If your employees are feeling extra stress these days, they’re not alone. New federal approaches on issues like immigration and health care and the threat of budget cuts to social services have many nonprofit workers worried about their clients, their jobs, and the future in general.
As a manager, it can be hard to help staff members cope with stress, especially if you, too, are worried. Here are some steps experts recommend taking to ease your employees’ concerns, whether they arise from external sources like impending policy changes or internal upheavals such as a leadership transition.
Acknowledge the problem and the stress it causes.
Leaders sometimes try to shield others from negative topics, but that can backfire by fueling rumors, says Aisha Moore, who provides coaching on work-life balance to nonprofits. “When you don’t talk about it,” she says, “your employees are speculating.”
The alternative? “Name the issue instead of hiding it,” says Jan Rose, a partner at nonprofit consulting firm AchieveMission. “It can be a real positive if you react in a way with authenticity and transparency.”
Meetings with employees — be they one-on-one, in small groups, or as a full staff — offer important outlets for leaders to share their own feelings about the problem and invite workers to do the same, Ms. Rose says.
It’s important to solicit feedback from employees during these forums, she adds. Ask open-ended questions (“How are we feeling about this?”), or prompt people to write their thoughts down anonymously on notecards. During these exercises, leaders should do more listening than talking, Ms. Rose advises.
Lori Kaplan, chief executive officer at the Latin American Youth Center in Washington, D.C., acknowledges current events that affect clients or staff with officewide emails. Board members also send messages to staff.
Recently, employees were concerned to learn that the center might not make its payroll on time. Ms. Kaplan held a staff meeting to answer questions about the nonprofit’s health. A significant portion of its money comes from federal grants, and she tried to be transparent with her staff about the uncertainty ahead.
“If those pockets of money get wiped out, our programs could be wiped out,” she says. “Staff are saying, ‘Should we be looking for other jobs? What’s going to happen?’ You have to be honest [and tell them], ‘Do what’s in the best interest for you and your family.’ "
This kind of open communication worked well at Reading Partners, a national tutoring nonprofit, after a longtime chief executive left in 2016 and the organization laid off some employees, says Jessica Vibberts, chief people officer.
“While the message has not always been savory, they’ve been incredibly appreciative of being brought in and respected,” Ms. Vibberts says. “They feel respected as professionals. They can make decisions for themselves about whether ... to stay or go.”
Communicate your plan.
Although listening is essential, so is demonstrating leadership by creating and communicating a plan to address the problem.
Tell employees the details about what you’re doing to tackle it, Ms. Moore says. Provide context for the situation based on your previous professional experiences, such as the last time there was a national political shake-up or your organization faced financial straits. Explain which pending legislation is relevant to your nonprofit, what news sources you’re using to stay informed, and what kind of advocacy work you’re doing to promote your charity’s interests. Commit to giving staff members regular updates about progress and setbacks.
This kind of reassurance should help employees focus on their individual duties instead of devoting energy to what Ms. Vibberts calls “free-floating anxiety.”
Re-evaluate organizational and staff priorities.
Adding stress to already-heavy workloads can push employees to the edge. In periods of trouble, take time to reassess your organization’s priorities, and those of staff. Not everything they do is essential to carrying out the mission, and you may need to cut things that are “nice to do but not necessary right now,” Ms. Moore says.
One way to do this starts with identifying critical goals for the organization as a whole, mapping out how employees at all levels work to meet them, and cutting any extraneous activities, Ms. Rose says.
Another approach uses what Ms. Moore calls a “time audit.” Ask employees to list the tasks they perform over the course of the day and look for items that are duplicated or can be done without, thereby easing the burden on staff. By evaluating each person’s duties, you can “rearrange the Tetris pieces rather than just pile them on,” she explains.
For example, if it turns out that every employee spends the morning reading political news, assign that duty to just one person a day and ask them to give a short report on what’s relevant to the organization. Employees “get the satisfaction of feeling informed” without all of them devoting precious time to the task, Ms. Moore says.
Evaluate office culture.
Your workplace culture can alleviate employee stress, or add to it. Ms. Rose advises leaders to periodically assess whether office policies reflect the organization’s core values. For example, does your nonprofit profess to support a reasonable work-life balance but have managers who frown upon staff taking earned vacation days? That’s a sign it isn’t practicing its values, and that could be stressing your staff.
To run an audit of workplace culture, assemble a diverse committee of employees. Give them the authority to identify values to which the office should aspire and to solicit feedback from peers about whether it exhibits those values, and create a plan for how to address any shortcomings.
The National Council on Crime & Delinquency created a diversity and inclusion committee to help it assess its processes to make sure it is fostering an equitable and positive climate for all employees, says Kathy Park, the nonprofit’s chief executive.
The council also permits employees to bring their children or pets to the office as needed to make life easier for them.
Care for yourself and others.
Removing barriers to improving health and wellness can help employees alleviate extra stress, experts say. Some of their suggestions:
- Instead of sitting around a conference table, take walking meetings to get fresh air and a change of scenery.
- Prohibit meetings on certain days of the week to help staff members stay productive.
- Permit flexible work schedules.
- Ask employees to write notes of gratitude to each other that they can keep on their desks as forms of encouragement when they are feeling overwhelmed.
- Do ice-breaker activities before meetings or at daily intervals. At ReadingPartners, for example, employees take short breaks together to play board games. “The more people have friendships at work, the more they’re able to manage through the stressful times at work,” Ms. Vibberts says.
- Bring in a trainer to lead weekly meditation or yoga sessions during the work day.
- Leave your office door open for employees who want to have a conversation.
- Plan social gatherings like picnics and happy hours.
Connect employees to the mission.
Building frequent reminders into the work week about the importance of what your nonprofit does can give employees comfort during trying times. At ReadingPartners, nearly 90 percent of the staff participates in tutoring programs.
“It’s the highlight of people’s weeks,” Ms. Vibberts says. “I think that connection to the mission is super critical.”