6 Questions Nonprofit Managers Must Answer to Avoid New Hire Burnout

You’ve spent a great deal of time and money creating the ideal job description and the profile of the ideal employee, and now you’re spending more time and money searching for the right person to fill the position. But if the role, the manager, or the organization is not ready for that person, you may be setting up a good employee to struggle from day one. 

These searches are almost always filled with optimism and positivity as everyone involved looks forward to just the right person coming in to fill that job. And then, many times, once the person comes in, things start to go downhill as the person is thrown into the fray without direction and support. That kind of experience does more than frustrate a new employee — it can become one more contributor to the burnout and turnover so many organizations are already facing. Here are the six most common ways nonprofits set new employees up to fail.

1. Do You Have a Fully Functional Program to Manage?

If there is not a fully functional program to manage, you need to clean it up before you bring that new person in. Otherwise, the new hire spends months trying to figure out what to do, then gets blamed when it doesn’t work. Once the new person comes in, are you helping and fully supporting them as they start the new job?

2. Are Your Managers and Leaders Actually Helping New Employees Succeed?

The organization sometimes hires or promotes a controlling leader who drives people away. This person questions and changes things mainly to show who is in charge, not to improve the work. Over time, solid employees get worn down, feel disrespected, and either disengage or leave altogether. 

3. Does the Job Match the Role You Described — and Is It Truly Available to Own?

The person is hired for a specific function, as outlined in the job description, but upon arrival is tasked with additional “temporary” activities due to vacancies. Be sure that the job is free from the hands of other employees, so the new hire is not fighting constant meddling and real estate grabbing.

4. Is There Enough Information and Context for the Person to Perform Well?

In some cases, there is a real program in place, but the new employee isn’t given the information needed to do the job. Key program details, financials, data, and history are scattered or kept in other people’s heads. The person is expected to perform without access to that information and then is blamed for poor performance.

5. Are You Protecting the New Employee From Unhealthy Internal Dynamics?

The person is asked to attend regular management meetings where they are bullied and abused by folks who have their own agendas and don’t understand the poor context the new employee has been placed into. The new employee often feels the heat for everything that is not done right across the organization. Watch out for the new employee and protect them from the demanding and abusive behavior as others pursue their own agendas.

6. Does the Current Structure Support Clear Ownership and Accountability?

Similar to whether you have a functional program, many organizations lack a system of boundaries and accountability. Other employees constantly take authority and do the work the new employee was hired to do. The result is confusion and frustration. Ensure the job description matches the job function that is currently in existence, with clear ownership.

There are also many good situations where managers and leaders proactively help new employees be successful. But here, I focused on the most common ways managers and organizations discourage new employees to encourage you to take an honest look at your own hiring and management practices. 

Look at your organization and how it is organized and functioning. Make it a regular practice every January to review how your organization is functioning and to correct what is not working anymore. It is a fact that the passing of time erodes all the systems and boundaries we have set up — it’s called entropy, or the natural tendency of systems to move from order to disorder. Things such as agreements, division of labor, and ways of doing things decay, break, and move toward chaos.

This is happening all around us — in your organization and way of doing things. This is why it is important to ensure you are bringing new employees into a healthy situation and environment. If you regularly address roles and structures, you not only give new hires a real chance to succeed — you also reduce the burnout and turnover that can quietly undermine your mission.

The preceding content was provided by a contributor unaffiliated with NonProfit PRO. The views expressed within may not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of NonProfit PRO.