Five Strategies to Becoming the Employer You Want to Be

by ProInspire Board Member Pratichi Shah

“What kind of employer do you want to be?”

There may be no more important question when positioning an organization for future success. Buteau and Gopal pose the question explicitly in Employee Empowerment: The Key to Foundation Staff Satisfaction, and their findings challenge us to focus on it while building and managing our organizations. In the same way that we create a value proposition for those we serve, we also create a value proposition for each employee we bring into our organizations. The issues highlighted by Buteau and Gopal—of empowerment, communication, and alignment—contribute to a value proposition between employer and employee that lays a foundation for mutual satisfaction, productivity, and success. As the authors note, “satisfaction matters” to performance, to external constituency experience, and, collectively, to organizational impact—the ultimate goal.

So what actions improve and strengthen our employment value proposition? As sector leaders, we need to ensure that talent and employment issues are top of mind and dialogue as we set direction, create strategy, and engage with grantees. The criticality of our workforce in achieving our goals should guide our actions and conversation around talent and culture.

Foundations can impact this externally, by creating dialogue with grantees around talent and employment issues, prioritizing the creation of an enriching employment experience, and supporting organizational efforts around performance and development.

Organizationally, a significant shift in mindset needs to occur regarding our role as employers. This means assessing ourselves and understanding where we are on the issues raised by Buteau and Gopal: empowerment and communications, among others. It also means investment in our employment value proposition. As pointed out in the paper, this need not be an expensive financial investment, rather a “substantial commitment and investment of personal energy on the part of … leaders.”

Click here to continue reading the five achievable strategies that organization leaders can undertake to begin moving their organization down the path to strong employment experience, empowerment, alignment—and ultimately higher productivity and impact.

Five Strategies to Becoming the Employer You Want to Be via The Center for Effective Philanthropy