I also began thinking about how sometimes in the nonprofit sector, the employees are the most overlooked part of the whole operation. We add in hundreds of thousands of dollars into grant budgets to hire the most appropriate people to run our projects and our organizations. Once we get them on board, and they fulfill their job functions - what then?
In my limited experience in the nonprofit sector, supervisors have rarely asked me outside of the interview process - what are my life goals, what is my personal vision for my own life, how do I see this job fitting in with my own life path ..... and then helping me be a better employee, a better HUMAN, by checking in on these larger goals.
By and large, nonprofits spend the most amount of money on, add the most capacity with, and achieve their missions through their employees. Why then, is there not a movement for employee happiness? If the asset that you spend the most on, rely on the most is unhappy/unfulfilled/unchallenged/unengaged - how can you say that you are effectively fulfilling your mission?
This is just a question that I am putting out to the world - but I'd love to heard from all of you about what you think about this - how have you felt fulfilled as a part of a nonprofit team, or unfulfilled ....
I don't think this is only a problem for non-profits. There is a big push in the corporate world to address this issue as well. I think its more likely to be addressed by non-profits first, but often I think people take for granted that you are doing what you love and therefore being fulfilled just by working for a non-profit to begin with.
ReplyDeleteThere are some very interesting studies going on with this, but I'm not sure if addressing your needs as a human is the responsibility of the employer. We, as employees, are just using them to fulfill our needs. How often do we look at it the other way? How often do you sit down and think about exactly what your employer wants to get out of you and then go out of your way to get them that? What if their goals and your goals don't mesh? You will always choose your goals over theirs, at least most people will. So, why is it so bad that the company would choose their goals over yours?
Just a thought.
I like this - but I think that the choosing our own goals over that of a company is relatively new to our generation and those after us. We are the ones that believe in work/life balance - look at the Boomers - how many of them "sacrificed" and gave "30 years to Company X?"
ReplyDeleteI make it a policy to know what a current employer wants to get out of me (because they "see" something in us, don't they?) or, alternatively, if I don't get a job offer, what I was lacking.
I've seen in NP's the default to the thinking that someone is doing what they love so they don't need/deserve/want good vacation packages, benefits, etc. But even if you are doing what you love, if you are not treated with dignity, or valued as an asset - you can burn out. I like your commentary though Matt. Good take on the flip side of the coin.
Avani, you make a great point in saying that nonprofits spend large amounts of money on their employees, which are the key to fulfilling their mission. As you commented above, it is unfortunate that some organizations assume that their employees do the work that they love and do not need good benefits. That being said, I can't expect any employer to put my fulfillment front and center and ahead of their core mission. However, I do expect them to acknowledge that a burned out staff would not be effective at meeting the core mission. I think that any employee's happiness is their own responsibility, no matter where they work.
ReplyDeleteMaybe non-profits make the mistake of assuming that an employee made the decision to work in the non-profit sector, and because the non-profit sector is innately inferior to for-profit, the employee must already by intrinsically motivated. And therefore, their life goals are already in line with the organization's goals. And therefore there is no need to ask.
ReplyDelete?