Having a difficult conversation in the workplace can be, well, difficult. Giving criticism is hard – and so is receiving it. As a result, the conversations that need to be had the most often go unspoken, leaving problems and grievances unaddressed and ultimately causing issues like reduced productivity and low morale.
If your NFP doesn’t already use remote workers, chances are good that you will in future.
That’s because – and this will be news to no-one – the landscape of Australia’s workforce is changing. Influenced by high-speed broadband and the ubiquity of virtual tools, organisations are increasingly using remote workers to maximise flexibility for both staff and the organisation as a whole.
In fact, many roles across to the not-for-profit sector can be performed remotely, from managers to graphic designers to counsellors – and beyond.
So how does your recruitment process need to change to take remote workers into account?
Stepping into a new role can be exciting and stressful. Even more stressful if you’re needing to do work that you have little experience doing beforehand: managing people. When you step into a management role, it can be tempting to want to deliver results straight away to make a great first impression, get some ‘runs on the board’ and reward the trust of the person who employed or promoted you.
Instead, here are the three things that experts say new managers should focus on first up, to succeed in the long term.
Getting a promotion that involves managing people for the first time is a milestone in anyone’s career, but it can be daunting when you’ve never done the role before. Here are some tips on how you can succeed.
Workplaces are one of the few environments that we can intentionally design for connection. When NFP leaders recognise loneliness as both a human and organisational issue, they unlock the opportunity to build cultures where people don’t just work together – they also feel seen, supported and part of something larger than themselves. Here’s how to do that in your team or organisation.
Hiring a new employee takes a lot of time and effort, which makes it all the more frustrating if a new hire resigns – around one in eight Australian employees resign during their probation period – or needs to be dismissed in their first few months in the role.
For smaller NFPs in particular, early turnover can unsettle team dynamics and add pressure to already stretched staff – impacts that are often avoidable with a structured probation process.
Most NFP organisations realise just how important having great managers is to the success of their organisation – and they should also have a pretty good idea of what makes a great manager.
So the goal is clear. But as a senior leader or HR manager, how do you get your organisation and its managers to that point?
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.
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.
You probably know that making a small change to a job title when you advertise a job can make a huge difference to the type and volume of applicants that you get.
But that’s just one of many reasons why making sure that every role in your organisation has the right job title is a key part of attracting the right people and aligning them with your organisation’s mission and goals.
This post looks at four things you should always consider whenever you’re deciding on a job title.