Change can often make people feel stressed and uncertain of where they stand, which can lead to dissatisfaction, low morale, increased absenteeism and presenteeism – and, eventually, high staff turnover. It’s an issue that affects many organisations, with change often being a constant in NFPs. So how can you ensure your organisation can keep your staff on […]
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 […]
The introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has been a catalyst for high levels of change in Australia’s NFP workforce.
With greater empowerment and choice for NDIS participants has come greater demands on service providers and their staff.
In turn, old workplace structures, processes and practices have sometimes struggled to keep up with new demands for flexibility, responsiveness and client-centred approaches.
One innovative solution lies in equipping staff with the autonomy to make their own decisions.
Employees at a New Zealand company behind an innovative trial of a four-day working week have declared it a resounding success, with 78% saying they were better able to manage their work-life balance.
An analysis shows that the employees working four-day weeks felt better about their job, were more engaged, and generally reported greater work-life balance and less stress – all while maintaining the same level of productivity.
“High standards are contagious. Bring a new person onto a high standards team, and they’ll quickly adapt. The opposite is also true. If low standards prevail, those too will quickly spread. And though exposure works well to teach high standards, I believe you can accelerate that rate of learning by articulating a few core principles of high standards.”
That’s Jeff Bezos – founder and CEO of Amazon, and also the wealthiest person in the world.
While you might wonder about how much a billionaire has to teach leaders in Australia’s NFP sector, the lessons from Bezos’ annual letter to his shareholders are hugely relevant for leaders in any organisation, of any size.
Are teams in your organisation open to new ways of working?
While “innovation” may be something everyone says they love, when push comes to shove, convention and tradition – ‘the way things have always been done’ – often rules supreme.
That’s because innovation can be risky, unproven – and scary. But given that not-for-profit organisations deal with some of our society’s most important problems, the need to apply creative solutions in order to make an impact is even more important – particularly with a rapidly changing external environment and increasingly strained budgets.
Enter “Design Thinking”.
Smartphone use is a relatively new office challenge, emerging with the rise of social media and the smartphones which make Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the rest accessible at any time, and in an instant.
But this instant access is changing the way our brains work, training us to constantly demand and expect updates from the external world, and potentially creating a constant distraction from the present moment.
That’s why this new research is worrying.
Burnout is a common problem in Australian workplaces – and in the NFP sector in particular.
Among the “most at-risk occupations” for mental heath claims, community sector workers – “social and welfare professionals” and “health and welfare support workers” – occupy two of the top five positions.
So do your organisation’s leaders recognise the role that your own processes might be playing in creating a high-stress environment?
Want more insights into your staff and volunteers, and how they compare to others in the NFP sector? The Australian Not-for-Profit Workforce Study wants to help!
The largest ever survey on and for NFP organisations, employees and volunteers, the Workforce Study is aiming to identify what matters most for making Not-for-Profit work healthier, more meaningful, and more productive.
Here’s how to get involved . . .
Who’s involved in setting your organisation’s strategy?
Traditionally, HR wasn’t a part of the strategic planning process in most organisations. People considerations were more of an afterthought or a response to the strategy that was already set by senior management.
But in the rapidly changing Australian NFP sector, can organisations afford to leave HR expertise and perspective out of their strategic planning processes?