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Trolling across the pages of BusinessWeek, I came across an interesting article about the surprisingly high turnover many nonprofits encounter and the “leaky bucket of volunteerism.”
“Earlier this year, the Stanford Social Innovation Review published a piece that noted how poorly most nonprofits manage their volunteers. As a result, more than a third of the 60 million-plu
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Comments
07.02.09
I'll tell you exactly what happened:
The demise of the middle managers.
With today's flatter organizations, managers are too busy doing other stuff to actually manage their employees. Or they aren't really managers. They are superstars in their own area of expertise, who have just been stuck in the postion of management as a 'reward'.
Look at Ms Cullin above. She wants to focus on her 'design work'. Why they heck is she even trying to manage anyone? If she is a designer, then that's what she should do.
Yes, flatter organizations are more agile, and can be more profitable, if you can find the right people who can 'hit the ground running'.
But they should be ready for the whiplash that occurs when the job market isn't so flush with out-of-work specialists. They're going to have to use that agility to quickly change their business structure to include some management and mentoring.
07.02.09
Newb,
I couldn't agree more with your points here. As an HR professional, I believe a lot of these pitfalls can be fleshed out from the first contact w/ a potential applicant. It's up to HR and managers to get this stuff out of the way early - make sure applicants know our business, not just try to impress us with their selected accomplishments section on the resume!
There are a lot of us HR folks out there who try to educate our candidates and managers on "making informed decisions" and believe me it is an uphill battle. Ultimately I don't want to waste anyones time, and I surely do not want to bring on some "superstar" who's going to find out they don't fit in and end up leaving w/in 6 montsh
However, take some comfort in knowing that we (HR)share your frustrations and are actually trying to do some good!
-Dan-
07.02.09
Volunteerism is way broken. The number of times I've submitted a volunteering inquiry or request and gotten no response (mostly) or a brief, one-liner months later.
The twice that I've managed to actually make it past the entry barrier and do something, they dragged out and completely wasted my time. I want to vounteer, but I don't want to waste my time!
Man, volunteering was so much easier in high school...
07.02.09
@Scott,
I think you absolutely nailed it. Middle managers don't really manage anymore. This is not so much a personal fault (although sometimes it is) rather than a lack of support and structure that actually enables them to do their jobs well.
I also thought the exact same thing about Ms. Cullins: "Why they heck is she even trying to manage anyone?"
@Daniel,
LOL. It IS nice to know that HR feels the same way! I agree that hiring the right people in the first place is a critical part of any business' success. Why is it so hard for hiring managers to articulate the skills they need to hire for? Shouldn't they know what their employees do?
@Amber,
I've gotten the brush off from places I've wanted to volunteer at too. I think it's sad that nonprofits are losing out on some great (and free!) talent simply because they find the training/managing process too challenging.
P.S. Your profile pic is totally adorable!
07.02.09
@Newb : I was actually referring to the fact that many middle management positions simply don't exist any more. Those management duties got pushed up to harried upper managers or down to harried lower-level employees.
07.02.09
@Newb Thanks :) Love that kid. Oftentimes it breaks down at the volunteer "Volunteer Coordinator" but then it's just a chicken and egg problem.
07.02.09
@Newb in theory it should be a lot easier, but what fun would that be? keep up the great posting!
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