A Different Way to Think About Hiring
Have you ever had to hire staff to fill an open or new position? In the last year, I had to fill three staff positions within three to four weeks of each other. All loved the organization, but each moved on for personal reasons.
As I wished them well, I had to think differently about how to recruit for these positions. While each of these jobs had specific functions, I felt ability for future flexibility was key. Like all of us, I wanted to hire a replacement quickly and obtain a candidate at least as good as the person who just left. Two factors influenced how I thought about hiring now and in the future.
First, when I take over a position of leadership and meet staff reports for the first time, I sit down with each staff member. I ask each person to bring a written job description to the meeting. We review the current organizational chart while I mentally create a new chart of what I feel it should be in the future. I ask each person to tell me how much time he or she spends doing his or her current job responsibilities in percentage terms that equal 100 percent. One person told me she only works 60 percent of her job description, while another gave me 140 percent. Few employees gave me a direct overview of their job descriptions at 100 percent.
The point is that many staff members, over time, lose direct sight of their specific job responsibilities. As a leader, you design staff roles based on return on investment. In the nonprofit area, one must evaluate productivity that brings time, talent or treasure to the organization.
Second, I recently attended an excellent session on manpower sponsored by Right Management in Indianapolis that reviewed a Manpower Employment Outlook Survey in Indiana and the United States for the fourth quarter of 2013. The survey pointed out that while there are 3.7 million jobs open at present, the majority of them cannot be filled because workers do not have the education or skills to meet changing work roles. In addition, many employees have to do more with less resources.
- Categories:
- Staffing & Human Resources
Duke Haddad, Ed.D., CFRE, is currently associate director of development, director of capital campaigns and director of corporate development for The Salvation Army Indiana Division in Indianapolis. He also serves as president of Duke Haddad and Associates LLC and is a freelance instructor for Nonprofit Web Advisor.
He has been a contributing author to NonProfit PRO since 2008.
He received his doctorate degree from West Virginia University with an emphasis on education administration plus a dissertation on donor characteristics. He received a master’s degree from Marshall University with an emphasis on public administration plus a thesis on annual fund analysis. He secured a bachelor’s degree (cum laude) with an emphasis on marketing/management. He has done post graduate work at the University of Louisville.
Duke has received the Fundraising Executive of the Year Award, from the Association of Fundraising Professionals Indiana Chapter. He also was given the Outstanding West Virginian Award, Kentucky Colonel Award and Sagamore of the Wabash Award from the governors of West Virginia, Kentucky and Indiana, respectively, for his many career contributions in the field of philanthropy. He has maintained a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) designation for three decades.
