulness. Recent research with 135 people in a wide range of jobs set out to discover what they considered meaningful work, how work can be made meaningful, and how this sense of meaningfulness can be erased or destroyed.
In the lead-up to his presentation at the 2016 Not-For-Profit People Conference, Monash Business School professor and servant leadership expert Dr Sen Sendjaya shares his insights on servant leadership, including why it’s a particularly powerful approach for NFP organisations.
Did you know that your staff’s ability to focus, solve problems and make decisions could be being compromised by your office itself?
That’s according to a recent study out of the US, which found that even modest improvements to air quality in the average office could noticeably boost the performance of workers.
In the lead-up to her keynote address at the 2016 Not-For-Profit People Conference in November, we spoke to Oxfam’s Chief Executive Dr Helen Szoke about leading teams through transformative change – the highs, the lows, and what you can learn from one of Australia’s leading international aid and development NGOs to apply to your organisation’s change processes.
Did you know that staff who bring their pets to the office experience a drop in stress levels of around 11 percent? So if you’d like to explore how to make your office pet-friendly, here’s the story of how one Australian NFP organisation did it to staff acclaim.
This is the story of how one fundraising team boosted their weekly productivity by 400 percent.
It wasn’t due to pay rises or catered lunches – or even an inspiring or well-trained manager giving staff the motivation to do their work better. So what was it?
Almost half of all Australians work through their lunch break. And more than a quarter of us – 3.8 million Australians – don’t take a lunch break at all, according to the Australia Institute. But while it might outwardly appear that your lunch-break-skipping staff are admirably committed to their work – and that’s good for your team and your organisation – the real impact is more insidious.
It’s been widely panned as a waste of time, ineffective, and straight-up BS – so why do so many organisations still make their staff participate in brainstorming sessions?
There’s a quieter alternative that research shows is better at yielding more and better ideas.
What makes a good team?
It’s a hard question to answer, and one that’s becoming more and more important given the increasingly collaborative nature of work. But if anyone can provide a valuable answer, it’s Google – and the tech giant has some fascinating insights on what makes the best teams.
Everyone cares about the safety of kids. But making your organisation safe for children starts long before you bring on new staff or volunteers. From advertising and conducting interviews to performing background and reference checks, the safety of the children starts with your organisation’s core recruitment practices.