There are many ways an employee can be healthy. At the American Arbitration Association (AAA) in New York City, financial wellness is as important as physical wellness. President & CEO India Johnson said that she is doing her best to make sure employees are “in shape.”
“Most Americans [don’t] have $400 for an emergency,” Johnson said. “We thought, ‘Why not send everyone a check for $1,000 with a note saying we wanted them to have an emergency fund?,’ she said. “We were launching credit improvement seminars around the country, and we thought ‘It is summer. [Employees] will be completely surprised if we sent money to their home, money they didn’t know was coming.’”
AAA followed the one-time windfall by subsidizing 18 months of credit wellness programs for staff members, many of whom are taking the idea of financial wellness to heart. Participation in the organization’s 403 (b) retirement fund is at 91 percent — and that’s without automatic enrollment.
The financial wellness effort mirrored AAA management’s earlier, ongoing approach to physical fitness. Staff perks range from standing desks to insurance options that cover a variety of loved ones, including pets. The AAA subsidizes Fitbit wearable movement trackers, and encourages intra-company exercise challenges.
AAA’s benefits represent a substantial per-employee outlay, but Johnson believes their effects are quantifiable.
“We measure engagement [with various programs], turnover, how many people got promoted last year, performance ratings and things like that,” Johnson said. Results have been good enough to earn the organization second place among the best large nonprofits (those with more than 250 employees in the United States) in the 2020 Best Nonprofits To Work For, and 17th place in the top 50.
Top large nonprofits use benefits to recruit and retain employees from day one, or at least month one. Two-thirds offer access to health plans within the first month, compared with only 20 percent of large nonprofits not among the top 50.
In fact, the biggest disparity between large organizations that made it onto the top 50 list and those that didn’t was satisfaction with pay and benefits: 92 percent of employees within the best large organizations were satisfied, compared with only 70 percent among the rest.
AAA’s employees are not only sticking around, they’re moving up. Staff can take advantage of what Johnson calls an “opportunistic approach.” Employees shadow leaders in other departments. At worst, the exercise promotes cross-department understanding or how each unit fits with the other. At best, it opens new career paths.
The low turnover numbers are key. America’s unemployment rate has been sitting around 3 percent, which has made treating employees a staffing requirement.
At The Children’s Home (TCH), in Cincinnati, Ohio, retention efforts designed to benefit employees start even before the hiring process is completed. TCH’s HR department starts vetting prospective employees before their first interview. If that interview goes well, HR staff can ask about fingerprinting and background checks.
“We don’t want to slow down the process,” President and CEO John Banchy said. “When you get good, talented people, you want to move forward and get some of those diamonds through the system.”
TCH’s staff has nearly doubled during the past five years, adding 200 people. At the same time, the organization cut its turnover rate by 50 percent, to around 13 percent annually. And, that’s despite being part of the high-turnover mental health segment.
“With the unemployment rate below 3 percent in our market, finding any employee is tough,” Banchy said.
It could also be that employees just like working at TCH. The organization earned a place as the sixth-best large nonprofit studied, and number 45 in the top 50.
Banchy said that he sweats the details. In addition to contributions to employees’ 403(b) plans, he regularly surveys staff members about their HR and IT needs, the organization’s facilities, and any potential training staff members might receive. There are also the small daily perks.
“You realize the free coffee and free fruit in the morning are important for some folks,” Banchy said.
While 85 percent of employees in the best nonprofits felt good about the training, development, and resources they receive only 68 percent among the rest were similarly satisfied. And nine in 10 employees at the best large organizations said their physical work environment was comfortable, with adequate noise control and privacy to allow them to do their work, compared with only 71 percent of the others.
Employees at TCH respond well to their culture. In 2019, more than 10 percent of the staff accepted promotions, including some who moved from one to another of TCH’s 30+ programs. “A lot of them were folks who probably would have left the organization if they hadn’t had the opportunity to do something different,” Banchy said.
Leaders at CAP Tulsa, in Tulsa, Okla., place a similar premium on nurturing employees. The organization’s emphasis on employee care reflects the early childhood social services organization’s 94 percent female workforce. Offerings range from paid family leave, low- or zero-cost medical programs, and opportunities for mothers within the community to work within its schools.
“We spend a lot of management energy on making sure we have family-friendly benefits,” the early childhood social services organization’s Executive Director Karen Kiely said. “Not to say male leaders would not have striven for these benefits, but I would like to think our focus on these types of benefits is largely due to the predominance of women in our organization.”
Whatever the reason, CAP Tulsa’s leadership efforts have been successful. It ranked fifth among the best large companies and No. 40 within the top 50.
The organization’s diversity extends beyond gender. CAP Tulsa boasts a 55 percent minority-identifying staff, and a proposal before its board will increase the number of minority-identifying board members to 40 percent.
Once people join CAP Tulsa, they’re likely to advance within its ranks. The organization’s Aspiring Leader Program enables full-time employees to test whether leadership positions in its 10 early childhood schools are for them. “We have had many complete the program and be promoted into increasing levels of leadership,” Kiely said.
Internal satisfaction surveys show these tactics help retain employees, but Kiely acknowledges the need for more. “In Oklahoma, we have a severe teacher shortage,” she said. Kiely successfully increased the minimum hourly wages for teaching assistants while successfully lobbying her board for an organization-wide 3 percent cost of living increase this past January.
Kiely said that she takes a top-down approach to setting the tone of CAP Tulsa’s culture and exemplifying how communication and praise should flow. Her actions reflect how the best large nonprofits approach culture and communications efforts. Top firms earned an 88 percent positive rating from their employees in this category, compared with only 71 percent from the rest. They offer frequent, detailed communications while fostering environments in which employees like working with each other.
Sometimes turnover is built into the nature of the organization. At the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP), in Jacksonville, Fla., turnover rates are between 11 percent and 15 percent, with roughly two-thirds of those being people in families that receive permanent change of station orders.
WWP employees consider the day-today counseling and rehabilitation exercises, and the fun, empowering activities they coordinate (such as yoga, parades, athletic challenges, and group activities), less a job and more a “mission,” as Lieutenant General (U.S. Army, retired) President and CEO Mike Linnington terms it. Staff members are often paired with wounded vets, or volunteers acting on behalf of wounded loved ones. These interactions demand a lot from employees.
Staff members can access private counselling areas and break areas where staff can “have some quiet time, reflection time, have a cup of coffee, take a cleansing breath, and maintain their own resilience,” he said.
These types of breaks are important, and the best large nonprofits build them into their employee benefits. Some 83 percent of employees from the top large nonprofits were satisfied with their employers’ stress management resources, compared with 40 percent from the rest of the large nonprofits. And, 100 percent of employees at large nonprofits appreciated the time management resources provided, compared with 60 percent from the rest.
Linnington said that he eschews excessive, or even moderate, spending on employee frills such as pizza parties, favoring office potlucks and no-cost team-building activities, such as volunteer work for outside organizations. Linnington joined WWP in 2016 after the organization was rocked by reports of excessively lavish management expenditures. When the organization does spend, it does so with an eye toward benefitting all employees, he said. WWP has revamped its performance competence evaluation program, tailoring them based on employees’ levels. Employee focus groups guide HR benefits decisions.
Focused surveys reflect practices among other top large nonprofits, which offer multiple annual employee evaluations measuring satisfaction, as well as providing managerial feedback. Two-thirds of the best large nonprofits do so, compared with 20 percent of the rest.
WWP’s effort pulled input from employee focus groups and managers throughout the organization. WWP was the top large nonprofit and the 13th best overall within the top 50.
All of the largest best nonprofits put a premium on their benefits packages. But if employees aren’t spurred to take advantage of them, offering them is a hollow exercise. The efforts of the HR department at The Alzheimer’s Association, Chicago, to educate staff about all available benefits helped earn it third place among the best large nonprofits, and 21st place within the top 50.
HR leaders implemented an online scavenger hunt, which led employees to various website pages describing available perks. Prizes included Fitbits, Ninja blenders, and coolers for the employees, and healthier employees for the organization.
“Too often people don’t take advantage of benefits,” said President & CEO Harry Johns. “That is the aim of the scavenger hunt, and the philosophical bent of the HR department.”
Alzheimer’s Association leaders also stepped up efforts to recognize work by employees, ranging from a recently implemented Rookie of the Year award to “Mission Accomplished” awards for business units whose programs meet goals that are part of the organization’s three-year strategic plans.
The organization constantly solicits its staff regarding improving their work lives. Later this year, in response to employee requests, the Alzheimer’s Association will begin offering pet insurance.
“We believe in supporting people the way they want to be supported,” Johns said.
Perhaps no large organization practices what it preaches as diligently as AARP, Washington, D.C., which gears many of its benefits toward an eventual healthy and comfortable retirement or later life. The nonprofit took fourth place on the list of best large nonprofits, and 31st place in the top 50.
AARP offers retirement benefits starting at age 55, provided an employee has been with the organization at least 15 years. Retired employees can tap into AARP medical coverage, regardless of their age.
The organization is actively involved in its workers’ health, with benefits that include a portal that provides fitness, exercise, and nutrition logs, group wellness activities, a robust dental plan, and coverage for hearing aids. Alone among the large nonprofits, the AARP offers paid four-week sabbaticals after seven years of service.
During their careers, AARP employees can receive additional compensation through Performance Plus Bonuses, which reward exemplary contributions beyond standard merit-based pay raises and other incentives.
Its rewards don’t just flow from the top down. Through its “The AARP Recognizes You” program, employees can award other workers points, which are redeemable for funds on a special debit card.
The ultimate measure of nonprofit excellence might be whether employees would recommend their workplace to a friend. Leaving aside the hazards of mixing business and pleasure, the best large nonprofits shine here, with 91 percent of employees wiling to bring friends onboard, compared to 76 percent among the other nonprofits.
Richard H. Levey is a freelance business writer and frequent contributor to The NonProfit Times.
