human resources literacy

Transcription

HUMAN RESOURCES
LITERACY
for the Nonprofit Sector
Why HR Professionals Make Great Board Members
Presented by
A joint project from
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Human resources literacy for the nonprofit sector : why HR professionals make
great board members / by BoardSource.
p. cm.
"A Joint Project of BoardSource and The Taproot Foundation."
ISBN 1-58686-122-0
1. Nonprofit organizations--Personnel management. 2. Nonprofit
organizations–Management. I. BoardSource (Organization) II. Taproot
Foundation.
HF5549.H87267 2010
658.3--dc22
2010044459
© 2011 BoardSource and Taproot Foundation.
First Printing, November 2010
ISBN 1-58686-122-0
Published by BoardSource
1828 L Street, NW, Suite 900
Washington, DC 20036
T HIS P ROJECT WAS F UNDED
BY
C HEVRON .
BoardSource and the Taproot Foundation appreciate Chevron’s deep commitment to building the
capacity of the nonprofit sector through this and other projects.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORD FROM CHEVRON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . III
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . V
Aaron Hurst, President and Founder of
Taproot Foundation, and board member, BoardSource
About HR Literacy for the Nonprofit Sector:
Why HR Professionals Make Great Board Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
PART ONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
For HR Professionals:
Introduction to Nonprofit Boards and the Nonprofit Sector
PART TWO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
For Boards and Chief Executives:
How Nonprofit Boards Can Benefit from Including
HR Professionals
APPENDIX 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Interview Subjects for This Project
APPENDIX 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Survey Methodology and Results:
The HR Professional and Board Service
APPENDIX 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Understanding HR
Appendix 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
The Strange and Wonderful Chemistry of the Boardroom
Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
© 2011 BoardSource and Taproot Foundation HUMAN RESOURCES LITERACY FOR THE NONPROFIT SECTOR
i
FOREWORD FROM CHEVRON
At Chevron, we have an unwavering commitment to being a good partner
focused on building productive, collaborative, trusting, and beneficial
relationships with governments, other companies, our customers, our
communities, and each other. That’s why we are so delighted to partner with
BoardSource and Taproot on this important project: to help connect qualified,
interested human resources professionals with nonprofit boards — the
quintessential community service.
In this handbook, you will learn about the nonprofit sector — how it exists solely
for the social benefit; how important it is to our national; well-being and how
there is so much more to be done, especially in these turbulent times. You will
learn how the boards of directors of these organizations — unpaid volunteers
who believe passionately in the mission of the organization they serve —
comprise a strategic force for good as they oversee the organization’s activities,
set direction for its future, and ensure the sufficiency of its resources.
And who are these board members? Ordinary people like you, and like us.
People who care and who want to give something back to their communities.
They do important work with limited resources. With this project, Taproot and
BoardSource have teamed up to discover how more people with needed,
professional skills might be inspired to fulfill that desire, by serving on nonprofit
boards.
It is our fond hope that, whether you are an HR professional who is wondering
whether nonprofit board service might be a good fit for you, or a board
member or executive of a nonprofit organization seeking committed, passionate
people to serve on your board, you will find the answers in this slim handbook,
and make the connection that will help move the sector forward.
Your commitment to the betterment of society is evidenced just by picking up
this book. May it make a difference!
Thank you.
Matt Lonner
Manager, Global Partnership and Programs
Chevron
iii
INTRODUCTION
I started the Taproot Foundation in 2001 with a vision to ensure all nonprofits had
access to the quality pro bono resources they need to thrive. As a social entrepreneur
working to build an organization that could have a measurable impact in our society, I
faced many challenges. The greatest ones were not fundraising or program design.
They were building and managing a team that could achieve our audacious goals.
How do we build the right culture? Whom should we hire? How do we effectively use
volunteers? What is a great manager? Whom do we need on the board and how do
we structure it? How do we attract the best people?
One of the best decisions I made was to bring HR executives onto my board to help
counsel me in these areas and to bring pro bono HR resources to the organization to
build and improve our systems. They have made me a better manager and leader and
made Taproot the organization it is today — an organization known for its exceptional
talent.
But we still have a lot of work to do to retain this culture and this talent and to increase
the impact of both our board and volunteers. On all these fronts, our HR board
members are a tremendous source of counsel and resources. They also make sure the
board doesn’t undervalue the “people part” of every decision, and has “HR literacy,” in
addition to the financial literacy we all seek in board members.
When talking to other social entrepreneurs and nonprofit executive directors, I found
that many of the best nonprofit executives had also discovered the power of having HR
professionals on their board, and like me, many identified them as among their most
engaged and effective board members.
It makes sense. This is the people sector, meaning that people are our greatest assets,
often our greatest expense, and strategic oversight of this resource is uniquely suited to
HR professionals. In our work with thousands of nonprofit executive directors across the
country we have consistently heard that after fundraising, people management (from
volunteers to staff to the board) is the area of greatest need and also painfully underresourced.
For these reasons, I am incredibly proud to be able to partner with BoardSource and
Chevron to help not only get more HR professionals onto boards but also to help them
put their skills and networks to work to ensure all nonprofit boards and executives are
“HR” or “people” literate, and that they have access to pro bono HR resources to build
their capacity to engage and leverage their greatest resource — people — in the
enactment of their missions.
One day HR professionals will be just as sought after on nonprofit boards as financial
professionals are now. Collectively, this group will help make the nonprofit sector the
employer of choice for the best and brightest in our society. Let’s make one day today.
MAKE IT MATTER.
Aaron Hurst
President & Founder
Taproot Foundation
v
HOW TO READ THIS BOOK
TO
THE
HUMAN RESOURCES PROFESSIONAL
You have the greatest profession in the world. Your specialty is people —
endlessly fascinating, inexhaustibly complex, sometimes irritatingly frustrating, but
always valuable beyond measure. As a human resources professional, you’ve
seen it all.
Well, maybe not ALL. With this small book, we’d like to introduce you to the
world of nonprofits, and particularly, the boards of nonprofits, where your talents
and expertise will be invaluable. They need you.
Find out why in Part One, For HR Professionals: Introduction to Boards
and the Nonprofit Sector.
TO THE BOARD AND STAFF
ORGANIZATIONS
OF
NONPROFIT
Nobody knows better than you that nonprofits need great boards to help them
with their strategic direction, ensure they have the resources to take the
organization in that direction, and oversee their progress. Great board members
come from all areas and possess a myriad of knowledge and competencies. But
one professional skill that has been largely overlooked when boards seek new
members is HUMAN RESOURCES. HR professionals, who run the gamut from selfemployed human resources consultants to vice presidents of large corporations,
all share one thing in common: They focus on the human capital aspect of an
organization. These folks make engaged, focused, and knowledgeable board
members. You need them.
Find out what HR professionals can do in Part Two, For Boards and Chief
Executives: How Nonprofit Boards Can Benefit from Including HR
Professionals.
1
WHY HAVE WE BROUGHT YOU TOGETHER?
The purpose of this handbook is to connect these two incredibly important
groups: leaders of nonprofit organizations who need creative, insightful board
members who understand that the human capital of an organization is
invaluable and precious, and HR professionals who live and breathe that
understanding every single day.
We believe it’s a match that’s long overdue.
An organization’s people are its number one driver for success — and its number
one cost. Not only that, but the number one source of litigation in the sector is
personnel matters. Chief executives report that, after fundraising, their next most
critical need is help with staff issues.
Who is giving them that help? For organizations that have HR staff, certainly that
staff is their first line of assistance. Smaller organizations that do not have human
resources staff may utilize volunteers, either board members or pro bono
volunteers who offer their assistance on large projects such as writing personnel
policies or doing comparative research on insurance plans. But, these projects
are by their nature managerial and are best suited for staff. Where the board of
most organizations comes in is in an advisory capacity. Why do many, if not
most, boards think “we need a lawyer and a financial expert on our board” and
overlook other professionals like human resources? Nonprofits are about people;
an HR professional on the board will see issues through the “people” lens, and
raise the vital importance of seeing through that lens for the rest of the board —
imparting what we’re calling “human capital literacy.”
This handbook gives an overview of the nonprofit sector and board service, and
shows, through the results of a survey and interviews with HR professionals, that
the skills and competencies of this group comprise an ideal fit for nonprofit
boards.
Board members come to nonprofits through a variety of onramps, but especially
through volunteerism. BoardSource’s partner in this project, the Taproot
Foundation, specializes in a particular form of volunteerism — pro bono service.
In addition to raising the level of human capital literacy for the board, another
great value of having HR professionals on the board is to help secure pro bono
HR resources. This book tells you how to secure these important resources to
build HR capacity.
3
It is our hope that boards will begin to recognize the value of broadening the
“literacies” they seek on their boards, including human capital literacy, and
that nonprofit professionals will recognize that nonprofit board service is a
valuable outlet for their talents, their interests, and their altruism.
The time is now. The nonprofit sector faces challenges like never before —
with increased need for services and decreased financial resources. The sector
cannot afford not to leverage the strengths of individuals who are talented,
willing, and able to make a difference.
Human resources professionals and nonprofit
boards: Come together, right now.
4
HUMAN RESOURCES LITERACY FOR THE NONPROFIT SECTOR © 2011 BoardSource and Taproot Foundation
PART ONE:
FOR HUMAN RESOURCES
PROFESSIONALS
Introduction to Nonprofit Boards and
the Nonprofit Sector
NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS...
...span a wide spectrum of mission areas, resources,
values, history, and stakeholders — from small, local
homeless shelters to large, international trade
associations; from community foundations operating
within a geographic region to educational institutions
that attract students from around the country.
Nonprofits are a vibrant, essential element of our social
landscape. They struggle to reduce poverty and bring an
end to homelessness. They strive to build safe places to
learn and play, create inspiring art and music, and
protect natural resources.
A lot of the work of nonprofits is done by volunteers,
folks from all walks of life who feel passionate about
what the nonprofit does. And there are many, many
ways to express that passion.
TEN THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
ABOUT THE NONPROFIT SECTOR
1. MISSION is the motive, not money. There are no shareholders or owners of
the organizations in nonprofits.
2. Nonprofit organizations exist to serve a social purpose, a constituency, or a
cause. They are NOT prohibited from creating excess revenue over
expenses, but any surplus must be used to support the organization’s
mission.
3. Nonprofit funding may come from just a handful of sources, like a
foundation, or from an array of charitable contributions, membership dues,
grants, fees from programs and services, and more.
4. The sector goes by many names: the not-for-profit sector, the third sector,
the independent sector, the philanthropic sector, the voluntary sector, or the
social sector. Outside the United States, nonprofits are called
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) or civil society organizations.
5. The sector is HUGE. In 2009, there were more than 1.7 million tax-exempt
nonprofit organizations registered with the IRS under the 501(C) tax code.
About 70 percent of those are public charities. And most of them are
nonprofit corporations also governed by state laws.
6. The tax designation for a public charity is 501(C)(3), meaning these
organizations are tax exempt; therefore, you can donate to them and take
a charitable deduction off your taxes.
7. There is accountability. Regardless of their level of revenue, all tax-exempt
organizations are required to file reports annually with the IRS.
8. Religious organizations are also public charities but they’re not required to
register with the IRS, although, about half of the country’s estimated
350,000 religious organizations do.
9. In 2008, the nonprofit organizations in this country employed 10.5 percent
of the country’s work force — close to ten million paid workers.
10. All nonprofits must have a governing board. Sometimes the board
members are called directors, sometimes trustees.
In case you didn’t notice, MISSION is the number one thing. Every nonprofit has
a mission, and everyone who works with a nonprofit —staff, volunteers, and
board of directors — needs to CARE about that mission. Passionately.
8
WHY DO NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS
NEED BOARDS?
L EGAL R EASONS
State laws require that nonprofit corporations have a board to assume the
fiduciary role for the organization’s well-being. These laws assign overall
responsibility and liability to that board. In addition to the board’s responsibilities
as a governing body, individual board members are bound by their legal
obligations: the duties of care, loyalty, and obedience. The articles of
incorporation and bylaws define the internal authority within the nonprofit and
clarify the board’s role on top of the decision-making hierarchy.
Federal law is less specific about board structure, but it does expect the board to
serve as the gatekeeper for the organization. When applying for recognition of
tax-exempt status, board members for a nonprofit must be listed to allow the IRS
to determine whether proper oversight has been established.
E THICAL R EASONS
The board functions, in part, to assure the public and all stakeholders that the
organization is in good hands. It assumes responsibility for the organization’s
achievements or lack thereof. It goes beyond the legal requirements to ensure
that the organization not only does things right, but does the right thing.
The board acts as the agent for the organization’s constituents. Board members
are not there to benefit personally from their affiliation; during decision making
they are expected to place the interests of the organization above any other
considerations. Oversight is the board’s primary duty. It works closely with
management to ensure that goals are met and that ethical principles guide all
activities.
P RACTICAL R EASONS
A board is made up of individuals who, at one time or another, dedicate their
efforts to help the organization get its work done. Detached from daily affairs,
the board is able to differentiate the trees from the forest — to look at the
organization as part of its larger sphere and not just as an office that carries out
the strategic plan. Individuals come and go, but the board as an entity remains.
When good practices are institutionalized, the changing of the guard does not
adversely affect the good work that has been accomplished.
9
TEN BASIC RESPONSIBILITIES
OF NONPROFIT BOARD MEMBERS
1. Determine mission and purposes. Why does the organization exist? Whom
does it serve?
2. Select the chief executive. Arguably one of the most important roles: the board
delegates management of the organization to the chief executive.
3. Support and evaluate the chief executive. Develop a strategic partnership, and
hold the executive’s feet to the fire.
4. Ensure effective planning. Is the organization on track? Where will it be next
year? In three years? Ten?
5. Monitor and strengthen programs and services. Bring your expertise to the
table. What’s working well? How is the organization delivering on its mission?
6. Ensure adequate financial resources. Examine both sides of the coin: both
earned and contributed revenue (if the organization raises money; not all do).
7. Protect assets and provide financial oversight. Make sure all the finances are in
order. Be a prudent fiduciary.
8. Build a competent board. This is an ongoing process. The board should always
be the RIGHT board for the organization it oversees, with a well-targeted range
of perspectives and competencies.
9. Ensure legal and ethical integrity. Comply with the laws and go above and
beyond in ethical standards. It will return to you, and to the organization, a
thousandfold.
10. Enhance the organization’s public standing. Be a mission ambassador. Keep
confidential matters confidential while eagerly advocating for the organization.
Source: Excerpted from Richard T. Ingram, Ten Basic Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards, Second
Edition. BoardSource, 2009.
10
“GOVERNANCE” IS NOT
THE SAME AS “MANAGEMENT.”
11
Without a doubt, the board is accountable for what the organization does.
Board members must answer to the stakeholders the nonprofit serves, to
funders, and to the public. To carry out their governance roles to the fullest
extent, board members should do the following:
Understand the respective roles of board and staff. Distinguishing what is
strategic — the board’s role — and what is administrative — the staff’s role —
helps keep each party focused on its responsibilities. Board members who
become involved in operations tend to lose objectivity about personnel,
programs, and organizational performance. And chief executives who attempt to
control policy development through withholding of critical information or sheer
force of personality get in the way of board decision making.
Defining these boundaries sounds easier than it is. The responsibility for fund
development, for example, may rest with a staff member — but board members
are expected to play a significant role in that area. If an organization is
experiencing internal turmoil or transition, the board may exert its leadership by
implementing policy as well as developing it — but it should accept such a
hands-on role only as an interim measure.
Board oversight should not be confused with board interference. While boards
are accountable for an organization’s decisions, they are not responsible for
managing the programs or the people who carry out those decisions. To clarify
the distinction, the board and chief executive should openly discuss their roles
and agree upon where to draw the line in each case. The discussion should be
ongoing: Roles are sure to change as the organization evolves, grows, ages, and
reinvents itself.
There’s a line between governance and management. Not a bright line, but a
line nevertheless. And it’s not always easy for a board to see that line. When
boards overstep the line between governance and management, they can easily
become MICROMANAGERS.
A micromanaging board steps out of its governance role and gets caught up in
the actual operations of the organization. It forgets that the chief executive is
responsible for daily management according to the guidelines set by the board.
Micromanaging boards want to both set strategic direction AND actively oversee
the implementation of the details.
B UT I T D OESN ’ T H AVE
TO
B E T HAT WAY.
Boards that draw the line will do a better job at their top three roles:
• setting organizational direction
• ensuring necessary resources
• providing oversight
There is an EXCEPTION to this rule, and that’s for organizations that have no paid
staff, known as all-volunteer organizations. Boards of these organizations will act
as both volunteer managers and board members. In most nonprofits, as soon as
the situation allows, the board hires the first staff member — often a chief
executiver — and delegates the daily affairs to him or her, with the necessary
support and guidance. At this point the board can devote its time to governing,
providing direction, and ensuring that the mission of the organization stays on
course.
12
THE NEED
FOR
“LITERACIES”
ON THE
BOARD
To help boards make the best decisions possible, they need diversity of thought,
perspective, demographics, background, experience, and most important of all,
competence. Boards seek members who have the competence they know they
need: legal expertise, perhaps; but almost always financial expertise.
F INANCIAL L ITERACY
All board members are expected to have, or obtain once on the board, “financial
literacy.” The accountant or financial expert on the board is expected to weigh in
with special authority on matters of money, and by teaching and example, raise
the level of financial literacy of the board. That individual is a fully functioning
member of the board and involved in all aspects of board work, but might, for
example, be an exceptionally fine audit committee chair, or investment
committee member, thereby utilizing his or her special expertise to full
advantage, while sharing it with the board.
I NTRODUCING H UMAN R ESOURCES L ITERACY
Would anyone argue that the employees of an organization are less of an asset
than its finances? As a human resources professional, you understand the
importance of human capital as one of the most critical resources of the
organization, and as a board member, would raise awareness of how important
human capital is to be understood, nurtured, and overseen by the board.
That’s why an HR professional makes an ideal nonprofit board member: not to
perform HR functions for the nonprofit, but to help the rest of the board
understand how important human capital is, in all its forms. HR professionals
have the expertise to raise the level of the board’s…you guessed it…human
capital literacy, just as the financial expert raises its level of financial literacy. And
why not? Humans are far more important than money.
Human resources literacy. You have it. Every board needs it.
Ninety-six percent of HR professionals serving on boards said it was important
to have an opportunity to share their human resources expertise with their
organization.
13
FOUR WAYS HUMAN RESOURCES PROFESSIONALS
CAN HELP A NONPROFIT
In the classic movie, “Fame” (not to be confused with the 2009 remake), Irene
Cara asked the musical question: “Sometimes I wonder where I’ve been, who I am,
do I fit in?” Professionals ask themselves this question for many reasons. Maybe
they are looking for a way to “give back” to their community. Maybe they are
looking to meet new people — for personal or professional reasons. Maybe they
are looking for a way to hone their professional skills.
Enter the nonprofit sector. There are four main ways for a professional to fit into
the sector, and they are not mutually exclusive. All of the quotes are from HR
professionals who have worked with nonprofits in various capacities.
BOARD SERVICE The highest level of volunteer engagement; participating in the
strategic planning, oversight, and development of the organization
“Having an HR professional on the board would ensure that the HR strategy and
management of talent is linked with the overall business plan and is also tied to
changes in the external environment. Nonprofit organizations may not have the
resources to hire the specialized consultants, or commission surveys to understand
market dynamics and best practices; hence, the presence of an HR board
member would really help.”
PRO BONO SERVICE Using your professional skills for free for a project or on an
ongoing basis (contributing your expertise in accounting, marketing, or HR)
“There’s always a need for pro bono. I’ve never met a nonprofit organization that
isn’t stretched beyond full capacity. Two pieces that are needed: (1) a
compelling case made for pro bono service to be provided to the nonprofit
organization; they need to be made aware of the necessity and the potential
value of a pro bono consulting engagement, and (2) both parties need to be clear
in contracting — what are the roles each side needs to play to have a
successful outcome. Nonprofit readiness is key.”
SKILLED VOLUNTEERISM Performing a service for the nonprofit that not everyone
could do (tutoring at an after-school program)
“Volunteering is a phenomenal way to build your career portfolio. Based on my
experience in conjunction with nonprofit volunteer work, I now have enough
specific skills on my résumé to meet the requirements of a new job position.”
HANDS-ON VOLUNTEERISM Short term projects that don’t require specialized skills
(beach cleanup, serving food at a local shelter)
“In my capacity as an HR professional, any kind of exposure to nonprofits we can
provide to our employees is valuable; encouraging individual employees to involve
their teams here with their own volunteer work with nonprofits is something
we want to see more of.”
14
Taproot Foundation created this diagram for their work with corporations to
show the relationship between the various methods of service, employees
engaged, and the corresponding magnitude of impact. As an individual, this
could be useful when considering the range of volunteer activities you could
participate in, and their short and long term impact on the organization and
issue.
15
TEN WAYS HR PROFESSIONALS
CAN DRIVE IMPACT FOR A BOARD
While all HR professionals — from generalists and recruiters, to organizational
designers — absolutely can bring the following skill sets to nonprofit boards, it is
critical to the understanding of nonprofit governance that no board member is
ever on the board to do just one thing — board service is not a “job.”
Board service offers board members a wealth of opportunities, and board
colleagues want and expect each other’s full commitment and intellect as the
board discusses and engages in wildly diverse topics: the strategic value of
current programs; whether or not to buy a building; the organization’s financial
position and investments; whether to merge with another nonprofit with a
similar mission; developing a fundraising policy for the board…ad infinitum. All
board members should be fully engaged in those discussions.
There are many different HR specialties and not all HR professionals engage in all
HR activities. We have generalized here, with the understanding that each
individual brings a different skill set to the boardroom, depending upon his or
her specific HR focus.
What all HR professionals do have in common is bringing a specific and highly
valuable lens to the boardroom. Here are 10 ways a board can engage and
leverage the talents of a human resource professional. We’ve included comments
from survey respondents and interviewees about their own experiences.
1
PREACH THE GOSPEL OF TALENT
MANAGEMENT PLANS.
Nonprofits often live in a “make do
with what you have” type of
environment. Many are woefully
under-resourced and understaffed,
which can create a variety of
challenges, including staff burnout
and turnover, lack of adequate
expertise in key areas, and lowered
expectations or goals, to name just a
few.
The sad reality is that too many
nonprofit organizations lack the
human time, talent, and skills they
need to achieve their missions. You
can help the organization identify the
importance of managing the talent of
the organization, all the way from the
board to the chief executive to the
staff to the interns to the volunteers,
starting with a talent management
plan.
A talent management plan doesn’t
eliminate staff burnout or magically
identify dollars to bring new talent
into the organization, but it does help
the organization think strategically
about how it can fully leverage the
time, talent, and skills available to it. A
talent management plan seeks to
identify the human needs of the
organization and build its capacity for
recruitment, retention, professional
development, and performance
management to ensure that the
organization is fully leveraging the
dollars it invests in talent, however
limited those dollars might be.
A talent management plan also helps
to identify innovative ways that
organizations can bring talent into the
organization, which is not limited to
paid staff. Volunteers, interns, and pro
bono consultants can be an integral
part of an organization’s talent pool,
possibly freeing up staff time to focus
on other priorities, or even allowing
the organization to eliminate certain
positions and add or upgrade other
positions.
In addition to highlighting the
importance of a talent management
plan, you can serve as a resource to
the chief executive as they develop
and maintain the plan. Whether or
not the organization has a paid HR
professional, you can serve as a
confidential sounding board for the
chief executive on some of the tough
questions around organizational
needs, assets, and vulnerabilities.
The creation of a talent management
plan, combined with thoughtful input
from well-informed board members,
can help ensure that a nonprofit
organization is not allowing a lack of
staff resources or talents to limit its
fulfillment of its mission. Talent
management means making it
happen, not “making do.” Sounds a
lot more compelling, doesn’t it?
“Many nonprofits lack the financial resources and knowledge to optimize the
capabilities of both staff and board members. An HR executive could provide the
perspective and tools to guide the nonprofit to improved performance.”
18
FIND ACCESS TO PRO BONO
HR RESOURCES.
What if nonprofits had access to the
same HR resources as corporations?
Imagine how helpful these might be
in board recruitment, performance
management, HR systems, and staff
development for the organization.
As an HR professional, you have the
ability to help assess an organization’s
HR needs and suggest where pro
bono could be of most value. Setting
the scope for the engagement is a
critical step. You can leverage
relationships within your HR network
or at your company to help your
nonprofit address its most pressing HR
needs. Seek out an internal functional
champion and find out who’s already
doing pro bono work within your
company. Determine the right fit —
perhaps a team of professionals
dedicated to mapping your
organization’s current and future
staffing needs, perhaps a coach or
mentor for the HR manager, or maybe
a loaned employee dedicated to a
large-scale HR project. Finally, ensure
there is proper support for the
engagement.
2
A few words of caution. Pro bono isn’t
free — it’s an investment of time,
energy, and talent. Your nonprofit
must be ready to spend the time
necessary to support its pro bono
talent, and must understand that the
project will be done in “pro bono
time,” which is almost always slower
than paid consulting. However, if
managed effectively, pro bono has the
potential to infuse valuable resources
and long-lasting, invaluable
relationships.
Remember, the role of a board
member is to help get your
organization the resources it needs,
and pro bono is no exception. Tap
your network, help scope the project,
screen the talent, and support the pro
bono engagement — but don’t
micromanage it. Use Taproot’s tools
listed in the Resources section of this
handbook to help your organization
get the pro bono resources it needs to
thrive.
“Human capital is a horrible thing to waste. Too often nonprofits struggle with
limited or no access to technicians that can enable their cause.”
19
3
COUNSEL THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE
DURING PERSONNEL CRISIS SITUATIONS.
The role of chief executive can be a
lonely one. Unlike most of the
individuals affiliated with an
organization, the chief executive is
without a peer. Despite its role as the
chief executive’s supervisor, the board
can play an important role of peer
and colleague to the chief executive,
creating a sort of “kitchen cabinet” for
him or her to help talk through or
address issues with which the chief
executive might be struggling.
You can be an extremely valuable
member of this “kitchen cabinet” for
the chief executive, particularly
providing counsel and feedback on
crisis situations with personnel.
Imagine how helpful it would be to
the chief executive — who is most
likely not an HR professional — to be
able to speak openly with a board
member about planned layoffs in the
organization’s future, and how best to
handle them with both the affected
employees and those who will remain.
Or the comfort that it would provide
to be able to talk through the
potential firing of a top employee.
Without someone in this advisory role
with the chief executive, these types
of decisions would likely be made
independently by the chief executive,
or be brought into a group setting
with the board, both of which can
create some very specific challenges.
Decisions made in isolation and
without consultation or input from
others can be skewed, impulsive, or illconsidered. Decisions made in a
group setting — especially HR
decisions — can be susceptible to
dramatic overstatement, competing
motivations and loyalties, and
confidentiality breaches.
Taking this advisory role can go a long
way to ensuring that the chief
executive is not isolated in his or her
decision making as it relates to
organizational staffing issues. And that
makes for better decisions, less drama,
and a happier chief executive.
“I assisted in an emergency board meeting and helped investigate a sexual
harassment case between an employee and program manager.”
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CHANGE MANAGEMENT.
Change is hard. Even small changes
can create confusion, anxiety, and
distress among groups of people. You
are used to managing change within
organizations, and are masterful when
it comes to understanding and
finessing the wide range of human
reactions to change. You understand
that the organization has to invest time
and energy into managing the
change, otherwise you risk having to
invest more time and energy into
managing noncompliance, low morale,
and turnover.
This perspective on change
management can be very valuable
within the boardroom, where you can
help ensure that decisions made
account for the necessary investment in
change management. Consider, for
example, a board decision about
whether or not to change the location
of an organization’s headquarters from
one city to another. Certainly, most — if
not all — board members would
understand that doing so would likely
result in a significant change in the
makeup of the staff. There would be
staff members who would not want to
make the move, and therefore would
leave their position with the
organization. But you could help the
board think through how best to
manage that change, focusing on the
importance of effective communication
about the decision, innovative ways to
staff the organization during the
4
transition, and helping to create a
budget that gives the chief executive
the resources he or she will need to
aggressively court star performers to
make the move with the organization.
Similarly, you can help manage change
within the board itself. Consider an
organization that has grown its staff
and now has the staff resources to fully
manage and execute the programs of
the organization, but had previously
relied on individual board members to
fulfill those functions. The board is now
grappling with the fact that it has
board members who feel displaced or
underutilized, and are not interested in
taking on a more governing role with
the organization.
At its core, this change management
scenario is a question of human
resources. What human resources does
this board need to succeed in its new
governing role, how does that align
with the existing set of board members,
and what is the plan for addressing
any necessary realignment? You can
help focus the board on those key
questions, and ensure that the
conversation remains focused on the
needs of the organization, rather than
devolving into a debate over the value
or contributions of individual board
members.
Change management falls into the
category of “easier said than done”;
fortunately, that’s your specialty.
“I could help [the board] to understand the impact of change and how to
drive desired change in the organization.”
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5
SERVE ON THE
GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE.
Governance committees are a
relatively new phenomenon in
nonprofit governance, and they are
helping to revolutionize the ways that
boards work. In many boardrooms,
they have replaced the nominating
committee, the compensation
committee, or even the human
resources committee.
Bottom line: Your service on the
governance committee can provide
better, faster, and more relevant
guidance to the organization on
critical issues related to people and
performance. And that’s just the kind
of efficiency and effectiveness that any
HR professional can appreciate.
The governance committee is
responsible for guiding the
recruitment and orientation strategy
for the board, as well as helping the
board to critically self-reflect on its
own strengths, challenges, and
weakness as a board. In short, the
governance committee is a nonprofit
board’s version of a human resources
department, managing the people
and performance of the board.
Given all that, it’s clear that HR
professionals would be naturals to
serve on the governance committee.
It requires all of the same skills in terms
of understanding people and talents,
handling sensitive issues of
performance, and helping the board
value the people that it takes to do
the important work of the
organization, both at the board and
staff level.
“I’ve found my work on the governance committee very rewarding. Being a
seasoned organizational development professional, I feel I have been utilized in
the organization’s efforts to transcend its business as usual and to create a
sustainable legacy.”
22
LEVERAGE THE TALENTS AND
SKILLS OF BOARD MEMBERS.
HR professionals are sometimes
accused of being the “touchy feely”
folks. The reality is, HR professionals
are all about the bottom line: Work
doesn’t get done without people to
do it. And it can’t be just any people,
it has to be the right people, with the
right skill sets, and the right level of
motivation and commitment.
You can have the greatest mission or
idea in the world, but if you don’t
have the people whom you need to
work toward your goals or implement
your work, you don’t have much.
And the work of your board is no
different. You need a strong and
skilled board, not because the IRS
requires it, but because you cannot
fully achieve your mission without
passionate, strategic, and forwardthinking leadership, both in the
boardroom and in the CEO’s office.
And that’s the job of the board, and
each individual board leader.
6
But, just as there is with any position
or role, individuals need to
understand the opportunities,
responsibilities, and expectations of
board leadership. And you are a pro
— literally — when it comes to
formalizing the expectations of a
position, building on the skills of a
diverse set of employees, and finding
ways to help individuals find the right
role for them, even if it’s not within the
organization.
HR people don’t just lead the camels
to water, they identify what kind of
camels are needed, find them, train
them, and motivate them to — not
make them — drink. It’s not for the
faint of heart, but it’s a role that you
take on each and every day.
“Companies are now recognizing the importance of HR, how well companies
engage their talent; at nonprofits, you have the ability to demonstrate the
differences between passive HR policies and proactive HR policies.”
23
7
HELP WITH HIRING AND,
WHEN NECESSARY, FIRING
THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE.
The board is responsible for ensuring
that the organization has the right
chief executive on board. Few would
disagree with the view that a strong
chief executive is critical to the success
of an organization. The chief executive
is the leader of the staff, the
implementer of strategy, and the
highest-ranking individual who
dedicates 100 percent of his or her
professional energies to the success of
the organization. There’s no question
that if the organization doesn’t have
the right person in the chief
executive’s office, it is severely
hindered in its ability to fulfill its
mission. You can help guide a needs
assessment to ensure that the board is
seeking out candidates who have the
skills and talents the organization
needs in a chief executive.
legal landscape as it relates to
termination of employment and have
knowledge of and access to search
resources and skills. Finally, one of
your fundamental skills, that of
recognizing talent, will be extremely
useful in succession planning —
looking beyond the current chief
executive to senior management to
identify the line of succession —
temporary or otherwise — in the
event of a departing chief executive.
Some for-profits have an “organization”
committee that connects the board to
HR staff, who report on up-andcoming talent; there’s no reason why
you couldn’t encourage your
organization to emulate that model.
You can also be extremely helpful
when there are transitions in
leadership, whether as the result of
the chief executive choosing to leave
the organization, or a chief executive
who has been removed from the
position by the board — fired. The
latter, in particular, requires tact and
discretion. In either case, you can help
the board handle that transition
professionally, confidentially, legally,
and strategically. You understand the
“[The board member with human resources expertise] was on my search committee
and was very integral in the process. Our most valuable resource is human capital
and this person puts us in a position to attract other leaders with competency and
strategic direction.”
24
HELP WITH MANAGEMENT AND
REGULAR ASSESSMENT OF
Some board members think that
management of the chief executive
kicks in only when there’s a leadership
transition or when a chief executive is
leaving the organization. But the
reality is, the board is the chief
executive’s boss, and that’s an
ongoing, day-in, day-out responsibility
of the board, not an episodic
engagement every few years.
Board members can feel
uncomfortable about this role of
managing the chief executive, and
that’s a way in which you can make a
big difference. Chief executives are like
any other employee; they need
ongoing feedback and engagement
on performance, goals, compensation,
and professional development. As an
HR professional you understand the
importance of effective management
of employees, and can help the board
understand and fulfill its management
role with the chief executive.
8
practices as it relates to employee
performance management, as well as
experience handling delicate or
sensitive issues ethically and
confidentially.
Setting goals — and honest
conversations about progress toward
those goals — is a basic element of
performance management and
employee success. The board — as
the official “boss” of the chief executive
— is responsible for engaging the
chief executive in regular
conversations about his or her
performance, ideally through regular
and formal performance evaluations.
This is the kind of thing you’re
accustomed to doing every day, and
can help the board develop its own
comfort level around the process.
You can be an internal advocate
within the board for the importance of
evaluating the chief executive, as well
as helping to guide that process in a
way that ensures that it accomplishes
its goals of increasing communication
and performance. You can share your
specialized knowledge of best
“The board recognized that the executive director’s performance wasn’t where
it needed to be...[but if] performance expectations are not clearly outlined [it
is] impossible to approach [the] individual to assess [his or her] performance.”
25
9
HELP DEVELOP COMPENSATION
PHILOSOPHIES AND POLICIES, AND
DETERMINE CHIEF EXECUTIVE
COMPENSATION.
Whether the board has a separate
compensation committee for handling
the chief executive’s compensation
package or the process is handled by
the entire board, there’s no place your
skills and expertise could be better
leveraged. Determining appropriate
levels of compensation is a high-stakes
venture, particularly in an era where
nonprofits are scrutinized by donors,
legislators, and regulators alike, based
on the compensation of their top paid
employee.
You understand that appropriate
compensation is both a science and
an art. You know how to use
benchmarking data on compensation,
as well as the more subjective
variables around specialized skill sets,
reputational capital, and the costs
associated with transition and staff
changes.
like a numeric indicator of their
personal value and worth.
You are comfortable when it comes to
weighing the combined — or even
competing — variables of
organizational needs, personal
emotions and motivations, and the
realities and trends within the bigger,
broader world. Helping the board
develop a compensation philosophy
and policies that embody the
organization’s overall culture, values,
goals, and mission — and gaining
agreement that they will be followed
— will ensure that stakeholders both
within and without are in agreement
with the board’s compensation
decisions.
You also understand the sensitive
nature of all issues related to
compensation, and the importance of
fairness, respect, and confidentiality,
and how personal the issue of
compensation can be, feeling to some
“I was able to help with researching best practices, contribute to developing a
contract for [the executive director] and also look at salary levels to inform
the appropriate level of compensation. I wanted to make sure that we had good
retention strategies in place because she works really hard and we need to do
right by her. It would be devastating to lose her for a lack of proper policies
or noncompetitive salary.”
26
HELP LEAD THE BOARD THROUGH
A SELF-ASSESSMENT PROCESS.
Just as it is important to assess and
evaluate the chief executive, the board
needs to assess and evaluate itself.
The board is its own boss, and it is
responsible for holding itself and its
members accountable.
But self-assessment can be a tricky
thing to maneuver successfully.
What’s to stop board members from
giving themselves high marks, just to
keep things easy and peaceful? Or,
conversely, how does the group
navigate conversations about a selfassessment that calls into question the
effectiveness of an individual board
member or the board as a whole?
10
whether it’s encouraging the board to
hire an external facilitator to help
guide them through a conversation
about the self-assessment, or
establishing ground rules for the
group conversation to ensure that
board members are respectful of each
other.
A successful self-assessment needs to
focus on organizational performance
and goals, but do so in a way that
values and respects the people
involved. Sounds like a job description
for a position in human resources,
doesn’t it?
You can help the board navigate these
tricky waters. You can keep the group
focused on the goals of the selfassessment: to understand areas of
strength and challenge, and to help
the board strengthen its role in
supporting the organization’s mission.
You can also help identify land mines
and ensure the proper resources or
approaches to dealing with them,
“Because of the very nature of HR, you’re always thinking about what else
needs to be done — what could I do to improve this process, what can I bring
to the table? I don’t know if other people, besides HR professionals, come to
the board with that mind-set.”
27
TOP THREE REASONS TO SERVE ON A
NONPROFIT BOARD
• NETWORKING
“I normally do most of my work nationally. It is very satisfying
to be able to be involved locally and give back in that way.”
• PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
“I do a lot of recruiting for development professionals in
nonprofits, and now I know more about the importance of their
abilities to work effectively with the board, what board
involvement entails, and all of the different aspects of
fundraising and managing a nonprofit.”
• MISSION FULFILLMENT
“I have the satisfaction that comes from helping others,
providing some expertise, and helping the organization meet its
goals.”
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A TALE
OF
T WO C OLLEAGUES
Professionals find different reasons to serve on boards.
The top reasons HR professionals chose to serve on
nonprofit boards are because they had a positive
experience with pro bono or volunteer service at the
organization and wanted to do more; they wanted to
use their skills to help nonprofits; and they were
interested in professional networking.
Here are two of their stories...
THE MIDCAREER NETWORKER
Matt Aspin has had an eclectic career — he started out in retail management
then moved to operations and hedge funds, then on to the HR side of business
as a performance management consultant and an executive recruiter. Now he’s a
training manager at BECU, a large credit union in Seattle.
When Matt moved to Seattle from Boston, he was looking for a way to get
connected, found networking opportunities on a United Way Web site, and
joined the board of EcoEncore, a nonprofit that raises funds for environmental
organizations in the Pacific Northwest through the online resale of books and
other media. He has found that his professional expertise has proved useful: “We
are a working board; I have leveraged some of my HR skills to help create job
descriptions and compliance guidelines. I’ve been on the board five years and
have moved up to board president.”
As a small organization, EcoEncore relies on its board members to go beyond
governance oversight to perform some management tasks — Matt was called
upon to re-recruit various positions and update job descriptions to reflect
changes in roles that emerge over time.
Matt wasn’t specifically recruited for his HR skills, but he has taken the lead for
the board on executive director management: “Our last executive director was
ineffective due to lack of clear guidelines. I think nonprofits in general find it hard
to have performance conversations because folks are doing more work than they
are getting paid for. For the next executive director, we developed an outline for
what success looks like. Our recruiting process was much more robust, having
identified what skill set was needed for the role.”
30
THE LATE-CAREER BOARD MEMBER
Charlotte Stuart is at a career crossroads. A vice president of organizational
performance and development at BECU, she is returning to consulting in the
near future and will have more free time. Nonprofit board service seemed like a
good option, and she activated her network in search of an organization. “The
more I talked to people, the more opportunities came up. Community in Schools
[a Washington nonprofit that surrounds kids with a community of support to
keep them engaged in school] was not on my radar, but I made some
connections, and wound up on the Community in Schools board.”
Charlotte understands that nonprofit board service is a great channel for
networking, but at this stage of her career, that’s not what she was looking for: “I
don’t need the board to be as much of a networking/professional development
gain, but rather a way to give back to the community.”
And it’s been a great adventure so far. “The very nature of being in HR, you’re
always thinking about what else needs to be done — what could I do to
improve this process, what can I bring to the table? I have a broad focus; it’s the
way we think in HR.” Using her recruiting experience, now Charlotte is helping
the board to hire an auditor. She said her HR training will be useful in helping
the organization deal with the change that comes from growth, and she is
helping to plan the board retreat, when the board will work on the strategic
plan.
“What I appreciated was that the organization understood I was interested in
helping them, but not by doing hands-on volunteer work. Community in Schools
recognized that they need people like me to help in other ways.”
31
Okay!
I’m convinced!
What do I do now?
STEP ONE
Decide Where You Want to Get Involved
Ask yourself:
1. What causes do I care about most? Board service is serious work; you’ll do your
best where you feel the greatest passion. No amount of networking and
professional development will make up for serving at an organization you don’t
care deeply about.
2. What type of organization and board will best match my personal interests
and working style? That first question was actually a soft ball; you can probably
identify the issues that interest you without difficulty. Think also about the style of
board where you will be most effective, and ask the nonprofit questions about its
style of operation. New organizations or those undergoing great change often
need more hands-on help from board members; you are most likely to be doing
hiring and HR management projects at this type of organization. As organizations
mature, the work of the board becomes more strategic.
Once you have decided where your interests lie, what size and type of
organization you might want to join, and what you are expecting from board
participation, you will be ready to find a nonprofit that is a good match for you.
The next question is: what board, and how do I find it?
34
STEP TWO
Find an Organization That Feels Right
1. Your business may have a formal or informal program that helps locate nonprofits
looking for board members.
2. If your business has a corporate foundation, it is likely to have relationships with a
number of nonprofits. The foundation may be interested in having corporate
employees sit on the boards of its grantees; however, some foundations do not
want to risk the appearance that they are trying to scrutinize their grantees at the
close range of board participation. Even if you represent the interests of your
corporate foundation on a nonprofit board, your obligation as a board member
is to act in the best interests of the nonprofit.
3. There may be a matching service in your community. Try the local United Way or
your local community foundation.
4. Look online. BoardSource and Bridgespan have a board matching service,
www.bridgespan.org, as does All for Good, the volunteer-matching arm of the
Corporation for National and Community Service, www.allforgood.org. Check
online search engines to find other matching services.
5. Ask people you know who are involved in the nonprofit sector. Referrals from
trusted friends or colleagues can be extremely helpful, but remember to do your
homework to make sure that you are satisfied with your choice.
6. Still not sure? Try pro bono service at a nonprofit that interests you, as it often is a
great way to “date” before “marriage.” Visit www.taprootfoundation.org for
information on how pro bono works.
35
STEP THREE
Do Your Due Diligence
You’ve identified an organization, but finding the right board is kind of like
finding the right employer. To determine whether you have the right things to
offer each other, find out everything you can about the organization. If you have
already been identified as a candidate for a board position, you can go directly
to the board or chief executive for information, but if you are in the “just
looking” stage, you may need to rely on search engines and social networking
sites for information. Visit the organization’s Web site and sign up for newsletter
or blog updates, if available.
Now, check out www.guidestar.org. If the organization is large enough to file a
Form 990 with the IRS, Guidestar will have a record of its most recently filed
return. The information you find may not be from the most current year, but it
will give you an idea of the organization’s financial situation.
36
PART TWO:
FOR BOARDS AND CHIEF EXECUTIVES
How Nonprofit Boards Can Benefit from Including
HR Professionals
HUMAN RESOURCES LITERACY
As part of their mutual commitment to building the capacity of the nonprofit
sector to achieve its overall mission of creating a better society, BoardSource and
the Taproot Foundation teamed up to investigate how the skills and talents of
professionals in the private sector might be leveraged for the nonprofit sector. In
particular, we wondered why more organizations don’t seek out HR professionals
for their boards. We interviewed and surveyed HR professionals — those who
serve on nonprofit boards and those who do not — to learn about their
experiences with board service and their attitudes towards it.
Those HR professionals who serve on nonprofit boards told us that they believed
they brought a critical lens to the board, through their knowledge of the
importance of human capital. We interviewed the executive director of an
organization that has an HR professional on its board; she told us she expects
board members who are engaged and strategic and was thrilled to find those
qualities: “Having an HR professional on the board is incredibly helpful. HR
professionals understand human behavior and know how to look at dynamics,
and resolve conflicts.”
We found out that while many of these professionals are interested in board
service, they didn’t know how to go about finding a board to serve on. They
believe their human resources skills would make them great board members.
One survey respondent said, “Many nonprofits lack the financial resources and
knowledge to optimize the capabilities of both staff and board members. An HR
executive could provide the perspective and tools to guide the nonprofit to
improved performance. The HR role on the board can focus the leaders on
organizational performance.”
Y OU N EED T HEM
To help your board make the best decisions possible, you need diversity of
thought, perspective, demographics, background, experience, and most
important of all, competence. Like all boards, you seek members who have the
competence you know you need: legal expertise, perhaps; but almost always
financial expertise.
39
F INANCIAL L ITERACY
ABOUT T HIS O NE
— Y OU A LREADY K NOW
All board members are expected to have, or obtain once on the board, “financial
literacy.” The accountant or financial expert on the board is expected to weigh in
with especial authority on matters of money, and by teaching and example, raise
the level of financial literacy of the board. That individual is a fully functioning
member of the board and involved in all aspects of board work, but might, for
example, be an exceptionally fine audit committee chair, or investment
committee member, thereby utilizing his or her special expertise to full
advantage, while sharing it with the board.
I NTRODUCING H UMAN R ESOURCES L ITERACY
Can anyone argue that the employees of your organization are assets on a par
with its financial assets? The human resources professional understands the
importance of human capital as one of the most critical organizational resources
to be understood, nurtured, and overseen by your board.
That’s why the HR professional makes an ideal nonprofit board member. Not to
perform HR functions for the nonprofit, but to help the rest of the board
understand how important human capital is, in all its forms. HR professionals
resources literacy, just as the financial expert raises its level of financial literacy.
And why not? Humans are far more important than money.
Human resources literacy. Every board needs it.
Ninety-six percent of HR professionals serving on boards said it was important
to have an opportunity to share their human resources expertise with their
organization.
40
TEN WAYS HR PROFESSIONALS
CAN DRIVE IMPACT FOR A BOARD
There are many different HR specialties and not all HR professionals engage in all
HR activities. We have generalized here, with the understanding that each
individual brings a different skill set to the boardroom, depending upon his or
her specific human capital focus.
What all HR professionals do have in common is bringing a specific and highly
valuable lens to the boardroom. Here are 10 ways your board can engage and
leverage the talents of a human resources professional. We’ve included
comments from survey respondents and interviewees about their own
experiences.
1
PREACH THE GOSPEL OF
TALENT MANAGEMENT PLANS.
Nonprofits often live in a “make do
with what you have” type of
environment. Many are woefully
under-resourced and understaffed,
which can create a variety of
challenges, including staff burnout
and turnover, lack of adequate
expertise in key areas, and lowered
expectations or goals, to name just a
few.
The sad reality is that too many
nonprofit organizations lack the
human time, talent, and skills they
need to achieve their missions. HR
professionals serving on a board can
help the organization identify the
importance of managing the talent of
the organization, all the way from the
board to the chief executive to the
staff to the interns to the volunteers,
starting with a talent management
plan.
A talent management plan doesn’t
eliminate staff burnout or magically
identify dollars to bring new talent
into the organization, but it does help
the organization think strategically
about how it can fully leverage the
time, talent and skills available to it.
A talent management plan seeks to
identify the human needs of the
organization and build its capacity for
recruitment, retention, professional
development, and performance
management to ensure that the
organization is fully leveraging the
dollars it invests in talent, however
limited those dollars might be.
A talent management plan also helps
to identify innovative ways that
organizations can bring talent into the
organization, which is not limited to
paid staff. Volunteers, interns, and pro
bono workers can be an integral part
of an organization’s talent pool,
possibly freeing up staff time to focus
on other priorities, or even allowing
the organization to eliminate certain
positions and add or upgrade other
positions.
In addition to highlighting the
importance of a talent management
plan, an HR professional can serve as
a resource to the chief executive as
they develop and maintain the plan.
Whether or not, the organization has
a paid HR professional, a board
member with expertise in HR can
serve as a confidential sounding board
for the chief executive on some of the
tough questions around organizational
needs, assets, and vulnerabilities.
The creation of a talent management
plan, combined with thoughtful input
from well-informed board members,
can help ensure that a nonprofit
organization is not allowing a lack of
staff resources or talents to limit its
fulfillment of its mission. Talent
management means making it
happen, not “making do.”
“I wanted to make sure that we had good retention strategies in place…it
would be devastating to lose [the chief executive] for a lack of proper policies
or a noncompetitive salary.”
42
FIND ACCESS TO PRO BONO
HR RESOURCES.
What if nonprofits had access to the
same HR resources as corporations?
Imagine how helpful these might be
in board recruitment, performance
management, HR systems, and staff
development for the organization.
The HR professional has the ability to
help assess an organization’s HR needs
and suggest where pro bono could
be of most value. Setting the scope for
the engagement is a critical step. The
professional can leverage relationships
within his or her HR network or
company to help your nonprofit
address its most pressing HR needs.
Seek out an internal functional
champion and find out who’s already
doing pro bono work within your
company. Determine the right fit —
perhaps a team of professionals
dedicated to mapping your
organization’s current and future
staffing needs, perhaps a coach or
mentor for the HR manager, or maybe
a loaned employee dedicated to a
large-scale HR project. Finally, ensure
there is proper support for the
engagement.
2
talent, and must understand that the
project will be done in “pro bono
time,” which is almost always slower
than paid consulting. However, if
managed effectively, pro bono has the
potential to infuse valuable resources
and long-lasting, invaluable
relationships.
Remember, the role of a board
member is to help get your
organization the resources it needs,
and pro bono is no exception. The
professional will tap his or her
network, help scope the project,
screen the talent, and support the pro
bono engagement — but should not
micromanage it. Use Taproot’s tools
listed in the Resources section of this
handbook to help your organization
get the pro bono resources it needs to
thrive.
A few words of caution. Pro bono isn’t
free — it’s an investment of time,
energy, and talent. Your nonprofit
must be ready to spend the time
necessary to support its pro bono
“There’s always a need for pro bono. I’ve never met a nonprofit organization
that isn’t stretched beyond full capacity. Two pieces that are needed: (1) a
compelling case made for pro bono service to be provided to the nonprofit
organization; they need to be made aware of the necessity and the potential
value of a pro bono consulting engagement, and (2) both parties need to be
clear in contracting — what are the roles each side needs to play to have a
successful outcome. Nonprofit readiness is key.”
43
3
COUNSEL THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE
DURING PERSONNEL CRISIS SITUATIONS.
The role of chief executive can be a
lonely one. Unlike most of the
individuals affiliated with an
organization, the chief executive is
without a peer. Despite its role as the
chief executive’s supervisor, the board
can play an important role of peer
and colleague to the chief executive,
creating a sort of “kitchen cabinet” for
him or her to help talk through or
address issues with which the chief
executive might be struggling.
An HR professional could be an
extremely valuable member of this
“kitchen cabinet” for the chief
executive, particularly as it relates to
providing counsel and feedback on
crisis situations with personnel.
Imagine how helpful it would be to
the chief executive — who is most
likely not an HR professional — to be
able to speak openly with a board
member about planned layoffs in the
organization’s future, and how best to
handle them with both the affected
employees and those who will remain.
Or the comfort that it would provide
to be able to talk through the
potential firing of a top employee.
Without someone in this advisory role
with the chief executive, these types
of decisions would likely be made
independently by the chief executive,
or be brought into a group setting
with the board, both of which can
create some very specific challenges.
Decisions made in isolation and
without consultation or input from
others can be skewed, impulsive, or illconsidered. Decisions made in a
group setting — especially HR
decisions — can be susceptible to
dramatic overstatement, competing
motivations and loyalties, and
confidentiality breaches.
Having an HR professional on the
board who is willing to play this
advisory role with the chief executive
can go a long way to ensuring that
the chief executive is not isolated in
the decision making as it relates to
organizational staffing issues. And that
makes for better decisions, less drama,
and a happier chief executive.
“I assisted in an emergency board meeting and helped investigate a sexual
harassment case between an employee and program manager.”
44
CHANGE MANAGEMENT.
Change is hard. Even small changes can
create confusion, anxiety, and distress
among groups of people. HR
professionals are used to managing
change within organizations, and are
masterful when it comes to
understanding and finessing the wide
range of human reactions to change.
They understand that you have to invest
time and energy into managing the
change, otherwise you risk having to
invest more time and energy into
managing noncompliance, low morale,
and turnover.
This perspective on change management
can be very valuable within the
boardroom. An HR professional can help
ensure that board decisions account for
the necessary investment in change
management. Consider, for example, a
board decision about whether or not to
change the location of an organization’s
headquarters from one city to another.
Certainly, most — if not all — board
members would understand that doing
so would likely result in a significant
change in the makeup of the staff.
There would be staff members who
would not want to make the move, and
therefore would leave their position with
the organization. But an HR professional
could help the board think through how
best to manage that change, focusing
on the importance of effective
communication about the decision,
innovative ways to staff the organization
during the transition, and creating a
4
budget that gives the chief executive the
resources he or she will need to
aggressively court star performers to
make the move with the organization.
Similarly, an HR professional can help
manage change within the board itself.
Consider an organization that has grown
its staff and now has the staff resources
to fully manage and execute the
programs of the organization, but had
previously relied on individual board
members to fulfill those functions. The
board is now grappling with the fact that
it has board members who feel displaced
or underutilized, and are not interested
in taking on a more governing role with
the organization.
At its core, this change management
scenario is a question of human
resources. What human resources does
this board need to succeed in its new
governing role, how does that align with
the existing set of board members, and
what is the plan for addressing any
necessary realignment? An HR
professional can help focus the board on
those key questions, and ensure that the
conversation remains focused on the
needs of the organization, rather than
devolving into a debate over the value
or contributions of individual board
members.
Change management falls into the
category of “easier said than done”;
fortunately, that’s the HR professional’s
specialty.
“Organizations are growing and dealing with the changes that go along
with that.”
45
5
SERVE ON THE
GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE.
Governance committees are a
relatively new phenomenon in
nonprofit governance, and they are
helping to revolutionize the ways that
boards work. In many boardrooms,
they have replaced the nominating
committee, the compensation
committee, or even the human
resources committee.
Bottom line: HR professionals are
poised to serve on governance
committees and provide better, faster,
and more relevant guidance to the
organization on critical issues related
to people and performance. And that’s
just the kind of efficiency and
effectiveness that any HR professional
can appreciate.
The governance committee is
responsible for guiding the
recruitment and orientation strategy
for the board, as well as helping the
board to critically self-reflect on its
own strengths, challenges, and
weakness as a board. In short, the
governance committee is a nonprofit
board’s version of a human resources
department, managing the people
and performance of the board.
Given all that, it’s fitting that HR
professionals would be naturals for the
governance committee. It requires all
of the same skills in terms of
understanding people and talents,
handling sensitive issues of
performance, and helping the board
value the people that it takes to do
the important work of the
organization, both at the board and
staff level.
“I’ve found my work on the governance committee very rewarding. Being a
seasoned organizational development professional, I feel I have been utilized in
the organization’s efforts to transcend its business as usual and to create a
sustainable legacy.”
46
LEVERAGE THE TALENTS AND SKILLS
OF BOARD MEMBERS.
HR professionals are sometimes
accused of being the “touchy feely”
folks. The reality is, HR professionals
are all about the bottom line: Work
doesn’t get done without people to
do it. And it can’t be just any people,
it has to be the right people, with the
right skill sets, and the right level of
motivation and commitment.
Your organization can have the
greatest mission or idea in the world,
but if you don’t have the people
whom you need to work toward your
goals or implement your work, you
don’t have much. And the work of
your board is no different. You need a
strong and skilled board, not because
the IRS requires it, but because you
cannot fully achieve your mission
without passionate, strategic, and
forward-thinking leadership, both in
the boardroom and in the CEO’s
office. And that’s the job of the board,
and each individual board leader.
6
But, just as there is with any position
or role, individuals need to
understand the opportunities,
responsibilities, and expectations of
board leadership. And HR
professionals are pros — literally —
when it comes to formalizing the
expectations of a position, building on
the skills of a diverse set of employees,
and finding ways to help individuals
find the right role for them, even if it’s
not within the organization.
HR people don’t just lead the camels
to water, they identify what kind of
camels are needed, find them, train
them, and motivate them to — not
make them — drink. It’s not for the
faint of heart, but it’s a role that HR
professionals take on each and every
day.
“Companies are now recognizing the importance of HR, how well companies
engage their talent; at nonprofits, you have the ability to demonstrate the
differences between passive HR policies and proactive HR policies.”
47
7
HELP WITH HIRING AND,
WHEN NECESSARY, FIRING
The board is responsible for ensuring
that the organization has the right
chief executive on board. Few would
disagree with the view that a strong
chief executive is critical to the success
of an organization. The chief executive
is the leader of the staff, the
implementer of strategy, and the
highest-ranking individual who
dedicates 100 percent of his or her
professional energies to the success of
the organization. There’s no question
that if the organization doesn’t have
the right person in the chief
executive’s office, it is severely
hindered in its ability to fulfill its
mission. The HR professional can help
guide a needs assessment to ensure
that the board is seeking out
candidates who have the skills and
talents the organization needs in a
chief executive.
handle that transition professionally,
confidentially, and strategically. The
professional understands the legal
landscape as it relates to termination
of employment and has knowledge of
and access to search resources and
skills. Finally, one of the professional’s
fundamental skills, that of recognizing
talent, will be extremely useful in
succession planning — looking
beyond the current chief executive to
senior management to identify the line
of succession — temporary or
otherwise — in the event of a
departing chief executive. Some forprofits have an “organization”
committee that connects the board to
HR staff, who report on up-andcoming talent; there’s no reason why
you couldn’t encourage your
organization to emulate that model.
He or she can also be extremely
helpful when there are transitions in
leadership, whether as the result of
the chief executive choosing to leave
the organization, or a chief executive
that has been removed from their
position by the board — fired. The
latter, in particular, requires tact and
discretion. In either case, the HR
professional can help the board
“[The board member with human resources expertise] was on my search committee
and was very integral in the process. Our most valuable resource is human capital
and this person puts us in a position to attract other leaders with competency and
strategic direction.”
48
HELP WITH MANAGEMENT AND
REGULAR ASSESSMENT
OF THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE.
Some board members think that
management of the chief executive
kicks in only when there’s a leadership
transition or when a chief executive is
leaving the organization. But the
reality is, the board is the chief
executive’s boss, and that’s an
ongoing, day-in, day-out responsibility
of the board, not an episodic
engagement every few years.
Board members can feel
uncomfortable about this role of
managing the chief executive, and
that’s a way in which the HR
professional can make a big
difference. Chief executives are like
any other employee; they need
ongoing feedback and engagement
on performance, goals, compensation,
and professional development. The HR
professional understands the
importance of effective management
of employees, and can help the board
understand and fulfill its management
role with the chief executive.
8
practices as it relates to employee
performance management, as well as
experience handling delicate or
sensitive issues ethically and
confidentially.
Setting goals — and honest
conversations about progress toward
those goals — is a basic element of
performance management and
employee success. The board — as
the official “boss” of the chief executive
— is responsible for engaging the
chief executive in regular
conversations about his or her
performance, ideally through regular
and formal performance evaluations.
Most HR professionals do this every
day, and will be comfortable leading
the board in the exercise.
He or she understands the importance
of evaluating the chief executive, and
can help guide that process in a way
that ensures that it accomplishes its
goals of increasing communication
and performance. The HR
professional can share his or her
specialized knowledge of best
“The board recognized that the executive director’s performance wasn’t where
it needed to be...[but if] performance expectations are not clearly outlined [it
is] impossible to approach [the] individual to assess [his or her] performance.”
49
9
HELP DEVELOP COMPENSATION
PHILOSOPHIES AND POLICIES, AND
DETERMINE CHIEF EXECUTIVE
COMPENSATION.
Whether the board has a separate
compensation committee for handling
the chief executive’s compensation
package or the process is handled by
the entire board, there’s no place the
HR professional’s skills and expertise
could be better leveraged.
Determining appropriate levels of
compensation is a high-stakes venture,
particularly in an era where nonprofits
are scrutinized by donors, legislators,
and regulators alike, based on the
compensation of their top paid
employee.
The professional also understands the
sensitive nature of all issues related to
compensation, and the importance of
fairness, respect, and confidentiality,
and how personal the issue of
compensation can be, feeling to some
like a numeric indicator of their
personal value and worth.
Understanding that appropriate
compensation is both a science and
an art, the professional is practiced in
using benchmarking data on
compensation, as well as the more
subjective variables around specialized
skill sets, reputational capital, and the
costs associated with transition and
staff changes.
“I was able to help with researching best practices, contribute to developing a
contract for [the executive director] and also look at salary levels to inform
the appropriate level of compensation. I wanted to make sure that we had good
retention strategies in place because she works really hard and we need to do
right by her. It would be devastating to lose her for a lack of proper policies
or noncompetitive salary.”
50
HELP LEAD THE BOARD THROUGH
A SELF-ASSESSMENT PROCESS.
He or she is comfortable when it
comes to weighing the combined —
or even competing — variables of
organizational needs, personal
emotions and motivations, and the
realities and trends within the bigger,
broader world. Helping the board
develop a compensation philosophy
and policies that embody the
organization’s overall culture, values,
goals, and mission — and gaining
agreement that they will be followed
— will ensure that stakeholders both
within and without are in agreement
with the board’s compensation
decisions.
Just as it is important to assess and
evaluate the chief executive, the board
needs to assess and evaluate itself.
The board is its own boss, and it is
responsible for holding itself and its
members accountable.
But self-assessment can be a tricky
thing to maneuver successfully.
What’s to stop board members from
giving themselves high marks, just to
keep things easy and peaceful? Or,
conversely, how does the group
navigate conversations about a selfassessment that calls into question the
effectiveness of an individual board
member or the board as a whole?
10
HR professionals can help the board
navigate these tricky waters. They can
keep the group focused on the goals
of the self-assessment: to understand
areas of strength and challenge, and
to help the board strengthen its role in
supporting the organization’s mission.
They can also help identify land mines
and ensure the proper resources or
approaches to dealing with them,
whether that’s encouraging the board
to hire an external facilitator to help
guide them through a conversation
about the self-assessment, or
establishing ground rules for the
group conversation to ensure that
board members are respectful of each
other.
A successful self-assessment needs to
focus on organizational performance
and goals, but do so in a way that
values and respects the people
involved. Sounds like a job description
for a position in human resources,
doesn’t it?
“Because of the very nature of HR, you’re always thinking about what else
needs to be done — what could I do to improve this process, what can I bring
to the table? I don’t know if other people, besides HR professionals, come to
the board with that mind-set.”
51
Okay!
I’m convinced!
How can I find
a human resources
professional for
my board?
53
STEP ONE
Determine the Type of HR Firepower You
Need.
As we’ve written, there are many different HR specialties and not all HR
professionals engage in all HR activities. What kind of help do you need? See
Appendix 3 for a detailed list of HR specialties and decide what competencies
will best suit your board’s needs.
STEP TWO
Find the HR Professional for Your Board.
Human resources professionals, like all potential board members, are to be found
in a variety of places. One of your board members or staff may know someone,
or you can begin a more targeted search. Here are some suggestions:
Corporations
Many corporations have volunteer service and matching programs. Some offer
governance or other preparatory training for their employees, then seek to place
them on nonprofit boards. Call corporations in your area to find out if they have
such a program and discuss your interest in placing an HR professional on your
board. (If they don’t have a board training or matching program, tell them
nonprofit board service is a great way to connect their employees with their
communities.)
Board Matching Web Sites
Some volunteer-match Web sites include board positions as a form of
volunteerism. For free, or a very nominal fee, your organization can post a
position and specify your interest in an HR professional for your board. Examples
are the Corporation for National and Community Service, www.serve.gov and
www.allforgood.org; and VolunteerMatch www.volunteermatch.org. Some focus
on the nonprofit sector in general, and include both board listings and paid,
nonprofit positions, like Idealist, www.idealist.org, and Bridgespan,
www.bridgespan.org.
Bridgespan is also a search firm, which focuses on the nonprofit sector, as is The
360 Group, www.the360group.us. These fee-based options may be appropriate
for board positions of large, or national, nonprofits.
54
Professional Associations
Like most professionals, marketers have their own associations for networking
and professional development. While these organizations are not likely to
match their members with boards per se, they have conferences and
educational programs that might present opportunities for you to connect
with potential board members. Consider calling the membership department
to determine whether they provide volunteer information for their members.
Examples of associations of HR professionals include:
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) www.shrm.org
National Association of Personnel Services (NAPS) www.recruitinglife.com
National Human Resources Association (NHRA) www.humanresources.org
American Association for Affirmative Action (AAAA)
www.affirmativeaction.org
Professionals of all kinds (not necessarily HR professionals, however) often join
groups organized around their particular demographic group, for example:
National Association of Professional and Executive Women (NAPEW)
www.napew.com
National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA) www.nbmbaa.org
National Hispanic Professional Organization (NHPO) www.nhpo.us
STEP THREE
Once you have identified one or more candidates, begin the recruitment
process. Discuss the candidates with the board, and assign a board member to
contact the individual to gauge interest. If he or she is interested, invite the
professional to an informal meeting, over a meal, for example, to determine
whether it’s a good fit.
For more information on recruitment and onboarding, see the list of Resources at
the end of this book, especially The Board Building Cycle: Navigating the
Organizational Lifecycle: A Capacity-Building Guide for Nonprofit Leaders.
55
APPENDIX 1
I NTERVIEW S UBJECTS
FOR THIS
P ROJECT
BoardSource and the Taproot Foundation are grateful to the following
individuals for consenting to be interviewed for this project. We deeply
appreciate their time, their insights, and their commitment to helping us
make this important connection.
Penny Allen
Director of Learning & Development,
Credit Suisse
Matt Aspin
Training and Development Manager, BECU
LeTrice Buck
HR Manager, Talent Acquisition
Timothy Hornbecker
CEO, The Arc of San Francisco
Toni Labelle
New York Women’s Foundation
Kara Leppert
Partner, SBR Nonprofit Executive Search
Ana Oliveria
CEO, New York Women’s Foundation
Stacy Proctor
VP, Human Resources, Associated Third
Party Administrators
Cyndi Smith
Director of Partnerships and Programs,
Cornerstone on Demand Foundation
Charlotte Stuart
VP of Organizational Performance and
Development, BECU
57
APPENDIX 2
SURVEY METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS
THE HR PROFESSIONAL AND BOARD SERVICE
To inform this report, BoardSource and the Taproot Foundation surveyed 103
human resources professionals to determine their attitudes and experience
regarding board service. Thirty of the respondents serve or had served on a
nonprofit board; 73 had not.
HR P ROFESSIONALS W HO H AVE S ERVED
ON
N ONPROFIT B OARDS
These HR professionals are evenly split between serving or having served on
nonprofit boards for one to three years, and four or more years, at 43 percent
each. Fourteen percent have served less than one year. About half (54%) have
served on one board and the other half (46%) on two to six.
Fifty percent of the organizations on whose boards they serve did not have
dedicated HR staff. The most common onramp to board service for these
professionals was as volunteers at the organization, at 39 percent. Seven percent
had been donors and 7 percent had performed pro bono service. They were
about evenly divided as to whether they believed they were recruited for their
human resources background.
W HY J OIN
A
B OARD
We asked these professionals what their primary reasons were for choosing to
serve on nonprofit boards, beyond supporting the mission of the organization.
The most common reason selected, at 61 percent, was they had a positive
experience with pro bono or volunteer service at the organization, and wanted
to do more. Other top reasons to serve was to use their skills to help the
nonprofit, and for professional networking.
W HAT H APPENED W HEN T HEY J OINED ?
A full 96 percent of these professionals reported that it was important to
share their human resources expertise with the organization. When we
asked how their human resources skills and expertise are leveraged by the
nonprofit boards they’ve served on, we found that 68 percent felt their HR
skills had been utilized in some way.
59
Most striking was that 61 percent of respondents reported that they have
provided counsel to the chief executive during crisis situations involving
personnel. Half have participated in efforts to recruit and engage new board
members, 46 percent have helped lead the board’s efforts to leverage the skills
and talents of each board member, and 45 percent have helped lead the board’s
efforts to fully engage board members. Rounding out the top choices, 43
percent have helped lead the board through the assessment of the chief
executive and 36 percent have served on the board’s governance committee.
T HE “R OLE ”
OF THE
HR P ROFESSIONAL
ON THE
B OARD
We asked what the “role” of an HR professional should be on the board. We
asked this question in an advisory capacity, to determine how boards might
better engage HR professionals by leveraging their unique skills, with the
understanding that all board members are equals and there is no “HR role”
per se.
The respondents selected as most important (1) playing a role in the strategic
planning process; (2) hiring and evaluation of the chief executive; and (3)
organizational values articulation. Board member recruitment and evaluation and
proactively managing human capital of the organization ranked fourth and fifth.
H OW H AS I T B EEN ?
Finally, we asked the HR professionals about their satisfaction with their board
service; 86 percent have been pleased with their experiences. A third of that
“satisfied” group, however, said they would have like to have had their human
resources skills and talents better leveraged by the organization.
HR P ROFESSIONALS W HO H AVE N OT S ERVED
ON
N ONPROFIT B OARDS
Eighty-seven percent of this group expressed at least some interest in serving on
a nonprofit board; no respondents reported zero interest. The others reported
they didn’t know enough about nonprofit board service to answer one way or
the other. When asked what kept them from joining (and they could select all
that apply), the number one response was they didn’t know where to start or
whom to approach, at 53 percent. Next, at 43 percent, was a reluctance to take
on the fundraising responsibilities sometimes associated with a board position,
and third, at 33 percent, was the time commitment. Close behind were the 27
percent who didn’t know what role they could play on a board. Only 17 percent
of these HR professionals had ever been invited to serve on a nonprofit board.
However, fully three-quarters of them had provided professional services or
expertise, pro bono, to a nonprofit organization.
60
W HERE
TO GO TO
F IND
A
B OARD
When asked to imagine where they would turn if they were interested in board
service, half said a professional association, a third (36%) said “friends,” onequarter said colleagues at work, another quarter said nonprofit staff, and 6
percent said their company’s matching program. (Respondents could choose
more than one answer.)
R EASONS
TO
S ERVE
ON A
N ONPROFIT B OARD
We asked this group what would be the most compelling reasons for them to
consider joining a nonprofit board, beyond supporting the organization’s
mission. The top three were (1) professional skill development; (2) professional
networking; and (3) personal networking. Write-in responses focused primarily
on the motivation of helping others.
If they were to join a board, all but 3 percent said it would be important to have
an opportunity to share their human resources expertise with the organization.
When asked for specific activities that would encourage them, as HR
professionals, to serve on a nonprofit board, the number one choice was
“developing or reviewing a talent management plan”; a tie for second place
choice: “helping the board identify ways to leverage the skills and talents of each
individual board member” and “working directly with a staff counterpart to
provide guidance and feedback on human resources issues.” Third and fourth
choices were “providing counsel to the chief executive during crisis situations
involving personnel” and “providing pro bono human resource services to the
organization, as part of my financial support of the organization.” When asked to
choose one “most appealing” use of their talents, respondents chose providing
counsel to the chief executive during crisis situations involving personnel.
T HE “R OLE ”
OF THE
HR P ROFESSIONAL
ON THE
B OARD
We asked these HR professionals who do not serve on boards what the “role” of
an HR professional should be on the board, just as we asked those who do serve
on boards. As a reminder, we asked this question in an advisory capacity, with
the understanding that all board members are equals and there is no “HR role”
per se.
The number one choice for this group was “playing a role in the strategic
planning process,” the same as the professionals who have served on
boards. That was followed by “organizational values articulation and evaluation”
and “board member recruitment and evaluation.” “Hiring and evaluation of the
chief executive” and “proactively managing human capital of the organization”
ranked fourth and fifth. The relatively low ranking of hiring and evaluation of the
chief executive by this group may reflect their understandable unfamiliarity with
this critical board function.
61
APPENDIX 3
U NDERSTANDING HR
So now what? How do you find the right HR professional with the expertise and
skill set to help address your organization’s needs? Below is a list of HR
professions from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to help you understand the
HR field and who might be the right fit for your nonprofit board.
G ENERALIST
Human resources generalist: At a smaller organization, a human resources
generalist may handle all aspects of human resources work, and thus require an
extensive range of knowledge. In a large corporation, the director of human
resources may supervise several departments, each headed by an experienced
manager who most likely specializes in one human resources activity, such as
employment and placement, compensation and benefits, training and
development, or labor relations or in implementing HR information and
management systems.
O RGANIZATIONAL
AND
E MPLOYEE D EVELOPEMENT
Organizational development specialist, director of talent development: The
organizational and employee development discipline deals with the overall
arrangement of the organization and its functions, including both the long-term
and short-term identification and development of its human resources. It includes
the process of enhancing the effectiveness of an organization and the well-being
of its members through planned interventions; the set of systematic and planned
activities designed by an organization to provide its members with the necessary
skills to meet current and future job demands; coaching and training; succession
planning; and other aspects of leadership and skills development.
R ECRUITMENT
Employment and placement manager: supervises the recruitment, hiring, and
separation of employees. They also supervise employment, recruitment, and
placement specialists, including employment interviewers.
Recruitment specialist: maintains contacts within the community and may travel
considerably, often to job fairs and college campuses, to search for promising
job applicants. Recruiters screen, interview, and occasionally test applicants. They
also may check references and extend job offers.
Employment interviewer, human resources consultant, human resources
development specialist, and human resources coordinator: These individuals
help to match employers with qualified jobseekers. Similarly, employer relations
representatives, who usually work in government agencies or college career
centers, maintain working relationships with prospective employers and promote
the use of public employment programs and services.
63
T RAINING
Public relations manager: Public relations managers plan and direct public
relations programs designed to create and maintain a favorable public image for
the employer or client. For example, they might write press releases or sponsor
corporate events to help maintain and improve the image and identity of the
company or client. They also help to clarify the organization’s point of view to
their main constituency. Public relations managers often specialize in a specific
area, such as crisis management, or in a specific industry.
S TAFFING M ANAGEMENT
Staffing manager, staffing specialist: The staffing management discipline deals
with the strategies, tactics, and processes for identifying, recruiting, and retaining
the human resources needed to support all business activities both currently and
in the future. It includes developing, implementing, and evaluating programs —
in compliance with equal employment opportunity laws and regulations — for
sourcing, recruiting, hiring, orienting, and retaining talent, as well as for
succession planning and organizational exit. Staffing specialists usually handle all
EEO (equal employment opportunity), visa compliance, labor laws, and there are
specific managers also dedicated to these subspecialties.
B ENEFITS
Employee benefits managers and specialists: administer a company’s
employee benefits program, notably its health insurance and retirement plans.
Expertise in designing, negotiating, and administering benefits programs
continues to take on importance as employer-provided benefits account for a
growing proportion of overall compensation costs, and as benefit plans increase
in number and complexity.
Employee assistance plan managers: also called employee welfare managers
or work-life managers, are responsible for a wide array of programs to enhance
employee safety and wellness and improve work-life balance. These may include
occupational safety and health standards and practices, health promotion and
physical fitness, medical examinations and minor health treatment, such as first
aid, flexible work schedules, food service and recreation activities, carpooling
and transportation programs such as transit subsidies, employee suggestion
systems, child care and elder care, and counseling services.
C OMPENSATION
Compensation manager: establishes and maintains a firm’s pay structure.
Assisted by compensation analysts or specialists, compensation managers devise
ways to ensure fair and equitable pay rates. They may participate in or purchase
salary surveys to see how their firm’s pay compares with others, and they ensure
that the firm’s pay scale complies with changing laws and regulations. In
addition, compensation managers often oversee the compensation side of their
company’s performance management system.
For more information, visit the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ web site
(www.bls.gov) or the Society for Human Resource Management’s web site
(www.shrm.org).
64
APPENDIX 4
T HE S TRANGE
AND
W ONDERFUL C HEMISTRY
OF THE
B OARDROOM
In many ways, boards are just like any other group. They are made up of
people, all of whom bring their eclectic collection of traits — the good, the bad,
and the ugly — to the boardroom. Tasked with oversight of the organization,
each board member brings a different perspective to the table. Discussions can
— and should — be lively, and ultimately the board makes decisions concerning
the organization’s operations, its finances, its staff, its future, and most important,
its mission and how it will deliver on the promise implied in the mission.
To make the best decisions, boards NEED those different perspectives. The most
effective boards are those that think critically about their strategic direction —
today, next year, and for the years to come — and decide what skill sets,
knowledge base, and characteristics they need to get them there. The board
that doesn’t recognize how changing demographics, nationwide and local, will
affect stakeholders and service recipients will be seriously disadvantaged, and the
proactive board will ensure that all voices are at the table and listened to.
Developing a board matrix can help boards determine their strengths and
weaknesses and develop a path forward for board development and better
decisions through diversity of viewpoints. Clearly it is our view that the HR
professional provides one of those critical viewpoints. Here is a brief example of
others; see The Handbook of Nonprofit Governance for a worksheet to help you
develop a detailed matrix for your board (BoardSource, 2010).
1
2
3
4
A
B
C
D
Age
Gender
Areas of Expertise
Marketing
HR
Community Connections
Corporate
Etc.
65
RESOURCES
B OOKS : B OARD S ERVICE
• Axelrod, Nancy R. Culture of Inquiry: Healthy Debate in the Boardroom.
BoardSource, 2007.
• BoardSource. The Business Professional’s Guide to Nonprofit Board Service.
BoardSource, 2010.
• BoardSource. The Source: Twelve Principles of Governance That Power
Exceptional Boards. BoardSource, 2005.
• Butler, Lawrence M. The Nonprofit Dashboard: A Tool for Tracking Progress.
BoardSource, 2007.
• Connolly, Paul M. Navigating the Organizational Lifecycle: A CapacityBuilding Guide for Nonprofit Leaders. BoardSource, 2006.
• Dambach, Charles F., Melissa Davis, and Robert L. Gale. Structures and
Practices of Nonprofit Boards, Second Edition. BoardSource, 2009.
• Lakey, Berit M. The Board Building Cycle: Navigating the Organizational
Lifecycle: A Capacity-Building Guide for Nonprofit Leaders. BoardSource,
2007.
• Lakey, Berit M. Board Fundamentals: Understanding Roles in Nonprofit
Governance, Second Edition. BoardSource, 2010.
• Lakey, Berit M., Sandra R. Hughes, and Outi Flynn. Governance Committee.
BoardSource, 2004.
• Lawrence, Barbara and Outi Flynn. The Nonprofit Policy Sampler.
BoardSource, 2006.
• Ober Kaler, Attorneys at Law. The Nonprofit Legal Landscape. BoardSource,
2005.
B OOKS : HR
AND
V OLUNTEERING
• Ramrayka, Liza. Employee Volunteering: The Guide. National Centre for
Volunteering 2001. www.energizeinc.com/store/1-204-E-1
• The Nonprofit Risk Management Center. No Surprises: Harmonizing Risk and
Reward in Volunteer Management, Fifth Edition. NRMC, 2009.
• The Nonprofit Risk Management Center. Taking the High Road: A Guide to
Effective and Legal Employment Practices for Nonprofits. NRMC, 2006.
• Shepherd, James W., Jr, “Strengthening Leadership and Human Resources
Capacity in the Nonprofit Sector: Pro Bono as a Powerful Solution”,
http://www.taprootfoundation.org/docs/Taproot-Strengthening-LeadershipHR-Capacity.pdf
67
A RTICLES
• “Providers of professional services on board,” BoardSource Topic Paper
• “So, you want to become a board member,” BoardSource Topic Paper
• Depoy-Warren, Samantha. “PR Professionals Encouraged to ‘Get on Board’.”
Maine PR Journal, Winter 2010.
http://civicleadership.org/files/2010/05/Winter2010MainePRJournal.pdf
• Dumont, Bryan. “Measuring Your Return on Reputation.” APCO, 2009.
• Dumont, Bryan and Mark Benson. “Understanding Your Most Valuable Asset.
Providing Information for Action.” Reputation Insight, 2007.
• Hammonds, Keith. “Why we hate HR.” FastCompany, August 1, 2005.
fastcompany.com/magazine/97/open_hr.html
• Lvovich, Stephanie. “It’s all about the reputation.” PRWeek, January 2009.
• Macey, William and Benjamin Schneider. “The Meaning of Employee
Engagement.” Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on
Science and Practice, 1(1), 3–30, February 2007.
• Otterbourg, Robert K. “Share Your Skills on a Nonprofit Board: Use Your Skills
from the Corporate World to Help a Nonprofit Fulfill its Mission.” Kiplinger’s
Retirement Report, January 2010. www.kiplinger.com/features/archives/krrshare-your-skills-on-a-nonprofit-board.html
• Roche, Joyce. “An Insider’s Perspective on Nonprofit Leadership.” Hermes,
April 16, 2009. www.gsb.columbia.edu/alumni/news/insider%E2%80%99sperspective-nonprofit-board-leadership
• Shepherd, James W., Jr. “Strengthening Leadership and Human Resources
Capacity in the Nonprofit Sector: Pro Bono as a Powerful Solution”
www.taprootfoundation.org/docs/Taproot-Strengthening-Leadership-HRCapacity.pdf
• Taylor, Bill. “Why We (Shouldn’t) Hate HR.” Harvard Business Review online,
June 10, 2010.
http://blogs.hbr.org/taylor/2010/06/why_we_shouldnt_hate_hr.html
68
W EB S ITES
• BoardSource www.boardsource.org
• Taproot Foundation www.taprootfoundation.org
• SHRM www.hr-guide.com/data/077.htm
• Energize Inc. www.energizeinc.com
• Free Management Library http://managementhelp.org/org_eval/uw_hr.htm
P RO B ONO R ESOURCES
Visit Taproot Foundation’s website at www.taprootfoundation.org to access its
pro bono resources. Use these resources to get buy-in from the right people
internally (typically HR or functional champions of the skill set you’d like to use)
• Competencies Map: Use to have informed conversations with nonprofit
partners and internal functional champions (e.g., HR heads if you’d like to
apply HR skills) about potential project types and the skills necessary.
• Corporate Community Engagement Spectrum
• Employee Engagement and Impact Magnitude chart
• Business Value Flashcards
Use these resources to set the most effective strategy for implementing a
program:
• Designing for Impact framework
• Pro Bono Standards & Valuation tools
69
K EEP
THE
C ONVERSATION G OING
If you are an HR professional who has served on a nonprofit
board or a chief executive or board member who has had HR
professionals on your board, please share your experiences
with the rest of the community. Please contact us at
[email protected] with your stories.
For information on how marketing professionals are a great
resource for nonprofit boards, please see “Marketing Literacy
for the Nonprofit Sector: Why Marketing Professionals Make
Great Board Members.” www.boardsource.org/bookstore.asp
70
ABOUT BOARDSOURCE
BoardSource is dedicated to advancing the public good by building exceptional
nonprofit boards and inspiring board service. BoardSource strives to support and
promote excellence in board service, is the premier source of cutting-edge
thinking and resources related to nonprofit boards, and engages and develops
the next generation of board leaders. For more information, visit
www.boardsource.org.
ABOUT TAPROOT
Most organizations tackling social problems don’t have access to the marketing,
design, technology, management, or strategic planning resources they need to
succeed. Without this talent, few are able to have their intended impact on
critical issues like the environment, health, and education.
Taproot is a nonprofit organization that makes business talent available to
organizations working to improve society. We engage the nation’s millions of
business professionals in pro bono services both through our award-winning
programs and by partnering with companies to develop their pro bono
programs. One day, we envision all organizations with promising solutions will
be equipped to successfully take on urgent social challenges. For more
information, visit www.taprootfoundation.org.
SPECIAL THANKS
Taproot Foundation and BoardSource would like to acknowledge Chevron for
sharing our vision and supporting this collaboration. We would also like to thank
the many research participants, including the interview subjects listed in
Appendix 1; the survey participants, including hundreds of Taproot Foundation’s
pro bono consultants; and the joint staff team from the Taproot Foundation
(Aaron Hurst, Amanda Pape Lenaghan, Melissa Paulo, and Laura Weiss) and
BoardSource (Deborah Davidson, Anne Wallestad, Outi Flynn, Trina Ramsey,
Jessica Griffin, Kaylan Somerville, and Monica Luchak) whose extraordinary efforts
and collaboration made this publication possible.
71
Suite 900
1828 L Street, NW
Washington, DC
20036-5114
202-452-6262
202-452-6299 Fax
www.boardsource.org
[email protected]
ISBN 1-58686-122-0

human resources literacy

Transcription

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