Why is it so hard to get diversity right? Many organisations attempt to identify, educate and implement policies and activities to improve diversity in their workforce. Despite this, we are yet to see impactful and sustainable change.
Feeling ill? Well, staying at home would seem to be the sensible course of action. Yet for many, going to work while sick has become the norm, even a necessity in the face of the pressures placed on us by the organisations which employ us. In many cases, illness is no longer seen as a valid reason for not working; rather, it is considered to be something that people must put up with and get over. Sick days are for wimps. Yet, working while ill – or “presenteeism” – adds to the costs of organisations.
Do you dread having tricky conversations with colleagues about performance, pay, restructuring or workplace conflict?
Throughout a career, every not-for-profit leader will face these conversations. But for many, they can be the most difficult parts of a job.
Since Susan Henry joined Starlight Children’s Foundation in 2001, they’ve twice been accredited as an Aon Hewitt Best Employer. With staff engagement currently sitting at a phenomenal 89%, we had a chat with her to try and find out what the secret is.
In the lead-up to her presentation at the 2015 Not-For-Profit People Conference, Yumi Stamet – a Workforce Adviser for the National Disability Services (NDS) – spoke with us about Buurtzorg, a Dutch NFP that has grown from just 4 staff in 2006 to over 8,000 staff today, by pioneering a system of self-managing teams. Buurtzorg has the most satisfied workforce of any Dutch company with more than 1,000 employees.
Dr. Timothy Sharp is the founder & CHO (Chief Happiness Officer) of The Happiness Institute – Australia’s first and now largest organisation devoted solely to enhancing happiness for individuals, families and organisations. In the lead-up to his presentation at the 2015 Not-For-Profit People Conference, Dr. Sharp spoke with us about what happiness at work looks like, why it’s important and how you can help staff to find it.
Compassion. Integrity. Responsibility. Forgiveness. As a not-for-profit professional there’s a good chance you hold these character traits dear. As the leader in your organisation, they may also make you up to five times more effective.
Employees want more feedback. Gen Y employees in particular, want constant feedback. Managers however are often reluctant to give feedback if they fear that what starts as a rational conversation may degenerate into an emotional one.
In this guest post, Grace McCarthy provides some simple guidelines to help managers to achieve positive outcomes from these difficult conversations.
“Higher absenteeism, lower productivity, higher staff turnover… as well as reputational damage”. They’re just a few of the issues arising from an alarming amount of workplace discrimination uncovered by the Australian Human Rights Commission related to pregnancy, parental leave or returning to work from leave. Fortunately, there’s a fantastic new website to address these very issues.
Even with the knowledge that training and development can have a massive impact on your staff and organisation’s performance, being able to invest time and money in it can still be a challenge for many NFP organisations. In this post we explore the big question of “how?” for NFPs that want to take the next steps.