Why the High Employee-Turnover Rate?

By Maya Bur

It’s no secret that nonprofits have an alarmingly high employee-turnover rate. Why are there new faces around the office so regularly? Many have brushed it off as “burnout,” but what does that really include? Tech Impact took a closer look at the causes of nonprofit turnover in this infographic, “15 Reasons Why Nonprofit Employees Quit.”

Here’s what they found:

• The most common reasons for leaving a nonprofit were being underpaid, lacking upward mobility and having excessive workloads.
• Inflexible schedules are the norm, but maybe not the best—research shows flexibility in work hours reduces stress and burnout.
• Just 29 percent of nonprofit leadership positions are filled internally. This factors into a lack of upward mobility and leaves many employees feeling overlooked.
• Nonprofit workers often feel overworked, and research shows that employee output decreases significantly when the workweek reaches 50 hours or more.

There are many challenges specific to nonprofit work that contribute to the high turnover rate, but knowing the causes helps in understanding how to minimize these factors and prevent high turnover rates.

Allowing employees more opportunities to move up in the workplace is a good starting point. One benefit of hiring internally is that employees will see more career possibility within your organization. Upward mobility is a strong motivator in the workplace. It also means employees filling new positions will already have vast background knowledge on the organization and on job function.

It’s also important to combat burnout in any way possible. One  way to do this is to allow flexible hours on occasion, or when possible. Showing that your organization values employees and their efforts will  improve retention, productivity and morale.

For more, download the full infographic.