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DRAFT FOR DISCUSSION

This Organization’s Talent Management Assessment Findings

Prepared for: Talent Management Team, This Organization Authors: A, B, and C, AchieveMission Report Date: MONTH, DATE, 2020 Findings Retreat Meeting

Table of Contents Opening Context and Driving Questions…1-3Findings… 4-36

Strengths … 4Talent Management Framework … 5Strategy + Leadership & Team... 6-12

Strategy … 6Outstanding Talent in Key Roles … 8Aligned Goals … 10Optimized Performance … 11

Talent Management Process... 13 – 36Talent Management Strategy and Planning … 13Acquire … 14Build … 16Rewards and Retain … 17Performance Management... 20Goal Cascade … 23Culture … 24Organizational Design... 32Internal Communications & Decision Making... 33

Power to Fix One Thing…37Selected Priorities…38Appendix on Methodology…40

Opening Context

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As you read this document, you’ll see that This Organization is doing well in some areas and has many areas where improvement in talent processes are needed and would be most welcome by the staff. We expect that much of what is reported here will not come as a surprise to many of you. And there are substantial gaps for us to discuss on the 12th. This is why you have brought in AchieveMission and this assessment is just the beginning of our work.

We believe in the credibility of the findings presented here. They are a result of the all-employee survey, interviews and focus groups, and a review of key documents. At the end of this report you can read a more detailed note about our methodology.

We look forward to your questions and to our discussion on the 12th.

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Our Driving Questions Strategy

o What are the mission, vision, and values?o What are the named strategies and initiatives to achieve them?o Is there buy-in among stakeholders of the strategy?o What is going well in the implementation of your strategy? o What are the past, current, and anticipated challenges?

Leadership and Teamo What are the most essential roles needed to achieve goals? o Do people in these roles have the right capabilities?o Do staff have clear goals aligned with organizational priorities? o Is performance optimized so that staff can do their best work?

Talent Processeso How strong are the leadership, governance, and planning for

talent management?o How strong are current processes: recruit, develop, retain,

reward, manage?

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FINDINGS

This Organization’s Key Strengths: Building Blocks for the Future

Mission Driven and Dedicated Staff The staff and leadership team alike feel connected to the mission and

the work of This Organization. Staff is willing to apply discretionary effort to help This Organization

and its clients succeed. Staff understand the value of their role to the success of This

Organization.

Strong Leadership Positive view of executive leadership and managers/supervisors,

especially optimism about the new leaders at This Organization. Perception that leaders are willing to try new things in service of the

work. Key strategic decisions moving forward such as strategic planning, real

estate strategy, organization design, and investment in doing talent work.

Perception that This Organization is hiring the right people into leadership roles.

Improved Communication Staff most frequently cite “nothing” when asked about organizational

non-discussables, which suggests that there is a positive culture of communication.

Improved top-down communication exists from a staff point of view. Perception that leaders want to hear from staff and are open to

feedback (and will take action based on the feedback).

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Talent Management Framework

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Strategy + Leadership & Team

Analysis & Key Findings: Strategy

A strategic plan could be defined as “a document that envisions a desired future and translates this vision into broadly defined goals or objectives and a sequence of steps to achieve them.” This Organization has involved multiple teams to draft the outline of a strategic plan which contains clear organizational strategic thrusts and detailed objectives. It includes numerous specific talent objectives and tactics. And beyond those specific talent objectives, within the broad sweep of the other key objectives there are implications that could and should impact approaches to talent across This Organization.

Staff, other than those at the leadership team level, do not yet have a clear understanding of the strategy.

There is significant concern by many about enhancing the infrastructure to support the This Organization growth trajectory.

Strengths From the survey: XX% agree/strongly agree with the statement, “I

understand how my role is important to the success of This Organization.”

Many people were involved in the strategic plan development – Multiple separate teams.

Strategic plan provides a set of clearly defined objectives for evolving This Organization.

Visible strategic moves have recently been made; for example, hiring Chief Department Officer and Vice President, top-level organization design changes, and investing in talent management process improvement.

Challenges: From the survey: Only YY% agree/strongly agree that “I know the top 3

– 5 priorities that our organization needs to accomplish by the end of the year to help us achieve our strategy.”

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From the survey: Only ZZ% agree/strongly agree that “I clearly understand if This Organization is on track to accomplish the goals laid out in its strategic plan.”

People, other than the leadership team level, do not have a clear understanding of the strategy –

o “I didn’t know the strategy; you just come to work and do your work.”

o “Know lots about my individual department because of my supervisor but beyond that it is much less clear what the organization is doing.”

o “Know we are about ____________.”o “Understand previous strategy of Program and could see how our

actions fit into its framework.”o “Lots of staff don’t know what the strategic plan is about.”

Even people that were involved in strategy plan development cited that they only knew their piece and had not seen the whole thing.

o “Leadership needs to stop and listen when people say: Don’t do it that way.”

Lack of integration and siloed units impact providing best client serviceo “We don’t know about the different programs as well as we

should to make referrals and utilize the services for clients.”o “We need to improve collaboration across departments – it’s not

just sharing information; it’s making time for other departments when you don’t have time and acknowledging each other’s constraints.”

Many named the biggest challenge being to develop the infrastructure (specifically HR, Finance, and IT) to support program growth

o “Don’t have up-to-date systems in HR, fiscal, purchasing – huge burden on Directors and VP’s…. Things get lost, no method to track.”

o “Paper intensity of organization really slows us down”o “Infrastructure – systems are outdated. I still [get paper files as]

documents where things should be more digitized…. It’s very time consuming.”

o “How employees are allocated against budget, the time-keeping system is archaic … these systems impact my ability to manage.”

o “Need to address basic systems and digitization.”o “HR is understaffed and under-skilled.”

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o “I spend my time doing roles that support functions/administration should be doing.”

o “Need to expand IT infrastructure.”o “HR and Finance need additional bodies with [their] increased

workloads.”

Analysis & Key Findings: Leadership & Team - Outstanding Talent in Key Roles

Organizations benefit from identifying which roles are most critical at a particular time for executing strategy and meeting goals. More effort can be put into attracting and retaining the most outstanding talent in the most critical roles for the organization’s success.

This Organization has a strong senior leadership team, which combines new hires with fresh perspectives and needed skills with longer-tenured leaders who have depth of experience and are respected at This Organization.

New hires from outside This Organization have been recruited to lead critical functions such as DEPARTMENT and DEPARTMENT.

The recent promotion of veteran program leaders to EXECUTIVE ROLE has been well-received and has also helped to diversify the leadership team.

The staff has a positive view of This Organization’s leadership.

This Organization has a spirit of innovation as demonstrated by DEPARTMENT, integration of the DEPARTMENT practice, willingness to and intent to hire former clients, and accommodation of flexible work schedules.

Strengths: Leadership & Team - Outstanding Talent in Key Roles

From the survey, the single most cited reason for having confidence that This Organization will succeed in achieving its mission was a positive view of leadership: executive leaders, new leaders named, and supervisors/managers – that they care about staff and are dedicated to supporting staff.

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From the survey: XX% agree/strongly agree -- “I believe that This Organization has enough high-performing people in the jobs that matter the most to achieving its mission.”

From the survey: YY% of staff either agree or strongly agree with the statement “This Organization’s senior leaders (Executive Director, Chiefs, Directors) and managers follow through on the decisions that they tell us.”

From the survey: ZZ% either agree or strongly agree – “This Organization's Senior Leaders (CEO, COO, Chiefs, VPs, and Directors) are willing to make big changes if something is not working.”

Key roles: CEO, COO, VP Programs … and perceived to be strong

Supporting Quotes: “I feel like we have good leadership in place with an eye on the

right goals” “New DEPARTMENT VPs have been helpful, have high hopes” “Change in organization’s leadership has gone well over the last

few months” “A and B, C, and new VPs E and F are extraordinarily talented” “People push back on A and he welcomes it” “B—she is very impressive and A – I’m impressed with how

dramatically he has positioned This Organization to move aggressively”

Challenges: Leadership & Team - Outstanding Talent in Key Roles

The talent in the key roles cited is hampered by both the lack of infrastructure and the lack of strong staff in supporting roles.

Key roles: Finance, HR, IT – there are many concerns about departments’ ability to meet organizational needs.

Supporting Quotes: “Need to expand IT infrastructure” “HR and Finance need additional bodies with [their] increased

workloads”

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Analysis & Key Findings: Leadership and Team -- Aligned Goals

It is important that goals be aligned and prioritized through the organization in order to get the most focus on the most significant work.

Goals were set at the leadership team level but are not, for the most part, cascaded down through the organization.

Some leaders have tried to cascade goals within their unit.

There is not an organized direction and effort to create goal alignment throughout the organization; some people loosely make their best efforts.

Funders of programs often set the over-riding goals, which may detract from more critical work of the organization in general and supporting clients specifically.

Supporting Data

From the survey: Only XX% of staff agree or strongly agree that This Organization uses data and metrics to measure and improve our work.

“My overall goals are set by each contract and bundled.” “Creating annual goal-setting process. I created business goals with

my leadership team, and they have not been shared with the full department.”

“Need short-term, intermediate, and long-term goals.” “Programs used to set annual goals related to client outcomes but that

fell out of favor, displaced by driving force of funders and what they wish to support (or what they are attentive to).”

“Have priorities for the department … related to but not directly tied to strategic plan”

“Funders set programmatic goals, track monthly.” “Executive Team dabbled in goal-setting, don’t know what we are

going to do with them.”



Analysis & Key Findings: Leadership & Team - Optimized Performance

There are two equally essential components of optimized performance: Engaged – The extent to which employees are motivated to contribute

to organizational success and are willing to apply discretionary effort to accomplishing tasks important to achieving organizational goals.

Supported - The extent to which an organization clearly defines and is committed to high levels of performance, and provides the resources, practices, systems and culture to make high performance achievable. I.e. – Does the organization make it easier for staff to do their best work?

The staff at This Organization are highly engaged, willing to give discretionary effort, and feel highly connected to This Organization’s success.

There is a positive culture that motivates staff to work hard and be dedicated and to be proud of the work of This Organization.

At the same time, there is a perceived overall lack of attention on standard talent management processes.

Compensation was the most commonly cited issue in the survey and the interviews/focus groups – that compensation is not commensurate with job duties and workload and not competitive with other agencies doing similar work. Among other impacts, this drives higher turnover which then further exacerbates feelings of overwork for those that remain.

Finally, there is an insufficient focus on training and development which directly impacts the quality of client services and indirectly impacts turnover/staff retention.

Supporting Data

From the survey: Over XX% of the staff responded that in the past 6 months they had gladly given extra effort to This Organization.

From the survey: YY% of survey respondents agreed or strongly agreed that This Organization makes it easy for them to do their jobs.

“I have a lot of freedom to run my department … complete control in decision-making, a lot of autonomy.”

“Manager did not micro-manage me” 12AchieveMission.org


“I was given latitude to make decisions.” “(Staff are) extremely committed and passionate, willing to

overextend themselves and burn themselves out in pursuit of right outcome for our clients.”

“Staff are more reactive, fly by the seat of their parents rather than being proactive”

“Other people put priorities on me that I can’t control” “We put rocks in people’s backpacks by not providing enough

support, not enough hands to do the work.” When asked, “What motivates you to do a great job?” staff

respondedo “Lots of compassion and supportive environment”o “Relationships with staff and supervisors, cohesiveness,

flexibility and understanding”o “Working with the population”o “I am motivated by knowing that we are helping our clients

get their lives back together”



Talent Management Processes

Analysis & Key Findings: Talent Management Strategy & Planning

This Organization’s draft strategic plan contains objectives and tactics for a talent management strategy and the investment in the work with AchieveMission will lead to the creation of a robust talent management strategy that will move This Organization towards achievement of its stated objectives.

There does not appear to be any proactive workforce planning at This Organization.

This Organization does not have a competency model for all staff nor for leaders although there is some implicit understanding of what at least some of the desired leadership behaviors are at This Organization; e.g., the criteria for the Service Award are indicative of some desired values.

The This Organization Dashboard includes some metrics for staff size, staff turnover, # of staff trained, ratings of training, and training course completion. However, there is no tracking of talent process improvement nor is it clear how even these dashboard metrics are used on a monthly basis to drive action.

High Level Overview: Acquire, Build, Reward & Retain

This Organization, like all high-performing organizations, recognizes the value of investing in talent to improve organizational productivity, execution, relationship building, analytical abilities and much more. Like many nonprofits, This Organization faces numerous staffing challenges of which competitive salaries is one of the key factors related to hiring and retaining staff. This is especially true for nonprofit direct service organizations. While salary competition place unique burdens on This Organization, staff acquisition and turnover are multifaceted and complex issues requiring high-quality talent management planning and strategic staff engagement to retain and grow talented staff.



Factors that positively affect employee acquisition and retention include employees’ connection to mission and values, how they are coached, evaluated, listened to, their relationships with managers and peers, and how they experience opportunities to develop and grow in their careers.

AcquireAnalysis & Key Findings: Acquire

With its compelling ambition to become a preferred employer, the Senior management team of This Organization has already begun to display an orientation toward strategic talent management and are working to make to it a reality in their daily work.

At the same time, staff acknowledge that Org does not have a strategic pipeline to bring in new talent. Further, the existing hiring and onboarding process is lengthy, heavily paper-based, has low transparency, and places significant burdens on existing front-line staff and managers. There appears to be universal agreement for more resources and accountability in the talent process to execute an effective talent management strategy to shorten recruitment, strengthen onboarding, and stabilize operations.

Strengths: Acquire

Many staff reported to coming to ORG because of its strong and compelling mission.

Staff commented on the openness with which ORG welcomes new and newly experienced candidates, such as new graduates and others from staff’s informal network.

Some staff commented on the opportunity to apply their skills and knowledge at ORG and have a meaningful impact on the lives of others.

Supporting Data

Noted earlier, a significantly large portion (XX%) of ORG staff agreed/strongly agree they understand how their role is important to the success of This Organization, demonstrating mission alignment.



“The reputation. I knew the opportunity would stretch me, and I liked the hiring manager.”

“Saw this as an opportunity to grow.” “This Organization was the first to hire me without experience or a

degree.” “Heard it was an open and flexible and had a family-oriented

experience.”

Challenges: Acquire

At the same time, salary and other factors serve as barriers to recruitment.

In the staff survey and in staff interviews, salary was universally noted as the key concern for attracting qualified candidates and staff.

Staff also reported the recruitment process is complicated by a lengthy, analog process that places significant responsibilities on hiring managers.

Some staff reported that applications are sometimes lost in the process.

Further the recruitment process lacks clear documents and transparency to help new hires understand and prepare for their new roles.

Additionally, the orientation does not appear to leverage ORG compelling mission and deep reserve of committed front-line supervisors and staff.

Supporting Data

From the survey: XX% agree/strongly agree that the leadership of This Organization are good at hiring, keeping, and managing great people.

From the survey: YY% agree/strongly agree that “This Organization hires people with the skills most needed for our success.”

From the survey: ZZ% disagree or are unsure that This Organization uses data and metrics to measure and improve our work.

“We use manual forms for hiring; things get lost. There’s no method to track.”



“HR tends to be slow. Only one recruiter. Vacant positions are open for 6 months and more.”

“[Talent strategy] No agency-wide practice.” “New hires are paid more than current staff; doesn’t seem right.” “Reputation helps, but salaries are a detractor for lots of positions,

across all roles.” “There significant decline in the quality of candidates we can recruit

due to salary and the managing of the recruitment process.” “We have a hard time recruiting so our talent pool may be less good

[at entry level].” “I have the budget to hire XX% of what I need rather than someone

who can take the role to the next level.”

BuildAnalysis & Key Findings: Build

This Organization initiated succession planning in 20XX for the top roles in the organization and leveraged that process in making some organization design changes and staff promotions.

There are no consistent methods for talent assessments at This Organization.

There has been an under-investment in leadership and professional development. A lack of focus on training was frequently cited in interviews and focus groups as a critical gap area.

This Organization does not have any documented career development model or career path; however, informally there are some common career paths for development and potential promotion. There is variation in how much managers are able to provide or prioritize career coaching.

There has been a history of siloed units that limits the development of capable performers to play bigger roles at This Organization.

This Organization has a strong skills training program for its clients. There is, however, no evidence that any practices from that program have been studied and applied within This Organization for its own staff.17AchieveMission.org


Strengths -- Supporting Data

From the survey: Over XX% of survey respondents agreed or strongly agreed with “My supervisor helps me to develop to my fullest potential (Example: feedback, caching, and challenging assignments.”

“Meeting with my manager is helpful (regarding being developed to take on additional responsibilities and further my career).”

“There is a strong internal pipeline at the executive level”

Challenges – Supporting Data

“Need to create career ladder and opportunities for staff to develop”; “There is no system for managing career growth”

“When you are taking on a new role, training is lacking”, “Need more training. They throw you in and you sink or swim.” “(we) promote someone and say good luck”. “I received no training for the role that I have but I’m a swimmer, so I swam”

“Need more people with licenses that can deliver training” “Lack of training in supervisory skills …. lack of a culture of trained

supervision” When asked, “How are you being developed to take on additional

responsibilities and further your career?” staff responded, “I am not.” “There has been some DEI-related (diversity, equity, and inclusion)

training and there needs to be training on micro-aggressions” “Blind spot is training. There is enormous gap in people’s

understanding of how to do their jobs. We don’t have a strategy that focuses on development of staff that would help them know what to do and how to do it. Staff is dedicated and passionate, but many come to human services without training, both technical and managerial.”

“Entry level folks are dependent on supervisors who lack supervisory training”

“I’d like a peer group of managers to learn from” “Dept A and Dept B suffer the most in terms of supervisor training and

its absence poses a real risk” “Not sure about talent under the executive level … it is less obvious as

to whether we have a strong bench for the program director level” “No training for operations and custodians because of coverage issues”



“I sign myself up for training and pay for it myself” “Tons of people are stuck in whatever place they entered This

Organization” “Very few people move to very different programs” “We’re not good at identifying who is the best talent and grooming

them; it’s a popularity contest and squeaky wheels get attention.”

Reward & RetainAnalysis & Key Findings: Reward & Retain

As mentioned, This Organization has taken important and impressive steps to develop a talent management strategy to ensure sustainable, high-quality services to all clients and to become a first-class, preferred employer. In service to its ambition, This Organization aims to reduce its significant turnover and build a pipeline of future leaders from its outstanding corps (present and future) of committed and hard-working staff. Employee engagement is an important component of this goal. As a complement to organizational culture, employee engagement is one of the chief interventions for retaining and developing a talented workforce. While culture describes how things are done at an organization, employee engagement describes how employee feel about how things are done. Employee engagement measures the pulse of employees’ commitment and connectedness to the organization. Employee engagement can be described as including 5 broad areas: meaningful work and jobs, management practices and behaviors, the work environment, opportunities for development and growth, and trust in leadership. Employee engagement mandates the following: the attention and participation of all organizational leaders and managers, the practice of deep listening, organizational systems and processes to collect and analyze employee metrics and sentiments, and imagination and innovation to respond to identified concerns and opportunities.

Strengths:

There is a positive trend related to recognition and retention related to the above noted strength of This Organization’s mission and front-line and mid-level supervisory relationship and leadership.



Supporting Data

From the survey: XX% agree/strongly agree that “This Organization makes it easy for me to do a great job.”

“We can see what we are able to do.” “Feel fulfilled. Helping others is why I stay.” “To see supervisors see you are doing well means a lot; clients don’t

always appreciate it.” “Program director does things to recognize what we are doing, and it

helps me to stay.” “Recognition is good in my program but without it elsewhere results in

turnover that has consequences on me.” “We get lots of support from our managers.” “Supervision has a lot to do with retention, for example checking in for

signs of burnout.” “Now, I feel really supported here.” “Colleagues and senior management ask for your ideas for program

development and support.” “People in general care for people who work for them; lots of jobs don’t

do that for you.”

Challenges:

This Organization lacks an intentional strategy for identifying, rewarding, and retaining talented staff.

Some staff feel strongly that their commitment and efforts go unnoticed and therefore are unappreciated by This Organization’s leadership.

Others believe This Organization has a poor understanding of working conditions that lead to turnover and factors related to job promotions.

We found only one reward program, the Service Award, counted as a genuine honor for those few who could qualify by tenure of X or more years and by happy fortune of working for a supervisor willing to nominate you.

Supporting Data



From the survey: Only XX% agree/strongly agree that This Organization recognizes and rewards high performing staff.

From the survey: Only YY% agree/strongly agree that This Organization uses data and metrics to measure and improve our work.

From the survey: Only ZZ% agree/strongly agree that “I feel heard when I express a concern within my job site.”

“The success appears to be only within the top ranks not rewarding to people on the bottom that extend themselves above and beyond. Sometimes what I have seen in my experience, people lose their confidence because they are not recognized nor rewarded … its only through a change of position and or global increase.”

“For pipeline of future leaders, shelter staff retention is key.” “Some get rewarded but there’s no consistency.” “No budget to recognize excellent work. Have paid ~$400 of my own

money,” “I use personal funds to get things for staff.” “Lack of consistency across the board for hiring, promotions, raises,

and recognition” “If the systems here are fixed, we can see staying another five years;

otherwise maybe a year.” “We have to be more creative to figure out how we engage and keep

young people given generational differences.” “I have given this company 110% but I have never seen an

acknowledgement of that.” “[This is a] thankless job.” “There’s a big variation in supervisors’ skills.” “Challenging jobs with high burnout, inadequate supervision.” “We can go to other places and make more money for less work.” “Can’t see myself staying, starting a family, and buying a home.” “We work with an exhausting population, for many even if you are

getting money there’s a limit to the amount of time you can stay.” “Lack of understanding of why retention is poor in some areas and not

in others.” “Nothing other than Service Award, nothing equivalent.” “Service Award, I know so many people in sites I work with who should

be nominated but supervisors don’t even bother.”

Performance Management

Analysis & Key Findings: Performance Management21AchieveMission.org


Performance Management is a collaborative, on-going process between a supervisor and an employee to plan for, develop, and evaluate an employee’s work. It focuses on what employees do and how they do it. When done well, performance management includes both systems and practices like regular coaching and frequent, informal feedback from an employee’s manager and 1:1 manager and employee conversations.

This Organization staff generally cite their supervisors as supportive and actively encouraging. The breakdown appears to be in regularly holding staff accountable for goals in a transparent and proactive way and navigating changes to those goals as conditions change. Performance management at Org needs to be less about general support and more about an ongoing feedback and accountability process between supervisors and employees. This will almost definitely require training for both supervisors and the staff they manage, as almost all interviewees cited training as a gap.

Strengths - Performance Management

• Across the agency, staff members reported that their supervisors are supportive and help them develop to their fullest potential.

• There is a positive view of executive leadership and supervisors/managers, and a perception that leaders care about staff and are dedicated to supporting staff.

• Program managers cite supervisors as a key driver of retention when asked why they have stayed at This Organization.

• Staff report that they have the freedom to make decisions (XX%), they can access the information they need to do their jobs and make decisions (also XX%), that their supervisors do not micro-manage (YY%), and that supervisors hold staff accountable for their responsibilities (ZZ%).

• In addition, staff report that they are given the right level of management to do their jobs.

• A couple of supervisors were cited by name as skilled and helpful: “X is wonderful and knows [their] stuff. Yes, X helps keep me here.” “Y is really good at what [they do], [they’re] only one person, not everyone/every person can do that.”

Supporting Data• From the survey: On survey question 22 “What gives you

confidence that This Organization will succeed in achieving its 22AchieveMission.org


mission?” XX people indicated that Org will be successful because of its executive leadership and supervisors/managers. Staff cited that leadership and supervisors/managers care about staff and are dedicated to supporting staff.

• “We try to provide the support they need. It takes a lot of energy. We are performance driven. We have regular supervision.”

• “I had a difficult client and bounced ideas off my supervisor and together we decided how to move forward.”

• “I have not seen race, gender, etc. prevent someone from moving/being promoting as long as the performance is there.”

• “I feel like there is a ton of support from my manager.” “[I have had] lots of good feedback.”

Challenges – Performance Management

• We heard, however, nuances that indicated generally quite mixed assessments of the level, quality, frequency, and culture specifically of feedback and accountability at This Organization.

• Staff said they do not generally know at any point if they are doing a good job, or how to improve if they are not.

• We heard clearly that performance management is hampered by a lack of supervisor and staff training.

• To a lesser but notable extent, staff feel that performance management should be informed by greater knowledge of and attention to mental health issues. Also, a small but notable group expressed a perception that managers display favoritism.

Supporting Data• In the survey, along with an overwhelmingly positive perception

of leadership and managers, a small sub-group of respondents (24) expressed a perception that many managers are not adequately training/supporting staff, and that management does not have the appropriate clinical expertise to make decisions that effect on-the-ground programs.

• In mixed focus groups, only about XX% cited they have at least informal discussions about performance with their supervisor, and wide disagreement about whether This Organization has an annual review process.

• “I don’t want to be micromanaged, but don’t leave me to drown, if I don’t get it, don’t [just] bring me into your office.”



• “[My supervisor] is holding me accountable, [but] I have done very little to push my department in this area.”

• “Org does not have a culture of supervision. Not adequate supervision to monitor daily performance. Not adequate training for what supervision is. People end up supervising the way they were supervised which perpetuates a cycle.”

• “How can I supervise someone if I don’t know what they do?”• “Blind spot – training … there’s an enormous gap in people’s

understanding of how to do their jobs … we don’t have a strategy that focuses on development of staff that helps them know what to do and how to do it. Staff is dedicated and passionate, but many come to human services without training, technical and managerial.”

• “Entry level folks are dependent on their supervisors, who lack training; not all supervisors know how to be good supervisors. I feel adrift with the managerial issues. I have an interest in developing skills. I believe this is true for others also.”

• “All these years [before now] I never had supervision or a serious talk about my performance. Now I’m getting supervision, regular check ins.”

Challenges: Succeeding in Role - Performance Management

When asked, “How do you know whether or not you are succeeding in your role? How about those you manage?” staff had many responses.

“I don’t. I have no clue.” “You figure you come to your job every day; you must be doing a good

job. You know you’re not when you’re fired.” “I sent an email to my supervisor asking for a supervision so I could. I

ask in Supervision. If my supervisor doesn’t say it, I have NO idea.” “By the level of comfort and temperature of my staff.” “I have significant metrics.” “Some supervisors are not saying because it may get them off the

hook of having to talk about raises, which they know you deserve.” “Yearly evaluations should be happening but aren’t. The last

evaluation I had was in 20XX, [none] for years.” “Even when we had yearly evaluations, there was no compensation for

a good eval.”



“I received no training for the role I have. But I’m a swimmer so I swam.”

“To balance, there is room to explore and develop your position, I have had that experience. Kind of goes both ways. If you’re self-motivated, it works great, if not it doesn’t.”

Goals Cascade

High Level Overview – Goals Cascade

Cascaded Goals align individual, departmental, and organizational goals through annual goal setting. First annual goals for the whole organization are set in accordance with longer term strategy and mission (often expressed in a Balanced Scorecard or some other dashboard tool), then they are cascaded to departments. The annual goals for individuals are set in alignment with these upper level goals in a process led by managers with their direct reports. At This Organization, the Executive Leadership has by all accounts instituted the first step of the Goals Cascade process. These goals have not yet cascaded down to departments and individuals, however; staff report that they have individual goals, but they are not connected to the broader organizational strategy. There is also a sense that the strategic plan contains a reference to diversity, equity, and inclusion, but no specific goals or strategies have been set to make this area concrete.

Supporting Data• From the survey: XX% of staff agree/strongly agree, “I have

three or more individual work goals that I need to accomplish by the end of the year.”

• “Each Leadership team member has their own goals. We did it for second time.”

• “Yes, the leadership team …helped create the department goals. They have not been shared with the full department. We have a dashboard.”

• “I am seeing [strategy] at the senior level with folks focused on managing to outcomes … that needs to trickle down.”

• “Goals do not cascade down in any formal sense. People don’t cascade goals. There is no formal process beneath the executive level.”



• “I think it’s their inability to prioritize. I am involved in a lot more than I should be because people are just learning and/or not performing.”

• “[Goals are] driven by funding opportunities, it's a moving target.”

• “[Diversity, equity, inclusion/DEI] has been clearly outlined … that sentence is there in the plan. I don’t know the actual specific plans and strategies to be implemented.”

• “Though it is listed as a bullet, [DEI] does not seem to be (an active) priority.”

Culture

Analysis & Key Findings: Culture

Organizational culture is the sum of values, principles, and rituals which serve as ‘glue’ to integrate the members of the organization. Indicators of organizations with positive cultures generally include, among others, that 1) staff are highly engaged in the organization and its mission – as evidenced by their high performance and willingness to apply discretionary effort, 2) staff have a high level of mutual respect, 3) staff have trust that the organization and its leaders have their best interests at heart and demonstrate that in their actions, and 4) staff feel that the organization supports their development. Being client-centered and innovating in an inclusive, equitable, trust-building and transparent management system for staff are all part of This Organization’s framing principles. Those principles motivate and are felt by many Org team members.

Supporting an inclusive and equitable system requires a day-to-day experience of relationship and connection. Many cited those connections as what keeps them at and has brought them back to This Organization, yet we also heard about the impact of lack of training, systems, communication, and infrastructure on the positive, mission driven culture staff crave.

Finally, the organization lacks alignment on what it means to be an inclusive culture, and how to achieve it: through targeted hiring, discussions, training, etc. This isn’t unique to This Organization, yet given the organization’s client population, interrogating diversity, equity, and inclusion and their relationship to ORG’s culture is an important area for further exploration.



Strengths - Culture

Across the board, staff cited the organization’s positive culture: a culture that motivates staff and helps them feel connected to the work and the mission. Cultural elements were often cited as drivers of retention.

The majority of staff agree/strongly agree “There is a true spirit of cooperation within This Organization (XX%)” and “I can trust what This Organization tells me (YY%),” both indicators of a positive culture.

This Organization exhibits a culture of innovation. We heard that the organization supports staff in shaping their roles, trying new things, and pivoting based on feedback and a changing landscape. ZZ% of staff feel “This Organization's Senior Leaders (CEO, COO, Chiefs, VPs, and Directors) are willing to make big changes if something is not working.”

There is also a perception of change in the organization’s culture, as a result of new leadership and a new strategic planning process. Staff articulated is as a somewhat ambiguous but generally positive culture shift.

Supporting Data• The highest survey responses illustrate extremely strong staff

engagement: staff have a willingness to apply discretionary effort to help This Organization succeed, and feel individually connected to This Organization's success. XX% of staff agree/strongly agree that, “In the past six months, I’ve gladly given extra effort to help This Organization” and YY% agree/strongly agree “I understand how my role is important to the success of This Organization.”

• When asked “What gives you confidence that This Organization will succeed in achieving its mission?” staff cited multiple aspects of positive culture: of hard work and dedication (n=X), mission pride (n=Y), teamwork (n=Z), caring (for staff and client) (n=A), professionalism and respect (n=B). (Note: n = the number of comments.)

• “[I] believe I am making a difference; I have some positive influence.”

• “[ORG culture is] extremely committed and passionate, willing to overextend themselves and burn themselves out in pursuit of the



right outcome for our clients. [Staff] believe in the mission. Culture of commitment and resilience, helpful.”

• “I love the kind of work we do. I inherited a team, took about 2 years to change the culture. I was telling my team that ‘everyone is here for the right reasons, everyone wants to help, this really truly is a team effort.’ Overall, it’s a really great team. I like the challenge of improving things, always doing more for clients...”

• “Not sure what our culture is now, it is changing, I feel it is changing in a positive way. Morale is improving. Longstanding issues are being addressed. Culture of change and uncertainty.”

• “I believe that culture is supposed to be shifting [as part of new strategy plan]”

• “People gain experience here and leave for higher paying jobs; some return because of the culture here.”

• “Can-do attitude, well-intentioned, creative, cutting edge (not sure we are), grassroots, we fly by the seats of our pants, we are comfortable with chaos.”

Strengths: Driver of Retention - Culture

When asked, “Why do you stay at This Organization?” staff overwhelmingly cited elements of organizational culture: the client mission, the ethos of risk-taking, opportunities to innovate and grow, a family-like atmosphere, connections to colleagues/other staff.

“I fell in love with what the agency does, that it has a heart.” “Knowing we are helping clients getting their lives back together” “I have stayed because of the opportunity to be innovative because of

[my education] background and training and exposure to practice. Have been able over the years to really pilot some things.”

“Agency is innovative, can create things. Atmosphere of just do it.” “Lots of growth, learning and work experience.” “I was looking for a place to help me get a license, no one would give a

chance. Org expanded what I thought I could do as a person.” “Org was the first to hire me as a case manager [when I] didn’t have a

degree/experience.” “I am proud to work for true nonprofit, pretty incredible.” “I have a great team, great supervisor; it’s more like a family in my

program.” “I am eager to come to work because I have a great supervisor and

team.”28AchieveMission.org


“We have staff who you can trust and who feel like family; it’s very motivating.”

“Lots of committed people at ORG. It’s one of the greatest strengths. In part because of the culture. We like and respect each other. Culture driven by heart.”

“I feel comfortable and friendly at headquarters.” “Many supervisors at sites need to foster a family feel just to make the

day go by. They keep the place together. Usually when they leave, there’s an exodus that follows.”

High-Level Challenges - Culture

While the organization exhibits many elements of positive culture, staff across the organization consistently cited several pain points.

From the survey, some staff feel there are certain known negative cultural issues in the system that they can’t bring up with their supervisor, including:

o Negative work environment (n=A)o Underperformance not being addressed (n=B)o Staff mental health and safety (n=C)o Nepotism / favoritism (n=D)

In interviews, we heard more extensively about several additional cultural element pain points that, as expected, are likely driving turnover. These include the following:

o Organizational siloso Culture of overwork/scarcityo Lack of training to support the mission of hiring former clientso Overall inconsistency in organizational practices and culture

Organizational Silos/Divides - Culture

Many staff cited This Organization’s siloed nature of operating as a pain point. We heard a desire for more collaboration, and more education about what different departments are doing programmatically.

Staff see increased connection and understanding as a driver of better client service, and crave a deeper organizational learning culture.



A small number of staff also mentioned physical barriers as an issue.o “Collaboration across departments [is supposed to be a] part of

the strategic plan – it’s not just sharing information; it’s making time for other departments when you don’t have time and acknowledging each other’s constraints. We need to improve. For example, some depts say no to meeting scheduling …this screams that you don’t want to collaborate.”

o “Create the whole, knock down silos.”o “It’s very fragmented even within my building. There are 5

different things happening even in my building, not a sense of unity. I don’t see how that works – if we’re not aligned toward a common goals, we will fail. I feel like that stems from the head.”

o “Very siloed. Still we’re very siloed, though I think there is a commitment to better integration.”

o “There are [now] locked doors at Main Street – we have to be buzzed in … there was no communication to us about the change.”

o “The big remodeling of Xth floor seems a waste of money [when there is a] lack of space elsewhere in the organization. …We need spaces for accommodating different program types, such as working with clients, program services delivery, etc. It is likely to affect the quality of service.”

Overwork/Scarcity - Culture

A persistent culture of overwork and scarcity is not unique to This Organization. It did, however, came up in every interview.

There is a strong perception that the way the organization currently works and prioritizes resources is burning out front-line staff. We heard that Org does not provide enough care for staff mental health and wellness, including opportunities to heal secondary trauma from work with clients.

As mentioned earlier, staff cited a lack of infrastructure throughout the organization, and mentioned this as a detractor from positive culture and retention.

o “People are burned out, struggling to do this work with non-competitive salaries without the support and skills to work in more self-protective ways.”



o “We have nothing in place to deal with trauma that direct service workers have to encounter; it makes it hard for people to come to work or want to come to work.”

o “There’s a sense of too much, the day to day demands.”o “We have really big caseloads, both home and office visits. It

gets really hard and feels undoable sometimes.”o We need to make infrastructure investments … There’s more to

do, field vs HQ. At sites, people feel underpaid, they’re working in chaotic environments, and see investments at senior levels, renovation at Main building…”

o “There’s a lot of paperwork to do in our jobs which gets in the way of building connections with staff. For a period, I would come in on weekends but that eroded my quality of family life. As [paperwork] builds up, it erodes my professional work.”

o “Sometimes I can’t shut off what’s going on in my head, the paperwork.”

o “We are viewed as a small scrappy org that does not have the financial roots to support the infrastructure that we need … Our excuse: we can’t afford it. We need to assert that we can find a way to do what needs to be done. “We can’t afford it” is not an acceptable response. We are too complacent about accepting limitations.”

Support for Former Clients as Staff - Culture

This Organization has a stated commitment to hiring staff from Org’s former client population; this is frequently cited by staff as a positive element of the organization’s mission.

We heard from a number of staff, however, concern that former clients who may not have built work skills in other contexts are working without sufficient accompanying training.

There is a perception that this is producing a set of potentially unintended consequences, including weakening client care and turnover.

o “We hire our clients. Turnover is not unexpected, because they don’t understand the concept of work. We need to continue to educate staff on what is required from work.”

o “It’s lovely to get a chance when you’re new. But to be frank, lots of folks with limited education and experience and working with a population that’s challenging -- without the knowledge of appropriate care for that population of clients, it turns into a shit



show. [With a] pay scale that’s so low, we are not attracting the best quality care in my area. Care of clients suffers, they feel it. It’s great that we give people the opportunity, but also [we can do that] because the pay scale is so low.”

Inconsistent Organizational Practices - Culture

o We heard from many staff about overall experiences of inconsistency in organizational practices and culture.

o Staff cited variations across the organization, across departments, and across programs in culture and practices. This means that staff’s experiences depend on their supervisor and colleagues, and introduces an element of the randomness and even fear into the culture.

o For example, program managers disagreed widely about which practices are fireable offenses, and which departments will let staff go and when. We heard clearly that “People get fired and not fired for the same thing.”

o We also heard the perception from a small but notable group that “squeaky wheels” – funders, staff – tend to get more attention for programs and training/supports, which erodes trust in the system’s fairness.

“There’s not enough support – not enough hands to do the work – that is how it feels to them, they don’t feel cared about regarding site conditions, and recognize that different departments are treated differently; in shelters, they have on-site medical staff and they have different equipment – there’s a perception that expectations and working conditions are not equal.”

“[The culture is] different in various programs. No consistency.”

“Staff fear that they will not have a job, they are working scared – it can happen just like that, both the incident and leadership’s response.”

“Funders that are more involved and yell, get most support for their programs.”

“We have to move away from managing chaos in order to grow.”

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion - Culture32AchieveMission.org


Staff communicated very mixed perceptions about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in This Organization’s culture.

We heard both a lack of knowledge and a broad range of opinions about how DEI shows up across the organization and how it should.

A few staff cited examples of how a lack of cultural and linguistic diversity on the staff negatively affects client services.

We also heard a perceived conflict between hiring “the best talent” and hiring a diverse talent pool that’s a match for the organization.

o “We are getting there regarding diversity – it’s valuable. The first thing is acknowledging its importance and being mindful. I don’t know of an organizational roadblock.”

o “I don’t know. It varies significantly.”o “Program Directors are a diverse collection – [we have] race

diversity, predominantly female, age, sexual orientation, education.”

o “We have diversity in front line staff but not at the executive level. True cultural competence – understanding poverty and mental illness … more important than racial diversity.

o “We have no [broad representation] in terms of socioeconomic status, race and gender yes, occasional examples of from the community… we tend to go for race because it is more obvious.”

o “DEI is not explicit enough; we need to better integrate and communicate. There are no agency-wide practices.”

o “I’m conscientious of looking for diverse staff – I try to mirror what my community looks like. For example, I’m always looking for male case managers.”

o “There is no effort, we’re just focused on getting the best talent.”o “I’m not in favor of moving anyone along for the case of any of

that [diversity], in any position. I am comfortable with our diversity. The org is not tracking diversity.”

o “We make efforts to be inclusive. Think we do it better than other agencies. We could improve significantly. Only two years ago, there were only X [people of color] on the executive staff. That has gotten better. It could be better still.”

o “We need training on microaggressions and having harder discussions on institutional racism and how pops up in the agency. I think now is the time.”



Organizational Design

Analysis & Key Findings – Organizational Design

Organization design is the way that an organization's roles and their interrelationships are organized. Organization design is connected to leadership, interrelated roles and taskforces, work processes and systems, culture, chartering of teams with responsibilities and authority and measures of results. Staff comments suggest that ORG has been hiring and retaining the right people in the right roles, and that this is a critical element of success. Although the majority of staff (XX%) believe that “This Organization hires people with the skills most needed for our success,” many cite inadequate infrastructure and processes as barriers to the success of the organization’s roles and functions. Funding and budget further constrain the organization’s ability to design roles and functions most productively.

Supporting Data• In the survey, when asked, “What gives you confidence that This

Organization will succeed in achieving its mission?” YY staff cited that ORG has been hiring and retaining the right people in the right roles, and that this is a critical element of success.

• “But we promoted [a manager] to Director. Who can [the new Director] hand off work to? What are we doing about that? But we have budget constraints.”

• “I spend my time doing roles that support administrative functions should be doing – fundraising also, finance could be better organized, IT, HR; program leaders have to over-compensate for their weaknesses.”

• “We are growing, and the infrastructure is not growing.”• “We don’t have up to date systems in HR, fiscal, purchasing –

this puts a huge burden on Directors and VPs. For such a large agency we don’t have the infrastructure in place to support us. I was recently putting in a more than triplicate form – if things get lost, there’s no method to track it. If we had better systems, it would save me days and weeks in my life to focus on [more important things].”

• “The current structure is a barrier. I am responsible for [a specific program] but the person running it doesn’t report to me.”

• “There should be some general standard for certain roles -- a case manager can do this; a director can do this. These are people’s lives, dealing with violent situations and death.”



Internal Communications & Decision Making

Analysis & Key Findings: Internal Communications and Decision-Making

Decision-Making relates to the way an organization handles the roles and accountability, timelines, and other aspects of key one-time and recurring types of decisions. Internal Communications concerns the way an organization facilitates the sharing of information from leadership/headquarters to staff/sites/departments (top-down), from staff/sites/departments to leadership/headquarters (bottom-up) and across various departments and sites. Issues that fall within internal communications include ensuring that staff at all levels feel heard, and methods for communicating major strategic decisions and for communicating culture.

At a high level, This Organization staff show a positive view of internal communications. There is a perception that leaders want to hear from staff, are truly open to feedback, and will take action based on that feedback. Staff cite improvements in communication which have come with a new executive leadership team, including more site visits and staff meetings. As stated in the Culture section, however, lack of communication across silos is a major pain point. The holiday bonus and frustration around the process of communication about it was cited in multiple focus groups, indicating that communication can either bridge or exacerbate gaps between positive intent and actual impact. There is a mixed view of whether the right people are at the table in the organization’s decision-making processes.

Strengths– Internal Communications & Decision Making

In the survey, when asked “Are there issues that most staff members know about but are unwilling to discuss openly with management? If yes, what are they?” the largest number of respondents (n=ZZ) reported that there are no issues that people know about but do not feel comfortable discussing with management. The fact that this was the most common response suggests a positive culture of communication, where staff feel empowered to voice their concerns to management.

Also, in the survey, when asked “What gives you confidence that This Organization will succeed in achieving its mission?” XX staff cited internal communications. This reinforces a positive view of top-down



communication, and a perception that leaders want to hear from staff, are truly open to feedback, and will take action based on that feedback.

We heard from several staff in interviews, especially managers and program directors, that internal communications has improved under new executive leadership.Supporting Data

o “Space is made to speak up, people hear you.”o “Communication flowing down has gotten much better … that is

how B and A manage.”o “We have made improvements in communicating who is coming

and going from Org. B and A go to each site twice a year.”o They do an okay job communicating. Who it reaches varies at the

program level varies. I think it goes pretty well from my position, but there is variation in the programs.”

o “Management has made a big effort to communicate with staff about what we are doing.”

o “There was a time when meetings were infrequent at best. [Now they are] quarterly at least. It has picked up considerably. Now I spend a lot of time in meetings, which can be good or bad. Meetings do not equal the work, not necessarily.”

o “Hearing feedback from this [focus] group is great, hearing from others not in your program/department – we should do this group quarterly! I am very appreciative that I got included. I love my job but there’s always issues [to discuss].”

Challenges – Internal Communications & Decision Making

Although many staff cited internal communication as a strength and source of confidence in the organization, an almost-equal number (n=ZZ) of respondents expressed a desire for better top-down and bottom-up communication and dialogue, and for leadership to not just listen to the opinions of staff but to actively incorporate these perspectives into decision-making. Staff in interviews reinforced this desire for leadership to listen and engage more.

We heard from many staff that effective communication does not exist across silos of departments and even programs within departments, and that lack of awareness about what’s happening in other programs is detrimental to being able to best serve clients. Infrequent/irregular staff meetings were cited as a barrier; conversely, several staff spoke



about concrete and useful new information they obtained when their managers instituted regular staff meetings.

We also heard frustration at a lack of awareness of organizational supports and resources, which can contribute to staff turnover or burnout. For example, staff in a focus group expressed surprise finding out about the organization’s resources for mental health support, and said they wished they had known earlier. Staff mentioned hearing about decisions and/or resources after the fact.

Technology was cited as a barrier that could be harnessed into a resource if the organization thinks more creatively and proactively about its usage.

Staff suggested several ways to improve internal communication, including more frequent department staff meetings and all-staff meetings.

Supporting Data In the survey, when asked “Are there issues that most staff

members know about but are unwilling to discuss openly with management? If yes, what are they?” XX staff cited internal communications.

“People hunger for communication and we are not meeting the bar of perfection. People request more. We could do a ton more to help people feel connected. Staff and clients don’t the full range of services that are available.”

“There are so many ORG offsprings, we don’t know each other. We don’t know about the different programs as well as we should to make referrals and utilize the services for clients – our goals get muddled because the umbrella is so big.”

“When I came, we used to have cross-dept meetings to understand how to better serve clients by connecting them to other services -- I used to look forward to those meetings, they were helpful, people coming from all different angles to talk about how to collectively help clients.”

“I would like more meetings and coordination. We had a site audit, and I was able to answer questions from things I learned from [our site] meetings.”

“Quarterly meetings would help to engage staff and understand what the agency is all about.”

“We get information after the fact sometimes. I read about things on the intranet that have already happened.”

“Sometimes the clients know before the staff. Not a good look.”



“One of the gaps is people knowing what others are doing. Not everyone has a computer, but everyone has a smartphone.”

“And [leadership should] stop to listen when people say, ‘Don’t do it that way’ or ‘Don’t do that much’.”

“Facilities staff is often left out of the loop. Not everyone had an email address.”

“Dept X is the most left out group. Dept Y desk positions would benefit from communication from their supervisors – this is highest turnover position, they cover 24/7.”

“How do things go from concept to implementation –with many new projects? Decisions were previously made by a small group of people…”



Power to Fix One Thing When asked “IF you could change one thing (first), what would it be?” as a closing question during interviews and focus groups, people responded highlighting the issues below most frequently. NOTE: The issue of salaries came up in some way in every interview.


SalariesStaff Training

and Professional Development

Strengthen Infrastructure

Internal Communication

Front-Line Staff Support Funding


Setting PrioritiesNote: Listed in a non-prioritized order

Recommended Priority Supports Activities/Rationale

INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS

Optimized Performance

∙ Build on positive momentum to continue to enhance internal communication.

∙ Identify communication processes/methods that can be institutionalized.

∙ Address cross-unit communication gaps.

SUCCESSION MANAGEMENT

Outstanding Talent in Key Roles & Optimized Performance

∙ “Build” more talent internally to advance to key roles.

∙ Link this to career management - employees see where they can go.

∙ Strengthen ways for diverse talent (including lived experience) to advance in new and constructive ways.



CAREER MANAGEMENT


∙ Develop career pathways for prioritized key roles at This Organization

∙ Enhance career coaching skills of managers∙ Supports strong staff development and performance

management.

LEADERSHIP and PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT


∙ Create an ongoing process to identify training and development needs

∙ Prioritize critical leadership and professional development needs

∙ Builds capacity and retention of staff who show high growth potential.

TALENT ACQUISITION: RECRUITING and SELECTING


∙ Codify and systematize recruiting and hiring process across the organization.

∙ Streamlining these processes will reduce management frustration and time to fill jobs (impacting burnout/staff retention).

∙ Addresses identified equity issues in hiring process.

WORKFORCE PLANNING

Optimized Performance

∙ Process instituted to predict staffing needs.∙ Become proactive regarding staffing instead of the



current state at This Organization of continuous reaction to staff departures.

COMPETENCY MANAGEMENT


∙ Build a leadership competency model to support talent acquisition, performance management, succession management, leadership development and other talent processes.

∙ Identify the competencies most valued at This Organization and make employees aware of those competencies

REWARD and RETENTION


∙ Identify the key drivers of turnover and staff retention

∙ Build plan to address the key drivers of unwanted turnover

∙ Build a reward and recognition strategy that is multi-faceted without over-taxing salary constraints

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

Optimized Performance & Aligned Goals

∙ Establish clear expectations regarding performance management

∙ Enhance performance feedback skills of managers ∙ Build annual performance management cycle



CULTURE Optimized Performance

∙ Establish a cross-organization culture team∙ Build plans to address critical culture issues

impacting performance at This Organization.∙ Include diversity, equity, and inclusion issues

explicitly

GOAL CASCADE Aligned Goals ∙ Develop process for organizational goals to be cascaded through the organization



APPENDIX

Methodology

We employed a mixed methods approach—leveraging both quantitative and qualitative data. Our quantitative data was gathered from an organization-wide survey, based on a best practice talent management framework. Our qualitative data was gathered through interviews and focus groups. By using a mixed methods approach we are able to both surface themes we heard from select individuals and compare what we heard with the data from the survey. We also were able to look at a number of organizational and HR documents – both to see what exists and, by inference, what does not exist currently.

Survey Data

Details:

XYZ respondents XX% Completion rate (most answered every question) YY+ written comments Diverse employee participation, including program type, program

location, employee race, gender, and tenure

The mean score across all questions was ___ (with 1 representing "Disagree Strongly" and 5 representing "Agree Strongly"). Questions that represented outliers based on a standard deviation of .XX were those that scored greater than ___ or less than ___. Questions that scored higher than ___, starting with the top score, triggered further textural analysis from Interview/Focus group data.

Interview/Focus Group DataThe strength of qualitative research is its ability to provide complex textual descriptions of how people experience a given issue. It provides information about the “human” side of an issue – including often contradictory behaviors, beliefs, opinions, emotions, and relationships of individuals. Working to have a representative cross sample of ORG staff – from Executives to members of every team, AchieveMission used techniques for discovering themes in text using the framework of the research questions 44AchieveMission.org


identified in the kickoff. These techniques are based on: (1) an analysis of words (word repetitions, key-indigenous terms, and key-words-in contexts); (2) a careful reading of larger blocks of texts (compare and contrast); (3) an intentional analysis of linguistic features (metaphors, transitions, connectors); (4) a search for outliers, and (5) the comparison of the documents provided for supporting or contradictory information.

In order to develop recommendations for priorities, we considered what the data revealed, layering in our knowledge of potential solutions. We considered which solutions had the most potential for high impact, could be building blocks, would serve as motivators to the staff - i.e. visibility/quick wins, and develop staff capacity in the process of addressing challenges.


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