Fighting the War for Talent: Retaining Generation Y in the Nonprofit Sector

Educated. Tech-Savvy. Idealistic. Self-Absorbed. The "Me" Generation. Impatient. Call us what you want, but Generation Y (made up of 70 million people born between 1977 and 2002) is indeed the future of the workplace in America, and undoubtedly comprises the next generation of nonprofit leaders. I've said here many times that the nonprofit leadership crisis is not that we don't have enough young people that want to work in nonprofits. The good news is that we have so many bright and idealistic young people that want to join and work for a meaningful cause, but the sad part is that the downsides of working for nonprofits are often perceived as greater than the rewards. We already have a great pool, but we really need to fix the marketing problem we have in the sector if we want to win the war for talent and convince young people to enter and remain in the nonprofit field. Students are coming out of school with massive debt and can't afford to get by on $30,000 a year, especially in major metropolitan areas like Washington, DC with high costs of living and we're really getting tired of that damn gray ceiling blocking us from promotions. So, what's a nonprofit sector to do?

Fortunately, a recent study from the Johns Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies gives us a promising picture of the state of the nonprofit workforce. The study found that despite challenges to recruiting nonprofit staff, there's been a significant boom in nonprofit employment, particularly among front-line service workers and administrative staff (who are most likely to come from Generation Y). So the interest in the sector is there, which indicates that we can head off the leadership deficit with just a little problem-solving regarding the three main challenges in retaining nonprofit staff:

• Lack of competitive salaries
• Few opportunities for advancement
• Lack of competitive benefits

Consider a CareerBuilder survey cited by Wikipedia:

In terms of job expectations, 87 percent of all hiring managers and HR professionals say some or most Gen Y workers feel more entitled in terms of compensation, benefits and career advancement than older generations.

• 74 percent of employers say Gen Y workers expect to be paid more
• 61 percent say Gen Y workers expect to have flexible work schedules
• 56 percent say Gen Y workers expect to be promoted within a year
• 50 percent say Gen Y workers expect to have more vacation or personal time
• 37 percent say Gen Y workers expect to have access to state-of-the-art technology

So here are some recommendations that nonprofits can and should seek to implement right now if organizations want to keep the next generation in place to do the important work of social change for the long haul after the baby boomers move on.

Offer Competitive Salaries and Flexible Schedules
We know that our main issue in the nonprofit sector is low pay, with many professionals making well below private and government sector salaries yet doing the same kinds of work. Even though we're not in it for the Benjamins, young people need to pay bills, too and that is often the deciding factor pushing talent to the corporate sector. So we really need to be offering more competitive salaries to attract talented workers and if that means we can only hire one really good person at a fair salary rather than two people and pay them both pennies, so be it. Recent college grads should not have to eat PB&J for dinner because they work at a nonprofit! Organizations should also be implementing deferred compensation or opportunities for employees to save for retirement through 403(b) plans. Offering generous paid time off policies and flexible work schedules including working from home are all low-cost ways of keeping Gen Y employees satisfied as well.

Create Pleasant Working Environments
Since our salaries aren't up to par, we need to at least be making the workplace a great place to be. Nonprofits need to think about allowing casual dress days (my organization has "Casual Fridays" when employees can wear jeans) and fun working environments that encourage celebrating birthdays and important employee milestones. Give employees the freedom to express themselves through music, art, etc. in their cubicles/offices. Frequent and public recognition of individual and team successes would also contribute to high employee morale. Nonprofits should also not shy away from offering small bonuses (cash or otherwise) for exceptional performance as incentives for Gen Y workers to work towards.

Be Generous With Praise As Well As Criticism
Gen Y likes to be praised and recognized as much as anyone, but we also value constructive criticism and feedback to help us do our jobs better and prepare us for leadership positions in the future. Ryan Healy advises at Employee Evolution, "Managers, please check the empty praise at the door. Instead, bring your young employees some honest guidance and feedback, and bring lots of it." A good nonprofit boss should realize that taking the time to tell (and show!) younger workers what they're doing wrong can be valuable enough to keep them at your nonprofit because you are helping them learn. Not many organizations do this at all, let alone well, so giving constant feedback to Gen Y can be a key factor in retention.

Provide Ongoing Professional Development
Gen Y is often coming straight from the university, and used to learning how to do a thing before they actually have to do it. So organizations need to temper new employees' "trial by fire" with some real technical or job-based professional development classes or conferences related to their work. Not only does it make employees feel valued, but it helps younger workers have more confidence in their ability to serve the organization. Ryan Estis suggests that organizations also provide a mentoring component for new employees: "As an extension of onboarding, offer a mentoring program. New employees should be paired with someone who has an express interest in their success."

Give Promotions and Create Leadership Opportunities
No one comes into a nonprofit to be an Administrative Assistant forever, so we need to be helping them to grow into positions or projects with more responsibility or Gen Y employees will surely leave. Even if there are no real advancement options due to small organizational structure, nonprofits can still create promotion opportunities , even if that means simply changing job titles - I guarantee your Executive Assistant would much rather be an Office Manager or Administrative Director. Make sure that promotion comes with a pay raise, too, no matter how small it has to be. Let Gen Y professionals sit in on board meetings or give us challenging stretch assignments that can strengthen our management skills. Often it is not necessarily about the specific job title, but the opportunities for growth and leadership development available within the organization.

Want more insight into understanding and keeping valuable Gen Y workers? Check out these additional resources:

Employee Evolution
Modite
Little Red Suit
Brazen Careerist