How Nonprofits Can Take Advantage of the ‘Big Stay’
If you’re a nonprofit executive, manager, or HR professional, you’re probably aware of the seemingly constant back and forth pendulum swings of staffing and hiring trends. Following the global COVID-19 pandemic, the working world was shaken by the Great Resignation, which led to the Great Reshuffle, as many of those who left their jobs moved on to other opportunities, careers, or lifestyles. In the last year, things have shifted again, with statistics showing a significant decrease in the number of employees looking to move on to another role or organization. Dubbed the ‘Big Stay’, this trend is primarily in reaction to the trends that preceded it. However, as someone involved in hiring, it’s important that you note what is driving this shift and how your organization can benefit from it.
Nonprofits generally struggle to hire and retain talent relative to other sectors, due to the high demands of the work, less opportunity for high wages, and other challenges. However, as mission-driven and altruistic organizations, nonprofits are also able to attract some highly dedicated staffers who see furthering their mission as a reward as important as their paycheck or benefits. While nonprofits relate to hiring trends differently than other organizations, it’s important that you delineate the factors that apply to your unique case and those that reflect the Big Stay trend.
Another year, another hiring trend
The constant drumbeat of buzzy topics like hiring trends can lead you to feel some amount of skepticism about whatever topic is most current. However hyperbolic the title may seem, the Big Stay does follow a clear logic. The shuffle of the pandemic reordered the economy and working lives of billions of people, so instability became the norm. As the pandemic waned, some changes were made permanent, while others became disputed between management and their workers. The Big Stay can represent a later or even final stage of this cycle, as the unique problems of the pandemic recede and we return to employment being tied to more status quo factors like interest rates, technological developments, and other changes.
This is borne out in statistics, with the number of employees actively looking to move on from their role dropping 10% over the last year. The reasons for this are complex, but for organizations which may have difficulty hiring and retaining talent, digging into those reasons is critical. After all, staying at a job in this context may not actually be a good thing — just because you’re having an easier time retaining staff could be more the result of the present economic context than a successful retention program. The goal is never to force your employees to stay put any more than it is an employee’s goal to move from job to job endlessly. Instead, you can use the Big Stay to assess what has changed over the last few years in your organization and field, and what factors are most important to your team. Here are some steps you can take to learn more:
Internal audit or assessment
Gathering a set of data which describes as accurately as possible the state of your organization will help you determine exactly how you relate to these trends. If you experienced below-average staff attrition during the pandemic, it would be worth it to explore the reasons why. Or, for example, if you are experiencing above average turnover now, you should look into why people seem to be leaving, and consider what can be done to address it. Having a numerical and contextual understanding of how the last few years have impacted your organization will allow you to double down on what works and account for anything that could be causing issues for your current and former team members.
As important as statistics is having an open dialogue and offering chances for employee feedback. Whether this comes in the form of an anonymous survey or forthright one-on-one conversations will depend on the nature of your organization. However, a key factor for many employees currently is feeling like they have a voice and are valued at their work. Just providing this could help maintain a positive and open culture.
Tracking organizational changes
These trends are often broken down into exchanges of adjustments, as employees adjust to new workplace imperatives and employers adjust to employee needs and demands. Many statistics about hiring trends describe this in terms of a “power balance” between workers and employers, with the balance shifting towards workers during periods like the Great Resignation and back to employers during the Big Stay. Whether you’re looking to improve retention or to double down on what’s working, it’s important to keep track of what adjustments you’ve made or that your team wants you to make.
The most commonly cited example of this is remote work, which became essential during the pandemic and persists long after it. Return-to-office mandates seem to have caused more harm than good, with many organizations shedding talented and dedicated employees who had become invested in remote work. This is an example of an organizational priority being out of line with staff needs and expectations. Neglecting to ‘read the room’ or an unwillingness to adjust to this new norm led many organizations to lose staff to competitors, and it has done nothing to reduce the popularity of remote work.
This shows the importance of having a deep and accurate understanding of why your employees choose to stay, and whether those factors can be addressed by your organization. Whether it’s remote work, your benefits package, flexibility in scheduling, training opportunities, the chance to offer feedback to management, or any other organizational change, keeping track will help you determine whether your staff is staying out of dedication and commitment to your organization or simply because they don’t feel they could do better in the current economic climate.
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The information contained in this article is not a substitute for legal advice or counsel and has been pulled from multiple sources.
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