• Part one: HR Professionals and Community Engagement: Profession Benefits
• Part two: HR Professionals and Community Engagement: Employer Benefits

Are you thinking of promoting a high potential individual to a leadership role? Send him/her and their potential direct reports on a Habitat for Humanity build. The build environment can offer additional insights regarding working relationship dynamics and personality traits to guide the organization’s talent management investment. Compare this opportunity cost to more conventional corporate team-building programs.

Want to provide opportunities to build performance capabilities? Help employees source  non-profits (NPs) in their communities that require technical expertise (e.g. marketing, communications, finance, human resources (HR)). Through the experience, they will gain insights from applying their problem-solving capabilities in different work contexts. The employer benefits thanks to a higher performing human capital team.

Corporate commitment to community engagement is not a passing fad. Organizations are increasingly realizing the value of this business/community connection as a management tool for supporting longer term shareholder value. Increasingly Gen X/Y employees are expecting their employers to have an active community engagement focus (e.g. structured HR programs) for enabling community impact. In the absence of these opportunities they are increasingly turning to intermediaries like Endeavour[5] and Jericho Roads Project[6] as a means of channeling their community engagement energy.  These intermediaries can complement HR’s role in developing cross-sector partnerships through their sector intelligence.

The HR profession is well positioned as the intermediary for integrating employer objectives, employee expectations and community needs. By rising to this challenge, the HR function can create measurable returns on investment for key stakeholder groups and further elevate the profession’s status.

If you have questions for how to enhance your non-profit’s HR team, leave a comment below.

[5] http://www.endeavourvolunteer.ca/

[6] http://www.jerichoroadproject.org/

This blog post was originally featured on tapestrybuilder.com. We’ve re-published it here in three parts with permission.

Beyond elevating the human resource (HR) profession’s profile, cross-sector partnerships offer opportunities to address organizational priorities including:

• managing stakeholder risks and
• addressing talent development priorities.

These partnerships create broader organizational awareness of community groups and their perspectives on social issues which can inform organizational stewardship related to future customer base and market opportunities. Through this lens, it becomes easy to understand why a book retailer, for example, would support children literacy programs: in addition to helping create a more educated society, the retailer is also building their future customer base.

These forms of community investment illustrate what Harvard authors Michael E. Porter and Mark R. Kramer refer to as “shared value creation[4]. In addition to supporting a positive corporate citizenship profile, cross-sector partnerships offer a cost-effective opportunity to address talent management needs including leadership development and building problem solving expertise.

Share ideas on other employer benefits below and stay tuned for part three of David’s blog post on what community partnerships could look like on Friday.

[4] Source: http://hbr.org/2011/01/the-big-idea-creating-shared-value/ar/pr

This blog post was originally featured on tapestrybuilder.com. We’ve re-published it here in three parts with permission.

There is a long history of community engagement within some professional groups. The most obvious is the legal profession and its hallmark of pro bono legal aid which is promoted at the association level[1]. The accounting profession also deserves noteworthy mention. More recently other professional associations, like architecture, have created their own space for building social sector capacity through professional contributions[2].  The human resources (HR) function now has an opportunity to simultaneously build a stronger professional brand through community engagement efforts as well as address organizational priorities in the human capital management space.

Aside from a few national/international brands, most non-profits (NPs) do not have articulated talent management strategies or dedicated HR expertise. Most available resources tend to concentrate on supporting operational practices such as developing job description templates and less on the benefits of strategic HR planning. In the absence of such planning, they are likely under-utilizing volunteer expertise. NPs that do have dedicated HR talent would be the first to confirm that aside from salary considerations, there is virtually no difference between employee engagement and volunteer engagement. The endgame in either type of organization setting is the same: strategically deploy talent to achieve a desired organization outcome.

Increased cross-sector HR dialogue can:

• encourage intellectual capital transfer and
• impact  the perceived gap in how HR contributions are valued across sectors.

This perceived difference may partially explain some of the current variation in cross-sector compensation levels. The relationship of job worth and job value is a topic for another day though[3].

Feel free to share your comments below and stay tuned for part two of David’s blog post on employer benefits on Wednesday.

[1] Source: http://www.cba.org/cba/groups/probono/
[2] Source: http://www.theonepercent.org/
[3] Point factor job evaluation systems will usually generate similar total points for Executive Directors and President/CEOs on job dimensions such as complexity of decision making, problem solving and nature of working relationships.

This blog post was originally featured on tapestrybuilder.com. We’ve re-published it here in three parts with permission.

]]> http://www.endeavourvolunteer.ca/hr-professionals-community-engagement-profession-benefits/feed/ 0 http://www.endeavourvolunteer.ca/endeavour-provided-me-a-rather-unique-perspective-outside-of-the-formal-work-environment/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=endeavour-provided-me-a-rather-unique-perspective-outside-of-the-formal-work-environment http://www.endeavourvolunteer.ca/endeavour-provided-me-a-rather-unique-perspective-outside-of-the-formal-work-environment/#comments Mon, 06 May 2013 04:53:30 +0000 admin http://www.endeavourvolunteer.ca/?p=4378 Continue reading →]]> Written by Banu Raghuraman

Starting as a consultant with Endeavour, Wasib Muhammad has held important posts on our executive team. We catch up with Wasib for his thoughts on alumni relations.

You have had a busy week! What have you been up to?

As the Manager, Engineered Systems Projects (Asia Pacific Region), for Rockwell Automation, I was working on streamlining the sourcing process with a new vendor in Beijing (China) and integrating their product into our projects across Asia Pacific.

I also had a project kick-off meeting at our newly acquired facility in Harbin (China). I hoped to finalize the project scope and on-board one of the new project managers in the region.

Did you gain anything insightful from this experience?

Given the diversity of languages and cultures within Asia, I learned two valuable lessons. First, strengthening individual relationships (within and outside the organization) goes a long way towards building lasting corporate partnerships. And second, understanding cultural norms is vital for gaining people’s commitment for any project, and the best way to do that is to get to know individuals in both a professional and a personal capacity.

When did your engineering career start?

I started at Rockwell Automation as a system design engineer in Cambridge (Ontario, Canada). Over the past six years, I worked at Rockwell Headquarters in Milwaukee and Singapore, where I rotated between technical management, business consulting, and now commercial management for various regions.

You are a very familiar face at Endeavour. How far back do you go with us?

I started with Endeavour in 2008 as a consultant and, subsequently, as an information advisor for various engagements. Since then, I have held positions of increasing responsibility including Director Knowledge Management, and Vice President Operations.

How did Endeavour help prepare you for where you are today? Did you see any opportunities open up after working with Endeavour?

Endeavour provided me a rather unique perspective outside of the formal work environment as well as the opportunity to meet and work with some very accomplished individuals. Moreover, the roles of increasing responsibility within Endeavour gave me the confidence to utilize my consulting and management skills at work.

In terms of opportunities, I would say that Endeavour played a pivotal role. While at Endeavour, I was able to transition into the business consultant role within Rockwell Automation which eventually led to my current role in Singapore. Moreover, the volunteer consulting and leadership experience was very well regarded during my recent business school interviews – particularly at Columbia, where I will be starting my MBA this year.

Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?

I hope to transition into a business leadership position having Profit & Loss responsibility within either Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) or Latin America region.

All the best with that! If you could give advice to young Endeavour participants, what advice would you give?

Endeavour volunteering experience can be different things to different people. Like most other experiences in life, it is we who decide what we want the experience to be. So before you join Endeavour, take time to ask yourself what is it that you would want to achieve through your affiliation with such an organization. And remember that experience will always triumph title, so don’t get too obsessed with those.

How do you see Endeavour now, compared to when you were with Endeavour?

Endeavour has grown significantly over the past few years and their inclusion in the Global Pro Bono Fellowship program is a reflection of its recognition within the non-profit sector. To reach to this point, Endeavour has been very lucky to have an exceptionally competitive and talented applicant pool as well as a very engaged leadership team and board of directors.

How can Endeavour support you as an alumnus going forward?

Endeavour is doing a good job of engaging the alumni in roles such as subject matter experts for current consulting engagements. I would additionally recommend creation of an alumni directory (or managing it through LinkedIn) and keeping the alumni community engaged through hosting networking (and recruitment) events. For alumni located out of Toronto, perhaps LinkedIn community pages (with restricted access limited to current and past Endeavour members) could be used to keep people in touch.

As the founding president of Endeavour, Andrea Wong has been with the non-profit since its inception. In this interview, she discusses her involvement and experience building Endeavour.  Learn how Endeavour came to be in this interview.

How did you come up with the idea for Endeavour?

When I was at the University of Toronto, I volunteered for a group called “Volunteer Consulting Group” (VCG). VCG provided opportunities for current University of Toronto students to be involved in pro-bono consulting. After I graduated, I wanted to do something similar to meet other like-minded people, develop my skills and contribute to the community, but realised there was nothing like that available. That’s how Endeavour came about.

Why the name “Endeavour”?

When we started off, we came up with various options as part of a brainstorming exercise and then voted on our favourites. “Endeavour” received the most number of votes.

What made you change your career path from the profit sector to the non-profit sector?

I did my undergrad degree in Commerce  and started off working for a bank. This was around the same time that Endeavour was starting up. As we worked towards building Endeavour, I realized I wanted to do something more meaningful as a full time career. I started looking around for opportunities and an opening at a nonprofit in the healthcare sector came about. So a big factor that influenced the change was my experience with Endeavour.

What attracted you to non-profit sector?

I’m currently working in the United Way’s community investment area. Essentially, after the United Way receives and raises funds, my group works towards distributing the funds to other charities, who have applied for funding. I like this area as it is very similar to the work that Endeavour does – working with volunteers and helping to build the capacity of non-profits.

To learn more about Andrea, check out her profile on the Executive Team page.

Written by Banu Raghuraman

CharityVillage is the top Canadian source for Canada non-profit news, non-profit jobs, non-profit funding, non-profit training and more. Maggie Leithead, CEO of CharityVillage, has been involved in non-profit work since her high school days. Read on to hear her thoughts on how to get involved and become successful in the non-profit sector.

Please give us a snapshot of your journey to CharityVillage.

Since high school, I have always worked in or around the non-profit sector. I was writing for a sister publication in fundraising and shared the office with Doug Jamieson, the founder of CharityVillage. I joined the team about six months after the site went live in 1995. So I have been around to see some trends that have come along and I’ve been lucky to witness lots of changes within the non-profit sector as well.

 What are the top characteristics every applicant in the non-profit industry has?

1. Passion for changing the world.
   Whether it is the desire to save your local stream, protect pandas or cure cancer – whatever it is – you should have passion for and commitment to the cause. Most people who work in non-profits are drawn in by the desire to change the world. If you’re just looking for a paycheque, this isn’t the place for you.
2. Flexibility
   The ability to wear many hats is key. Non-profits are stretched for resources. As a junior person, particularly in smaller organizations, you will often get a chance to learn a variety of roles.  You might have a chance to take on a big project early in your career. Being flexible and committed will help you move forward.
3. Insatiable curiosity and want to learn
   If you’re really focused on doing only one thing in your career, then working in the non-profit sector will likely lead to some frustration. This ties in to the point about flexibility – you should be comfortable with change, and open to learning a lot of new things.
4. Open to unstructured career paths
   For-profits tend to have a more structured career path. Non-profits generally tend to be flatter in structure and there may not be many upward professional development paths or opportunities to grow within an organization. Lots of non-profit staffers find it easier to develop professionally by moving to a new organization, rather than staying in a single place

What are the top skills that would be useful when the applicant is job hunting in the non-profit sector?

1. Technical skills
   Depending on the kind of position, it is key that you have either the technical skills or experience needed, for example, marketing or fundraising, etc.
2. Strong written and verbal communication skills
3. Project management skills
   You should be able to help move a project from conception to fruition.
4. Teamwork
   Unlike for-profits, many non-profits rely heavily on unpaid talent (i.e. volunteers). On any given project, you may work with a mix of staff and/or volunteers. You’ll need strong team skills to balance the competing needs of busy people, whether they’re being paid to work with you or not.
5. Tech savvy
   From Skype, to Google docs, to complex fundraising databases, you’ll need be able to use technology effectively.

Unfortunately, sometimes, we come across postings which may not be genuine. How do we determine the authenticity of the job posting?

1. Definitely go to trusted sources or websites.
   For example, at CharityVillage, we do check the authenticity of each posting before it goes live.
2. Do your homework
   If the posting sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Do a Google search and find out what the organization is all about.

How are you different from the other organizations that may offer similar services?

Most people know about CharityVillage because of our job board, but that’s not how we’ve defined ourselves. Since we went online in 1995, we’ve always wanted to be an online resource for changemakers – a place to connect non-profit professionals to ideas, opportunities and each other. The job board is just one slice of that. We also offer thousands of articles and training to help people become more effective in their roles and keep on top of what’s happening in the sector. More recently, we’ve built in a community layer to the site so that people can connect directly with their peers to discuss issues and ideas that are important to them.

The non-profit sector is massively important to Canada. It accounts for 7% of our GDP and it’s the second largest non-profit sector in the world. We have a stronger Canada when we have strong non-profit organizations and engaged professionals working in those organizations. We want to help people change the world – that’s much more fun that just being a job board!

Erica Opoku is an Engagement Manager for Round 11 at Endeavour, and is spending six months leading her consulting team as they provided their client, Epilepsy Ontario, with recommendations on Organizational Design. Erica’s day job working as a Project Coordinator for the Region of Peel allows her to bring a social service perspective to the task at hand. Read about her reasons for jumping into the non-profit sector as a career choice after graduating, and how she deals with the myths surrounding non-profits.

Erica, what is your day job?  Could you share some of your duties?

I work as a Coordinator for Project Lifesaver, a Region of Peel initiative that provides peace of mind for families who have family members with cognitive impairment issues.

Many people who have a cognitive impairment (such as Alzheimer’s, Dementia, Autism, Down syndrome, etc) but are still physically fit would like to live an independent life. However, their families become concerned when relatives go about their daily lives, exposed to potentially unsafe conditions. For such individuals, Project Lifesaver, in collaboration with the local police force, locates individuals should they wander away from their homes. The program participant wears an ID bracelet that emits a signal; the police have locating devices that pick up this signal. This assists the family and police in identifying where clients have wandered off to, and keeps them safe. The service is currently used byclients of all ages. Many families become aware of the program through the Peel Regional Police or Caledon OPP.

My job involves meeting with families and individuals to introduce them to the Project Lifesaver program. I also meet with clients for monthly maintenance and address any issues and concerns they may have.

As a recent graduate, what made you choose a career in the non-profit sector?

I graduated in 2004 and for me, I had to know that my work makes a difference and has a positive impact on other people’s lives. Personally, I don’t find that the private sector would provide me with the same impact.

Were there any myths that you had heard of before coming to the non-profit sector? If yes,what are they and how did you dispel them?

Generally, I thought of it as very different from the private sector – that it is very harmonious and that everyone within the non-profit sector thinks and sees things the same way. That they tend to have a common way of doing everything. And finally, that they are very casual and non-business like.

I dealt with the myths with a positive spin. It is a good thing that all of us do not think the same way. The diversity provides variety and creativity that makes challenges interesting. Different ideas make things work better. And regardless of which sector one is in, the level of professionalism should be there, as you are still delivering a “service” for the “business”. In my case, the “service” is very personalized and close to the heart of many families I work with. My professionalism creates rapport and trust which is needed for the work I do.

If you are given the task of convincing someone from the for-profit sector to join the non-profit sector, what would your top five arguments be?

1.  You learn more transferable skills. There are limited resources and since the non-profit sector doesn’t generate revenue for this purpose, we have to learn skills from different areas – marketing, advertising, report writing, etc.

2.  You can earn a decent income. The non-profit sector is large and incorporates a variety of roles and responsibilities. You can definitely find a position to your liking.

3. You will work with passionate colleagues.You are more likely to work with people who are passionate about their career, which makes your work a little easier and more meaningful.

4.  It is very diverse. People assume that there are limited career options, which are commonly heard of, like social worker, but there are many more careers than that. There are a lot to choose from.

5. You will be on the same page as everybody.Everyone’s vision is the same, your co-workers will all be working towards a common goal or working to further a particular cause even though the process may differ.

Interested in learning more about the passionate people at Endeavour?
Check out http://www.endeavourvolunteer.ca/about-us/ to read profiles of our Board of Directors, Executive Team and Advisory Committee.

Written by Banu Raghuraman

The idea of a second career or a career change is not new, as people yearn to try something different and learn something new. However, switching between sectors, especially the move from for-profit to non-profit at the leadership level can be daunting. For example, for-profit sectors employees tend to have measurable quotas and defined peaks of success, while the success of non-profit employee initiatives tend to be a lot more behavioural and difficult to measure. Yet, this article http://goo.gl/zhjrE speaks to how well-meaning business people moving into leadership roles in non-profits end up frustrated and ineffective because they don’t fully appreciate the challenges. Appreciating these differences in the leadership challenge can position business leaders to be more successful in four key roles– that of board member, funder, partner, and non-profit executive.

Considering a career switch into the non-profit sector? A role at Endeavour can be the bridge you need! Roles such as Engagement Manager or Consultant may fit your skill set and be the experience you need to confidently enter the non-profit workforce. Please read our testimonials for a better understanding of the skills gained after volunteering with Endeavour: http://www.endeavourvolunteer.ca/volunteer/why-endeavour/what-volunteers-say/

Written by Banu Raghuraman

Career options within the non-profit sector are generally loosely defined and incumbents are expected to efficiently carry out a variety of tasks. Additionally, recent graduates often wonder where and how they will fit into the working world. The HR Council for the Non-profit Sector considers both elements in their article http://hrcouncil.ca/about-the-sector/common-job-categories.cfm. They list the common jobs in the non-profit sector, and provide an insight into what applicants can expect in the industry. Additional resources provide insights, sorted by specific bachelor degrees, which will lead to a career within the non-profit sector http://hrcouncil.ca/about-the-sector/my-degree.cfm.

Having a huge student loan is not uncommon for recent grads. Often this becomes a deciding factor when choosing between a job you want and a job you need (so that you are debt-free as soon as possible). Sometimes, job satisfaction and career advancement tend to take a back seat when running the risk of even more debt due to high interest accumulation, or even bankruptcy. And because of the difference in average salaries in for profit and non-profit sectors, the debt free status seems to be even more of an issue when choosing a job in the latter. This article ” Serving the debt sentence: Is repaying your student loan a barrier to working for a nonprofit ? “ featured on Charity Village, shows us different ways people with a job in the non-profit sector have achieved debt free status. So recent graduates, if repaying your student debt is a barrier to your entry into the non-profit sector, read this article and reconsider.

Careers in the non-profit sector aren’t much different north and south of the border. Almost 9% of the American workforce is employed in the non-profit sector (compared to 7% in Canada*). Indiana University has introduced the first ever Bachelor degree in philanthropic studies, akin to Carleton University introducing Canada’s first formal education in philanthropy with the new Master of Philanthropy and Non-profit Leadership degree and graduate diploma.

Keeping money matters aside, there are myths associated with jobs in the non-profit world that may sideline this option for new entrants into the work force; these myths apply to the non-profit sector both in Canada and the USA. Lisa M. Dietlin, philanthropic advisor and CEO of Lisa M. Dietlin and Associates based in the US, lists these myths and dispels them with facts ” Making a Difference: The World of Giving Careers in the Nonprofit Sector “ .

Endeavour Volunteer Consulting is an ideal way for students and recent graduates to gain experience in the non-profit sector. If you are a current student or recent graduate and are interested in learning more about working in the non-profit sector, consider applying as a consultant. Please visit Consulting Opportunities for details.

* Reference: http://hrcouncil.ca/labour/statistics.cfm

Do you have questions about our engagement with TechSoup Canada or other Canadian charities? Let us know below.