Alliance for Children and
Families
‘Leadership Deficit’
Presented by: Undraye P. Howard, M.A.
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Outline
• General observations about the future in dealing
with the leadership deficit
• Non-profit organizations and the leadership
deficit
• The Alliance for Children and Families strategies
in dealing with the leadership deficit
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Generic Observations on Talent and
Leadership
• Quality and depth of leadership drives
results that a non-profit can deliver
• There is difficulty in recruiting quality
talent for the non-profit sector
• There is and will continue to be a
demand for quality leadership talent,
particularly in the roles of:
– CEO, COO, CFO and other key
senior leadership positions
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Inadequacy Among Top-Tier
Non-profit Strategy
• Develop internally (ad-hoc internal training and
attending conferences.
– Quality uneven and inconsistent/smaller agencies
cannot do this
• Recruit independently (a great deal of NPO’s do
this online and through personal networking).
– Costly and time intensive
• Executive Search
– Wrong fit and costly
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Reality is…
• There is an enormous demand
(over the next 10 years the sector is expected to attract and develop some
640,000 new senior managers/growing number of non-profits/growth in
size of non-profits)
• Constrained Supply
(retirement of managers from baby-boomer generation/lack of career
mobility for current managers/natural turnover of current managers out of
full time leadership roles)
Source: “The non-profit Sector’s Leadership Deficit”, Tom Tierney, 2006
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Solutions the Alliance has
Recognized
• Increased access to networks of quality
candidates outside of the traditional forms of
recruiting
• Invest in current staff and talent
• Consistent knowledge and understanding of
best practices in recruiting and hiring
• More internal resources available to manage
searches for senior leaders
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Alliance Deals with Leadership
Deficit
• Recruitment Practices
• Retention and Development Practices
• Both Recruitment and Retention Development
strategies play a role in dealing with the
leadership deficit
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Alliance’s Recruitment Strategies in Addressing
the Leadership Deficit (internal/external)
•
•
•
•
•
Continuous investment in our leaders
Executive Leadership Institute
Leadership Development Workshops
University Collaboration (Bellevue University)
Relationship Building and Sharing
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Recruitment (internal and external)
• Making a bridge between the for-profit and non-profit world
• Special Relationship Building (Bridgestar/Bridgespan, executive
search firms with a focus on non-profit environment
• Eliminate the myths about non-profits through a series of
publications and newsletters
• Strong advocacy and public policy initiative
• Accreditation
• Scenario Planning
• Making it a goal to become a “best place to work” organization
through competitive benefits, flexible culture
• Becoming more cognizant of inter-generational differences
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Executive Leadership Institute
• A partnership between the Alliance
and the University of MichiganAnn Arbor.
• The vision here is to expand the
pool of
senior-level managers, leaders, and
executives prepared and equipped to
lead the non-profits of today and
beyond
• Leadership and Management
Tracks
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Partnership Example
An innovative pilot program between
Public Allies and the Alliance being
conducted at several of our member
organizations to attract diverse,
young talent to work in the
nonprofit social and human services
field.
Initiative
What does it take to recruit and
retain the best people? What
attitudes and systems need to
change in order to make this
happen?
Goal
The goal of the project is to create and/or
strengthen multiple pathways into non-profit
human services careers for young people who
have an interest or potential passion for the
work these agencies do. Through a partnership
approach between Public Allies and the Alliance
three phases will be implemented over a 12month period to accomplish this.
Assessment Activity
• The appointment of a project director to coordinate and
implement project work.
• The creation of a 12-member Advisory Committee to guide this
effort..
• Personal interviews with 32 Alliance member agencies to identify
current pathways into human service employment and discover
elements of the cultural gap between current providers and
young people.
• Focus group discussions with young people – including high
school and college graduates – to identify key indicators for
capturing the attention of and motivating such individuals to
consider careers in nonprofit human services.
• Evaluation of recent research on the career and service
aspirations of young adults.
Assessment Activity
An assessment of the best practices of other
national organizations (including AmeriCorps,
Teach America, City Year, Public Allies, Idealist)
to identify factors critical to the success of
marketing and recruitment activities aimed at
younger individuals considering careers in the
nonprofit sector.
Phase II
We will focus on the development of
the model program, including the
creation of sector descriptors and
formation of the marketing,
recruitment and placement strategies.
Phase III
We will test market the model
program, and conceptualize and
budget a broader piloting effort to
implement the model.
Anticipated Outcomes
• A clear understanding will be obtained of the barriers
and opportunities to recruiting young people to
nonprofit human service careers, as well as what child
and family agencies must do to be more attractive
magnets for young adults interested in nonprofit
careers.
• A clear, succinct description of the nonprofit child and
family-serving workforce will be developed. This will
include descriptors not only of the depth and breadth
of human service career opportunities, but also of the
staff employed there, as well as the individuals, families
and communities they serve.
Anticipated Outcomes
• Multiple pathways into nonprofit human service careers
will be identified and assessed for their effectiveness.
• A model program, including marketing, recruitment,
placement and human resource management strategies,
will be created as a template to begin attracting young
people into nonprofit human service careers.
• A plan to pilot the model program will be
conceptualized and budgeted, and a funding proposal
to underwrite this final phase will be developed.
Deliverables
•
•
A written report detailing the results of personal interviews
with Alliance member agencies. Contained within this report
will be descriptions of human service career opportunities,
staff employed there, and the individuals, families and
communities nonprofits typically serve. The report will also
include a sub-section summarizing the results of secondary
research examining nonprofit workforce issues.
A written summary of Focus Group results. This report will
detail the barriers and opportunities to recruiting young people
to nonprofit human service careers, as well as the suggestions
participants made to child and family agencies to become
attractive magnets for young adults interested in nonprofit
careers
Deliverables
• An overview of Best Practices deployed by other
organizations engaged in recruiting young people to
nonprofit careers. This overview will multiple pathways
into nonprofit human service careers, assessing those
pathways for effectiveness.
• A template to begin attracting young people into
nonprofit human service careers will be created for the
field of nonprofit child and family services. This model
program will include marketing, recruitment and
placement.
Retention & Development Practices
(internal/external)
• Performance objectives are agreed upon and set
in place
• The Alliance has taken the stance that
opportunities and growth for leadership must be
nurtured on a continuous and consistent basis
• Leadership Council (participative leadership)
• Assignment of special projects for new
leadership
• Succession Planning
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Seven Steps of
Succession Planning
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Assessment of Current Operations
Key Leadership Priorities / Milestones
Internal Management Analysis
Leadership Profile Requirements
Succession Scenarios
Creation and Adoption of Guidelines and Procedures
The Cost of Succession Planning and Leadership
Transition
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STEP #1 - Assessment of Current Operations
(Three-year Retrospective)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Governance
Finance & Administration
Fundraising & External Relations
Programs & Services
Human Resources
Quality Control/Compliance/Risk Management
Strategic Plan/Business Plan
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STEP #2 - Key Leadership
Priorities/Milestones
• Next 12 months
• 12-24 months
• Beyond 24 months
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STEP # 3 - Internal Management
Analysis
• Key Persons Identification
• Functional Job Assessments
• Capacity Appraisal
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STEP # 4 - Leadership Profile
Requirements
• Content Knowledge and Training
• Functional Skills and Abilities
• Personal Attributes & Behaviors
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STEP # 5 - Succession Scenarios
• Planned
• Unplanned
– Extended Absence
– Permanent Departure
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STEP # 6 - Creation and Adoption of
Guidelines and Procedures
• Leadership Succession Plan
– Board Policies, Guidelines & Procedures
– Three Major Components
1. Board – Adopted Policies
2. Board Chair & Executive Committee Guidelines
3. Scenario Procedures & Processes
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STEP # 7 - The Cost of Succession
Planning & Leadership Transition
• Establishing a Viable Leadership Succession Plan
• Leadership Training & Development
• Interim Leader Expenses
• Search & Selection Process
• Human: Morale, Momentum, Slack
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Discourse and Communication
• Development of CFO and CEO portals and
networking opportunities
• Webinars and teleconferences that feature key
content and knowledge about strategies and
goals that are working
• Specialized segmented meetings for
organizations (complex structure meeting)
• Conferences and networking
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Other Thoughts
• We need to invest in the Baby Boomer
generation (potential consultants)
• There has to be a greater connect between the
generation X’s, and Millennial with Baby
Boomers in transferring and sharing of info.
• A greater sharing of resources amongst NPO’s
• Sensible mergers and acquisitions
• A bigger bridge needs to be built between the
for-profit world and the non-profit environment
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Undraye P. Howard, M.A.
Director of Consultation and Leadership Services
Alliance for Children and Families
11700 West Lake Park Drive
Milwaukee WI 53224-3099
414-359-1040, ext. 3618
uhoward@alliance1.iorg
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