How Not to Lose a Critical Asset: Retaining Your Staff

Have you thanked your star performers lately for specific things they have accomplished? Are you making sure credit goes to those who generate great ideas, regardless of where they fall on the organizational chart?

Little connection with your mission
Sometimes people take jobs for the wrong reasons. In a nonprofit, if an employee doesn't love your mission, he or she may not have the fortitude to stick around when things get rough (or other opportunities beckon). Talk about your mission in the interview process, and ask candidates to explain what it is about your mission that resonates with them. Watch out for great phrases that are actually just quotes from your website; you want a genuine "heart" connection, not just "head" knowledge. Remember, you can teach most skills, but you can't teach passion.