While very rewarding, working in the nonprofit sector has its unique challenges; acing emotionally draining beneficiary situations, competing with businesses for top talent, and operating with constrained resources can be highly stressful. In fact, studies show that 95% of nonprofit professionals cite burnout as a major concern.
However, having a supportive, capable team around you can mitigate these risks and make a huge difference in job satisfaction. That’s where strategically investing in workplace culture comes into play.
In this guide, we’ll review three key steps for gauging and improving your workplace culture. Ultimately, you’ll learn how to make team members feel welcomed, appreciated, inspired, and loyal to your organization.
Step 1: Define Your Ideal Workplace Culture
Workplace culture varies from organization to organization, meaning there isn’t a single definition of success you should work toward. In this initial stage, determine what workplace culture means to your nonprofit based on your values, resources, and team strengths.
To better understand what your nonprofit’s ideal workplace culture looks like, answer the following questions:
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What are our nonprofit’s core values?
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How does our mission factor into our workplace culture?
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What attitudes or behaviors should our team embody?
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What kind of environment allows our employees to thrive?
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How should employees interact with each other?
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How does management currently shape workplace culture?
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How do we want our workplace culture to stand out from others?
Once you’ve determined this initial impression, you can seek others’ thoughts by collecting feedback. Keep this information in a convenient place, such as a culture presentation deck or document that can be shared with employees.
Step 2: Collect Feedback
Collect employee feedback on your workplace culture before implementing any changes. After all, employees experience and contribute to your workplace culture nearly every day, so they should have a say in the improvements. Plus, their personal perspectives can add dimension and insight to your new and improved strategy.
Collect feedback by:
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Creating quantitative rubrics. Quantitative feedback makes providing and collecting feedback easier for you and your employees. Provide rubrics that require employees to give a score from one to 10 on certain elements of your proposed improvements.
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Asking open questions. Open questions allow employees to add more detail and nuance to their answers. For instance, you might ask employees to describe their favorite and least favorite parts of working for your nonprofit.
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Conducting interviews. If you want more in-depth feedback, organize one-on-one interviews with interested employees. Just communicate expectations for the interview ahead of time, such as the questions you’ll ask or the time commitment.
Regardless of your chosen feedback mechanisms, ensure employees feel comfortable enough to be completely honest. Allow them to be anonymous on surveys if they choose (this is harder for interviews, so if you cannot offer anonymity, communicate this beforehand).
Step 3: Enact Workplace Culture Improvements
Once you have an idea of the types of changes you’d like to enact, it’s time to get to work! While all workplace cultures are different, there are several common improvements that many nonprofits prioritize, such as:
Improving Hiring Standards
Selecting the right individuals to join your team greatly impacts your workplace, so your hiring standards should prioritize those who demonstrate a connection to your culture.
While recruiting, create interview questions to gauge applicants’ affinity for various aspects of your workplace culture. For instance, if you emphasize collaboration among employees, ask candidates to describe how they work with teammates.
You can also gain insights into a candidate’s potential to support workplace culture by involving other team members in the talent acquisition process. For instance, you might ask the chair of the employee engagement committee to watch interviews and provide follow-up questions related to their area of expertise.
Enhancing Communication
Great communication is crucial for cultivating a cohesive team. That way, everyone stays on the same page and committed to achieving the same goal. Plus, open communication helps everyone feel respected for their contributions. To enhance communication, you might:
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Put weekly team meetings on the calendar.
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Add new instant communication channels (such as Teams or Slack).
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Provide an open feedback form so people can provide input when their thoughts are still fresh.
Also, consider the impacts of tiered leadership; sometimes, if a middle manager is involved, communications might get lost in the shuffle. Plan a quarterly “skip level” meeting in which leadership can speak directly to the entire team and answer questions.
Investing in Employee Enrichment and Wellness
Your employees want to feel supported both in and outside of their direct responsibilities. Enriching your employees provides them with a better experience with your nonprofit and earns their long-term loyalty. Here are some ways you can support them:
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Invest in professional development, such as paying for online courses, reimbursing tuition, or sending employees to conferences.
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Fund employee-led curiosity initiatives, like cross-departmental workshops and lunch-and-learns.
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Provide wellness resources and support, such as mental health services and work-life balance tools.
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Encourage inclusivity through diversity initiatives and cultural competency workshops.
Support employees both professionally and personally with these initiatives. For every professional development opportunity you facilitate, leave space for employees to get to know each other personally and learn about what’s most important to them. For instance, you might offer cultural workshops in which you provide funding for people of different backgrounds to organize a heritage night.
Rewarding Hard Work
Your employees put in a lot of heart (not to mention hours) to further your mission—often choosing social purpose over higher pay. By rewarding high performers with incentives, you demonstrate your appreciation for their dedication and keep them motivated in their roles.
You can do so by:
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Giving out “Employee of the Month” awards
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Providing small gifts, such as branded merchandise or gift cards
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Offering an extra day of paid time off (PTO)
Remember that employee recognition shouldn’t just come from leadership. In fact, receiving recognition directly from colleagues can boost team cohesion and strengthen your workplace culture. Adopt a “Bravo” program, where employees can recognize each other for excellent work and upholding your nonprofit’s values. Then, you can review the Bravos during your staff meetings so employees can enjoy widespread recognition.
Since workplace culture is so focused on the employee experience, ensure you gather their input every step of the way. From establishing your workplace culture expectations to rolling out the improvements, allow employees to provide input on the direction your nonprofit is going so everyone is satisfied with the changes.