How can nonprofits increase employee productivity?

In my experience, nonprofits will enhance the productivity of employees by fostering a positive culture that values collaboration and recognizes individual contributions. This is especially meaningful for millennials and gen z. Communication of the organization's mission allows employees understand their role in advancing impact. Providing professional development opportunities motivates staff, sometimes even more than a pay increase. Implementing flexible schedules contributes to a healthier work place. As someone who manages women who are also mothers, I have found this to be paramount to their success. Being transparent with decision making and involving employees in those decisions instills ownership fostering a more productive team.

I have worked directly and indirectly with many nonprofit organizations. Some big differentiators for me in regards to my satisfaction while volunteering were their level of organization, how well they communicated with me, and whether or not they established goals for me. When things are clear and easy to understand, it makes it much easier to be able to accomplish tasks with energy and to even have fun at the same time.

Forget spreadsheets, plant seeds! Your nonprofit's a garden: employees, seeds waiting to bloom. Nurture a culture that feeds their growth: Sow Purpose: Sun-warmed mission soil, let them see their work blossom into impact. Growth Nutrients: Training, trellis of support, empower them to reach full potential. Pollination Buzz: Foster collaboration, let ideas cross-pollinate, spark innovation. Clear the Weeds: Outdated processes, burnout, prune obstacles for fertile ground. Tend Regularly: Seek feedback, prune inefficiencies, fertilize with recognition. Cultivate, watch your garden bloom with impactful, productive employees. Remember, a thriving garden needs constant care, and your nonprofit will blossom with the world.

Professional development is a retention superpower, it leads to greater employee satisfaction and increased productivity. Lack of productivity is sometimes a sign of employee dissatisfaction or low morale. Creating opportunities for professional development not only ensures teams are leveling up their skills, but it also makes them more motivated to aim higher and accomplish more.

Work-life balance can mean different things for different people and providing flexibility for employees to accomplish things in a way that works with their life will increase productivity, while decreasing burnout and turnover.

Enhancing employee productivity in nonprofits hinges on fostering a positive organizational culture. It's crucial to understand that even with competitive salaries, state-of-the-art equipment, and comprehensive training, these factors alone aren't sufficient if the workplace culture is negative. A toxic environment leads to a decline in employee commitment, significantly lowering productivity. Therefore, establishing a supportive and encouraging work atmosphere is essential. This positive environment boosts morale and strengthens employee engagement, leading to increased productivity. A clear and direct correlation exists between a healthy workplace culture, high employee engagement, and increased productivity.

Allow me a provocative thought here… Should NGOs be focused on employees productivity at all? Businesses seek productivity gains from their employees to increase their output per resource allocation and benefits. Why would NGO fall under this trap? Certainly they also need to allocate their limited resources carefully as they also need to justify their use of funds they receive. But should we measure them by quantity of output or margins gains or should we measure them by the quality and impact of their actions? In my view, it is the latter. And therefore we shouldn’t apply a capitalist measure to a non capitalist entity. Productivity is important but only for parts of our society. Let’s keep this diversity please!

I think productivity is the wrong term to use and folks are actually trying to get to impact/effectiveness. The nonprofit space is severely under resourced and that affects productivity. In my experience as a recruiter exclusively focused on nonprofits- I see roles vacant for months, for many reasons. This always puts pressure on team members and impacts productivity, morale, retention, etc. On a different note altogether, large funders sometimes can be very metrics driven and nonprofits frequently underestimate the resources needed to accomplish their objectives so as to appear more prudent and investment-worthy. If we want to increase productivity, we need to create space for folks to experiment and innovate new ways of doing things.