The Nonprofit Staff Recruiting Process

Just as important as getting the "right" people to sit on the board of directors is the importance of getting the "right" people to staff the organization.

Like board members, staff are often recruited because they are passionate about the cause. They may have served as a volunteer in the organization or been a beneficiary of the programs or services provided by the NPO. While admirable, that's hardly enough and certainly not the most important criteria in recruiting and hiring staff. So if you want to improve your staff recruiting process so that you get it "right" more often, what are some of the things you need to keep in mind?

Core Values and Core Purpose

While it's important for board members to embody the core values and core purpose of the organization, it's a non-negotiable for staff, particularly the Executive Director. If your Executive Director doesn't model this and set the example, the staff can hardly be held accountable to live these out. The ultimate determinant of whether or not what you have identified as core values are really core values can be measured in your organization's response to this question: "Would you fire a person who repeatedly violated your core values and core purpose?" If the answer isn't an immediate and emphatic "Yes!" then what you've identified as core values are merely core ideas or suggestions! Incorporating core values as a critical metric in employee performance reviews is an important first step to improving the degree to which they are embodied by everyone in the organization.

Relevant Skill Set and Expertise

When it comes to recruiting staff, it is critical to identify the core competencies and required skills for the position being filled. The more clearly these can be articulated, the more effective the interview and screening process will be. Remember, you're not looking for a "good" person, you're looking for the "right" person. You're not looking for a person who has the potential to develop the required skills and competencies. You're looking for someone with a proven track record of possessing them. There are a lot of "good" people who don't possess the core competencies and required skills for the position you're looking to fill.

Character and Chemistry

Just as important as competency and skill set is character and chemistry with the rest of the staff team. There's no shortage of examples of highly skilled and competent people who lacked character or had a cancerous effect on team chemistry. In the staff recruiting process, character and chemistry are every bit as important as competence! Ignore them at your own peril!

Executive Director

Given the important role the Executive Director plays in an NPO, special attention should be given to recruiting the "right" person to lead the organization and the staff team. Similar to the impact of the Board Chair, the collective experience will be profoundly impacted, for better or worse, by the Executive Director. So what are some of the required core competencies?

Strategy

The Executive Director is the one to embody and champion the strategic alignment and direction. Strategy involves core purpose, core values, the grander organizational vision, brand reputation, and core beneficiary. The Executive Director is the one to ensure that these aspects shape the DNA of the NPO. The Executive Director is the one to tell the signature story in a way that inspires staff, volunteers and donors alike. That signature story is shaped by and encompasses all of the aspects of strategy.

Execution

Beyond being the story-teller, the Executive Director must be able to execute on that strategy. That involves identifying the NPO's key priorities, setting annual and quarterly goals, ensuring that each staff person understands his/her piece of the signature story and has the corresponding goals to help make a meaningful and substantial contribution in the organization's delivery on the promise of its mission.

People

The Executive Director is in some ways the linchpin that connects the various human components of organizational life. Liaising with staff, beneficiaries, donors, and board members demands that the Executive Director have strong team building, leadership, people, and communication skills. An inability or failure to manage any one of these important relationship sectors well will be detrimental to the NPO's effectiveness and long term success.

Funding

The final critical required competency for the Executive Director is funding. First of all, an ability to understand and oversee the budgeting and cash flow management process is critical. An inability to understand these processes will negatively impact the fiscal stewardship of the NPO's financial resources and tarnish the credibility of the NPO. Closely associated with this is the ability to tell the signature story in a way that inspires existing donors to continue their support of the organization, and appeals to new donors to begin supporting the cause.