It’s no secret that a great employee is worth his or her weight in gold. Unlike a lump of precious metal, however, great employees are not always content to stay where they are. This is costly in terms of lost training time and organizational knowledge, as well as the need to conduct a recruitment process for a new staff member. But losing great employees is also a loss to the organization on both a day-to-day basis and in the longer term, especially since these superstars are often the ones organizations hope will be part of succession plans.

However, great employees aren’t necessarily shooting stars who will shine in your organization fora short time and then automatically move on to another orbit. We talked with some of Canada’s nonprofit human resources specialists to discover their secrets for keeping great employees. Some secrets might seem obvious (but are you actually implementing them?) while others are more innovative practices that are being used with great success.

1. Great employees hate stagnation

According to Anne Melanson, president of Bloom Non Profit Consulting Group Inc., “Over the years I’ve learned that particularly talented staff often exhibit certain common qualities: they have an appetite to learn, they master their jobs relatively quickly, they bore easily, and they are usually eager for the next challenge. If you or your organization can’t provide them opportunities for growth, knowledge, and new experiences, they often will look elsewhere.” She suggests involving such staff in meetings and projects where the deciding factor isn’t how they contribute to the process or outcome, but rather how the process or outcome contributes to their professional development.

2. Great employees work for great organizations — and great bosses

Denise Baker, executive director of the nonprofit leadership development organization Vantage Point says, “Having a strong, positive culture and a well functioning organization with clear goals is really important to attract great staff, often by word of mouth.” If your organization celebrates each staff member’s birthday and engages in activities that demonstrate that each person is valued and appreciated, employees can feel that they are part of something positive. Lori Nikkel, who is responsible for corporate partnerships at the food redistribution organization Second Harvest, agrees: “People want to work in a positive atmosphere.” Baker adds, “If you make it a fun place to work, people are more likely to stay.”

Even more than good organizations, however, Nikkel says, “People work for good bosses. The greatest bosses I’ve had are ones who keep me engaged, who trust that I know what I’m doing, who encourage and offer constructive feedback.”

3. Great employees love clarity and control

No one enjoys working in a muddle. Establishing clear job descriptions, policies, objectives and metrics, and holding people accountable gives staff the necessary tools to know when they are being successful. Staff feel particularly engaged when they clearly know how their work matters within the organization’s strategic plan. The HR Council developed a toolkit to help nonprofit organizations understand how such human resources responsibilities contribute to employee retainment.

Clarity also extends to transparency, says Nikkel, who advises that managers not keep secrets or hold onto past concerns without expressing them to the staff.

Baker believes giving control to staff is a key component to retaining employees: “People want control over their work — I don’t micromanage my staff. We have goals and staff have autonomy in terms of how they get their work done.”

There are other ways to give autonomy and control back to your staff. Fundraising consultant, Mike Johnson suggests giving great staff a professional development budget that they control, saying it is both motivating and effective.

4. Great employees have lives and dreams

The dreaded performance review or quarterly meeting is actually an incredible opportunity to engage great employees by using this interview for two-way communication. In addition to reviewing objectives and talking about challenges and successes, Gayle Hadfield, principal of Hadfield HR Consulting says this is an opportunity to find out what is important to staff outside of work — and to discuss the potential for flexibility to allow staff to engage in their personal passions and/or to attend to family responsibilities — as well as learning more about their career goals and how you can support them in their aspirations. This can result in work responsibilities still achieved, while the employee feels motivated and appreciative for the ability to balance work/life. This can be very useful in terms of succession planning as well as helping employees use their strengths in their current roles.

As Baker says, “If someone uses their strengths in their work, they are more energized.” Vantage Point uses a self-assessment test to help employees and their managers know and incorporate their strengths into their work and goals.

Conversations with staff can also go deeper. Hadfield advises, “Consider employees as your partners. You are the decision maker but they care about the success of your organization. You’ve hired them for their knowledge, experiences and abilities so really listen to what they have to say. Ask them how you’re doing and what would make your working relationship more effective.” In one case, such a conversation led Baker to shift responsibilities from one staff person to another. She says, “It’s always a challenge because work needs to get done but you can often be flexible in ways that add value to both the individual and the organization.”

5. Great employees need recognition and reward

You probably knew this one, but Hadfield notes that it is important to “tailor recognition to the employee’s needs.” This can mean, as Melanson suggests, rewarding accomplishment with an expanded scope of authority within their area – although Hadfield notes that “not all strong performers want longer hours and more work!” It could also mean an email of praise to the employee copied to the board of directors or a glowing compliment on the organization’s Facebook page. It could result in a Friday afternoon off for the employee. Hadfield notes that nonprofits can often be more flexible than other sectors in terms of offering a modified workweek or flex time. There may not be a budgetary cost, while the value to the employee experience is very high.

Whatever you do, make sure you recognize excellence so that the employee feels, as Nikkel says, “valued for what they do.”

6. Great staff thrive when employee strengths are aligned with expanded responsibilities

One significant challenge for retaining great employees within nonprofits is the typical flat organizational structure of the vast majority of nonprofits in Canada: well over half of nonprofits have fewer than five employees, with three-quarters having fewer than ten staff. This flat structure means that, unlike larger organizations, there are fewer opportunities for promotion. A 2013 US study found that only 30% of nonprofit staff are satisfied with their career advancement opportunities. “Without formal promotional opportunities, you may not keep the employee for the length of time you’d like,” says Hadfield.

However even within small organizations there are creative ways of expanding an employee’s responsibilities and opportunities. Baker suggests, “Give these staff as many leadership responsibilities and opportunities as you can.” Melanson adds, “Assign high performing staff to participate in or lead special projects or teams that are different from their day-to-day responsibilities.”

7. Great staff benefit from mentoring and learning from others

Keen employees want to keep learning and developing. In addition to offering learning opportunities and professional development, Melanson recommends cultivating mentorship.

In the past, organizations often looked within for mentors, but Vantage Point has engaged in an innovative practice that has offered wider opportunities for their staff. Vantage Point has recruited a network of skilled volunteers they call knowledge philanthropists. Some of these are newly retired professionals, while others are new to the city or are young professionals, all looking to share their talent. Rather than having one volunteer coordinator, all Vantage Point staff work with these knowledge philanthropists in the course of their work. This accomplishes several goals: a network of volunteers allows Vantage Point to accomplish their mandate more effectively but it also provides mentorship, advice and skills training for staff. “Learning from someone out of our community is a unique model. It is very satisfying to staff and one of the reasons they stay,” says Baker.

8. Solid performers are great too

Hadfield makes an important observation: “While there is a natural tendency to offer more recognition, pay and opportunities to your top performers, don’t overlook your solid performers. In an organization of twenty staff, three may be ‘stars’ and the others may be competently meeting objectives. Their commitment, organizational intellectual knowledge, and client relationships form an important base. Don’t overlook these solid performers.”

9. Great employees need you to manage poor performers and conflict

It may seem counterintuitive but one key way to keep great staff is to properly manage underperforming staff. Hadfield says, “Managers who do not manage poor performers well risk losing credibility among competent staff.” Excusing or ignoring poor performance can be de-motivating to staff who successfully meet all objectives. Likewise, be sure to address any workplace conflicts as these can create stress for all staff, even those not directly involved.

10. Show great employees the money (and the benefits)

Sometimes great staff are wooed away by more money or better benefits. While nonprofits may not be able to compete with compensation in other sectors, Charity Village’s most recent Canadian Nonprofit Sector Salary & Benefits Study helps nonprofits be competitive or even develop an advantage by detailing salaries, benefits and performance incentives offered by other nonprofits in your region or area of the sector.

None of these secrets will guarantee that your superstar employee will stay for life, but here perhaps is the real secret: the more you implement these practices, the more likely it is that an increasing number of your staff will turn into great employees, and will stick around.

Susan Fish is a writer/editor at Storywell, a company that helps individuals and organization tell their story well. She has written for the nonprofit sector for almost two decades and loves a good story.

Photos (from top) via iStock.com. All photos used with permission.

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