April 24, 2017 Culture and Values, Giving Feedback, Managing People Well

Can you build a culture of candid feedback in your team? Here’s how to start

Build a culture of giving candid feedback

In a sector devoted to making the world a better place, creating a culture where everyone feels happy is an important priority for many NFP managers and leaders.

But could you be being too nice?

If you’re withholding feedback from your team because you’re afraid that being candid with staff would conflict with being nice, respectful and warm, the effect could in fact be that your team doesn’t perform at their best, and they miss out on opportunities to improve themselves and the organisation’s overall impact.

So if you’re keen develop a culture of candour and feedback in your team, here are seven steps you should follow.

April 1, 2026 Culture and Values, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Recruitment

Six ways to make your recruitment process work for First Nations candidates

If Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander candidates aren’t applying for your roles, the barrier may not be a lack of interest – it may be your recruitment process. Even when NFP employers are working to build a more inclusive workforce, the way roles are designed and advertised can unintentionally exclude First Nations applicants.

The good news is that NFPs can make small changes to create genuinely welcoming, culturally safe hiring processes – and increase engagement from First Nations candidates.

We asked Australia’s only 100% Aboriginal-owned executive recruitment firm specialising in Indigenous appointments how to craft a recruitment process that encourages First Nations people to apply for a role.

January 20, 2016 Culture and Values, Managing People Well, Organisational Strategy

Six steps to creating a strong, empowering and inspiring work culture in your organisation

If your people are the heart of your NFP, your culture is the blood – invisible from the outside, but the primary mode of nourishment and growth. But if that culture is poor, it can filter down through an entire organisation and cause problems like high staff turnover and reduced productivity.

September 30, 2021 Culture and Values, Managing People Well

How to foster psychological safety in your team

Finding the secret to building high performing teams is every NFP manager’s dream but it’s a tricky business.

While there’s no perfect formula for the composition of a great team, the highest performing teams do have one key ingredient in common – psychological safety.

February 4, 2021 Culture and Values, Human Resources, Organisational Strategy, Remuneration

The top perks that potential employees really want from your NFP

Ping pong tables? Foosball? A beer fridge? Roving masseurs? These are some of the benefits that Silicon Valley-type startups spruik as exciting perks to attract employees.

But while trendy start-ups may have cornered the market on providing funky offices equipped with personal pastry chefs, are these perks really what your ideal candidates actually want in an NFP workplace?

Here are the top five perks that for-purpose jobseekers actually want from a new workplace.

August 17, 2018 Culture and Values, Organisational Strategy

How co-designing your values can improve your organisation’s culture

Collaboration isn’t just a buzzword – getting input and buy-in from your people can have huge benefits for a project and for staff too. Yet many organisations still rely exclusively on their HR function to establish their organisational values. Organisational values, by definition, affect every single person in the organisation, so it actually makes little […]

April 1, 2013 Culture and Values, Managing People Well, Organisational Strategy

4 things every not-for-profit should know about workplace culture

NFPs that take the time to work on, and communicate, their unique workplace culture effectively to potential candidates and existing employees can significantly improve their ability to attract and retain staff.

March 23, 2015 Culture and Values, Managing People Well

Five lessons from one of Australia’s best not-for-profit places to work

Just one not-for-profit organisation made it into the BRW list of Best Places to Work in Australia in 2015:

The Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience (AIME).

Established in 2005, AIME connects thousands of indigenous high school students with mentors – with participants in the program being almost six times more likely to enter university than indigenous students outside the program.

And undoubtedly, these impressive results have had a lot to do with AIME’s substantial investment in, and innovative approach towards, supporting their staff to do their best work.

So how does an organisation, set up just ten years ago by a university student, become one of the best places to work in the country?

April 14, 2021 Culture and Values, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Human Resources

How to take the lead on preventing sexual harassment: a guide for NFPs

Sexual harassment is a risk in almost every workplace. It can cause significant physical and psychological harm to victims – and also to people who witness it.

So what can you do to ensure your organisation is creating a safe, affirming and positive environment for all staff?

October 5, 2021 Culture and Values, Human Resources, Organisational Strategy

Here’s how to retain your employees during the ‘Great Resignation’

One way organisations can avoid today’s so-called “Great Resignation” is to invest in building brands that are as compelling internally as they are externally. When leaders partner with marketing and human resources to explicitly align individual roles with an organisation’s inspiring brand purpose, organisations can transform an exodus of employees into an influx of talent.