Reviewed by John Durel

Today’s high-employment economy sure is a mixed blessing. While non-profit organizations benefit from the general economic health, in the form of increased philanthropic support or greater income from endowments, they also face the challenge of finding and keeping good workers. Our clients report that they are having trouble finding qualified candidates for key positions, especially in certain areas such as fund raising. They are hesitant to let marginal performers go, for fear that they will end up with someone worse as a replacement. And above all, they are concerned about keeping their star performers, who may be drawn to better paying or more rewarding jobs elsewhere.

Over the past year we have published on this web site a number of management briefings to assist you in building a strong staff. (Click on "management briefings" for the full list.) Another useful resource is Love ‘Em or Lose ‘Em by Beverly Kaye and Sharon Jordan-Evans. The authors pick up on a theme that I used in the management briefing "A New Way to Think about Employees." If you want to keep your stars you have to think of their work as their investment in your organization, and your responsibility is to ensure that they have a satisfactory return on investment. You need to shift from thinking primarily about what they do for you, to thinking about what you can do for them. If indeed they are stars, you don’t have to worry about what they will do for your organization. The crucial issue is what do they get in return.

What You Can Do

This book presents strategies for managers who want their stars to stay. Many managers in non-profit organizations wrongly assume, that since the salaries they can pay are generally lower than in the private sector, they have little control over a star’s decision to take a job elsewhere. However, for many who work in non-profits, and for stars in particular, money is not the primary motivation. Too little money usually is not the main reason they become unhappy in their present position; the promise of more money is not what draws them elsewhere. Motivation for stars is a far more complex combination of challenging work, autonomy, professional growth, balance with home life, and recognition.

Here are some specific things to consider:

1. The key to retention is to have regular and frequent conversations with your stars about their performance and their goals, so that you know them well, and they know you know. You need to understand what keeps them happy, and what will keep them with your organization. Don’t assume you know. Everyone is different. Some stars don’t want to move up the hierarchy. In some cases a lateral move, staying in place, or even a step down might be the best thing.

2. If you are not yet experiencing the problem of your stars leaving for greener pastures, you may be doing things right. Or you may have not yet felt the impact of this national phenomenon. You can use this book to guard against the problem. You can have your management team read it, select strategies that seem best for your organization, and put them into practice. This will help you avoid that exit interview where you say, "If I had only known that you were unhappy," or "Is there anything we can do to get you to change your mind about leaving us?"

3. Contact us about using the "Staff Morale Survey," which can give you clues about weaknesses in your people management system. This instrument asks many of the questions you need to ask to know how well your managers are doing. It can help you identify where to concentrate your efforts as you seek to improve your staff overall, as well as address the needs of your stars in particular.