Staff Turnover: Filling the Gaps
Employee burnout is at an all time high. According to the recently released Aflac Workforces Report, more than half (59%) of American workers are experiencing at least moderate levels of burnout. In a post-COVID environment, where there has been a shifting workforce and uncertain economy, it comes as no surprise. While all sectors are affected, nonprofit organizations are particularly vulnerable to it, especially for smaller organizations who have limited capacity already. And, when burnout leads to staff turnover, the challenge is only heightened for those left behind.
When these situations arise, taking the time to think through ways to operate more efficiently can help alleviate the stress of staff reduction. SVP Austin has been working with Regarding Cancer, a local Austin nonprofit that provides free support services to cancer patients and their caregivers in Central Texas, helping to identify strategies and solutions after a key team member left their organization.
Through their volunteer match program, Regarding Cancer pairs newly-diagnosed cancer patients or their caregivers with a peer or caregiver survivor of the same cancer. In addition, their cancer survivor volunteers visit with cancer patients and their families at oncology centers to offer emotional support and information about community resources during infusion treatments.
Before COVID, all Regarding Cancer’s programmatic, financial, and organizational metrics were showing signs of growth. As with many nonprofits, social distancing forced the organization to make big adjustments. Their partner hospital systems locked down previously accessible facilities where volunteers spent hours with patients undergoing treatment, requiring a switch to virtual visits. Regarding Cancer adapted by doing whatever it took to reach those in need, even wearing personal protective equipment in the parking lots of Texas Oncology centers to check in patients when the hospital found itself short of administrative staff.
While COVID was difficult for the organization, staff burnout led to turnover in pivotal roles leading to difficulty filling the gaps. Regarding Cancer reached out to SVP Austin to help them assess what gaps needed to be filled in order to rebuild the organization.
Key findings included:
Potential earned revenue in the form of sponsorships from their four largest hospital partners which would provide funding to hire additional staff.
Collaboration with aligned local or national organizations in the form of shared services, or even some form of merger.
Leverage its volunteer base to take on some of the programmatic and administrative workload.
Rejuvenation and expansion of the board to increase both funding for more staff and to replace skills lost.
Hire a Virtual Assistant from an offshore staffing agency to handle accounting at 20% of the current cost and support other administrative tasks.
SVP advisers then worked with Regarding Cancer to address these findings by:
Creating a pitch deck to present compelling economic and outcome benefits to its largest hospital partners.
Exploring both short and longer-term partnership opportunities with its largest national peer organization.
Developing a proposal to revamp its volunteer management solution, allowing them to more easily communicate with their pool of 350+ cancer peers.
Presenting the board with a strategic plan that included setting participation expectations from current board members and steps for recruiting several new board members.
Identifying a top quality outsourcing firm offering skilled Philippine accounting services and beginning the vetting process.
SVP Project Lead Adviser Robert Dye, commented, “We laid out this 5-part strategy to fill the gaps left by key staff leaving Regarding Cancer and split up responsibilities between the team members so we could pursue all five ways of solving their problem at the same time knowing that luck was going to play a significant role in the outcome, but confident that one or, more likely, a combination of the 5 would get Regarding Cancer on a sustainable trajectory.”
SVP Austin has helped Regarding Cancer grow by connecting us with experts who have given us mission-driven approaches to creating sustainable impact for the organization. Seeing how willing their members are to help has been a wonderful experience I will never forget.
– Diana Dobson, Executive Director, Regarding Cancer
Regarding Cancer is actively seeking Board Members. If you are interested in learning more, please contact Diana Dobson at Diana@RegardingCancer.org.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Are you a Central Texas nonprofit or social enterprise needing help solving your current growth challenges? Learn more about how we support nonprofits and social enterprises through our pro bono advisory services and reach out to explore partnering with us!
