Dear Subscribers,

Welcome to the June 2007 edition of The Woolbright Group’s on-line newsletter "Bright Ideas." This month we feature more timely articles centered on honing leadership skills. The first, “Managing Staff Retention,” features a discussion focused on building and managing relationships with staff - a key, but all too often ignored, component of our success. The second article, “Strategic Thinking,” is a must read for those seeking to understand the guiding principles behind an effective Board.

We’re also very pleased to announce that Heather Calvin, Associate Vice President, Visitor Services & Membership at the Museum of Science in Boston, is joining The Woolbright Group as an advisor in the areas of marketing and research, membership and annual giving. You will find biographical information on Heather in this month’s newsletter.

As always, we appreciate your interest and welcome your feedback. Please feel free to contact us at: info@woolbrightgroup.com

New Client Announcement

We are delighted to announce that Dartmouth College has joined The Woolbright Group as a new client.  Katharine Britton, Principal, The Woolbright Group, is providing leadership coaching for several directors in Dartmouth's Development Office. She recently presented the workshops: Giving and Receiving Effective Feedback, Introduction to Teamwork, and Understanding Professionalism as part of the department's ongoing core values program. She also coordinated their quarterly assessment and education week (aka Q-week).

In addition, Katharine will facilitate departmental retreats and administer the Myers Briggs Type Inventory to employees within the context of teambuilding and working together more effectively.

The Woolbright Group Welcomes Heather Calvin as Advisor

The Woolbright Group is delighted to welcome Heather Calvin as an advisor in the areas of marketing & research, membership and annual giving. 

Heather Calvin is with the Museum of Science, Boston, where she currently serves as Associate Vice President of Visitor Services and Membership and has previously held positions as the Manager and Director of Membership and Annual Giving. During her seven years at the Museum, Heather has helped attain record individual giving results and membership growth, from approximately 30,000 to 50,000 households. Her career also includes positions in a variety of political, education, and health care organizations, including Smith College, Women's Funding Network and Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region. Heather completed her undergraduate education at Washington University in St. Louis and received a master's degree in nonprofit management from the University of Minnesota.

Managing Staff Retention

Managing Staff Retention: A Critical Component in Development Programs
By Cynthia Woolbright

“The top of the list – the most significant challenge – is the recruitment and retention of fund-raising staff.”

~John Lippencott, President, CASE
Chronicle of Higher Education, October 28, 2005

Staff retention is a critical component to a successful development program, yet we typically spend less time in actually conceiving, implementing and evaluating such a plan for our organization. While we consider building relationships with donors to be key to philanthropic success, we may lack similar strategic thinking around building and managing our relationships with our staff. Failure to retain staff impacts our constituents and the organization, the bottom line revenue/costs, and on morale and job performance of current staff.

In the CASE Currents compensation survey, 2005, trends that impacted staff recruitment and retention included:

• High percentage of new staff
• “Revolving door” with constant turnover
• More jobs than candidates
• Rapid advancement and movement
• Good people harder to find and keep
• 41% of advancement staff has less than five years of experience
• Average length of employment for fundraising staff is 2.5 years, down from 3 years in 2002
• Average length of service for entry level advancement staff is 18 months.

Further, Craig Taylor, CASE Currents, 2006, reported that the creation of more than 300,000 nonprofits in the last decade has resulted in:

• Fierce competition for capable staff
• More jobs and more aggressive hiring tactics
• Fundraisers average 3-5 calls/month from recruiters
• Less institutional loyalty, more focus on career advancement
• More recruiters, higher salaries, higher costs.

While these trends identify some of the issues with retention, they miss some of the most critical reasons for retention - lack of appreciation, insufficient staffing, work load and lack of career path.

How then might we improve staff retention? From, Love’Em or Lose’Em, authors Beverly Kaye & Sharon Jordan-Evans, (2005) write that we know these important truths exist:

Truth #1: To engage and keep good people is a perennial issue

Truth #2 To manage people effectively is key

Truth #3: It is crucial to develop strategies that can engage and retain your talent

In preparation for the Council for the Advancement & Support of Education (CASE) session with Key Decision Makers/Chief Advancement Officers, we recently surveyed (January 2007) 12 institutions(*) to learn more about staff retention and what might be the best practices in this area. Here’s what we learned from top institutional leaders who suggested:

1. Create a division-wide team for a comprehensive professional development
2. Hold regularly scheduled meetings – division-wide, cross-division, and cross-department; include specific discussions on topics such as ethics, donor case studies, etc.
3. Establish professional development funds for attendance at conferences, seminars, etc.

When asked about the most valuable lessons learned from their program, respondents told us:

• Having a seat at the table where organizational strategies, challenges, opportunities and goals are discussed and decided
• Customizing and tailoring sessions for staff, as one size does not fit all; also, host general sessions for all staff
• Using your own staff expertise in seminars and workshops sets a valuable tone

We then asked these colleagues to tell us what would they do differently and they told us:

• Assign staff member(s)  to this area of responsibility
• Budget for staff development
• Require all staff to participate in a consistent manner including those “in the field.”

Finally, we asked them for any tips and our responses were extensive:

• Buy-in, direction, and financial support from senior leadership, along with all levels of the organization
• Start small and build upon success
• Consult with peers/aspirants as well as other non-profits and businesses and then develop to fit your organization
• Involve and engage own staff in the overall development of the program
• Involve senior managers as “sponsors and advocates” of the program
• Establish reward programs: monetary and non-monetary
• Develop mentoring programs for new staff
• Explore optional social opportunities
• Create departmental presentations at all-divisional meetings
• Engage divisional working groups across departments to tackle specific issues and projects
• Take advantage of teachable moments: involve other staff when donor is visiting campus
• Establish performance plans that stretch and grow staff with idea of retention and promotion

All of these responses clearly point to the significant role that one’s own staff plays in retention, along with the strength of a supervisor and the priority from top organizational leadership. And, these responses also support much of the work that Kaye and Jordan-Evans (2005) suggest when they conclude that the buck stops with those supervisors and organizational leaders:

1. In one study, it was noted that 50% of work satisfaction comes from relationship with immediate boss;
2. In a 25-year long Gallup Organization study with 12 million workers at 7,000 companies found the relationship with supervisor and employee largely determines length of stay;
3. In research from Corporate Leadership Council found a high quality manager is “standout importance” in attracting and retaining key talent.

So, how might we then manage this critical component of staff retention?

1. By partnering with staff on developing, implementing and evaluation a comprehensive program;
2. By identifying and attracting the best talent – and keeping them;
3. By investing in human capital, learning and professional development;
4. By manage performance and succession, create community;
5. By providing monetary and non-monetary rewards;
6. By focusing on quality of life and career advancement.

The above information was taken from a CASE District 1 & 2 Conference Session with Key Decision Makers in February 2007, held in NYC and conducted by Amy Bronson Smith, Director of Recruitment and Training, Office of the Vice President, University Advancement, Boston College and Cynthia Woolbright, President, The Woolbright Group.

(*) The 12 institutions include: Berea College, Dartmouth College, George Mason University, Harvard Medical School, Iowa State University, Moravian College, McGill University, Quinsigamond Community College, Smith College, Stonehill College, University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Michigan.

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The Woolbright Group provides comprehensive consulting services in the areas of Board and staff development, which includes strategies for staff retention. For more information, please call Cynthia Woolbright at 585.787.0325, or e-mail us at info@woolbrightgroup.com

Strategic Thinking

Is it Strategic Thinking or Strategic Planning?
By Cynthia Woolbright

It’s both! From The Source 12 (BoardSource, 2005), some of the best experts on board governance identified strategic thinking as one of the principles that contributes to an exceptional board. They found that “strategic thinking derives from and drives strategic planning,” and both need to occur. These experts suggest that exceptional boards contribute to “framing and assessing the strategic plan” for the organization.

To engage in strategic thinking, boards must allocate time at each meeting to address the critical issues of their organization. Such discussions might include enrollment trends, marketing of the institution, raising philanthropic support or other significant topics that will address these organizational issues. Members probe and ask essential questions, at an early stage, that will help frame the topic. Generating ideas is so important at this stage of the discussion and deliberation.

Board members come to strategic thinking in partnership with senior leaders and managers. They are provided information on both internal and external forces that will shape the topic. Data will be valuable. Meetings move to consent agendas, thereby allowing time for strategic thinking to occur.

Further, we find the work of authors Chait, Ryan and Taylor, Governance as Leadership (BoardSource, 2005), presenting the concept of generative governance. Here, board members are encouraged to provide insight into issues through robust dialogue. Members are asked to probe, test, debate and challenge current thinking. They are asked to provide perspectives from various experiences so that the best discussion occurs. Subjects may be sensitive, delicate and problematic; however this generative process provides intellectual deliberations that can assure an organization success in ways not previously considered.

These concepts of strategic thinking and generative governance provide the essentials for shaping a board or committee to better lead an institution or organization. We find boards (and committees) moving to a position of leadership that includes a strategic partnerships with the senior team. It moves boards and committees beyond governance and stewardship of the institution or organization.

With the intellectual talents of our boards and committees, we find that strategic thinking sets the framework for the leadership team to engage in a strategic planning process. And, it sets the stage for these individuals to truly lead our institutions and organizations in an effective partnership.

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The Woolbright Group provides comprehensive consulting services in the areas of Board and staff development, which includes strategies for board leadership and governance. For more information, please call Cynthia Woolbright at 585.787.0325, or e-mail us at info@woolbrightgroup.com

Header photo courtesy of Hartwick College.