Human resources management and social impact

Activism and social change are as old as society, but nonprofit organizations as we know them are young. Social enterprise and B-corps are even younger. One of the areas our immaturity shows is in our management of Human Resources (HR). We haven’t nailed HR in this sector yet, so it’s worth talking more about it.

For one thing, Canada, the US, and the UK changed their tax laws in the late 1960s to allow the formation of tax-exempt organizations that could perform non-partisan work for the common good.

To put that into perspective, the nonprofit sector as we know it is the same age as the Pontiac Firebird TransAm, the Abbey Road album, the Montreal Expos, ATMs, and the Internet.

In the grand scheme of things, our institutions are very young, so it is only normal our HR practices are unpolished.

Human Resources is hard

Managing people is challenging in general. It’s complicated and full of differing perspectives, constraints, pressures, and expectations. You need to use both your intellect (legal compliance, payroll processing) and your emotional intelligence (managing stress, conflict, fostering teamwork). HR managers have so much responsibility but so little control.

In some ways, managing in the social impact sector is even harder. For one thing, it’s almost impossible to raise money to fund the specific tasks associated with hiring, training, supervising, and paying teams.

Because funds are so limited, organizations need to find creative ways to attract, support, and reward talent.

This is hard to do when vocal outsiders think that people who do social impact work should be able to live on any paycheque and tolerate any working conditions. Apparently, you folks should just be happy you don’t have to get a “real” job.

The lack of respect and support for social impact workers is just one of many challenges.

Just because it’s hard doesn’t mean we don’t have to do it.

Human Resources is necessary

Human Resources is not the reason most activists, specialists, or volunteers got into management and board service.

As a result, HR has long been treated like a necessary evil, something organizations have to do in order to do the “real” work (i.e., the mission stuff). It’s often tacked onto someone’s job description and only discussed when major problems arise.

What if we looked at HR differently? Instead of being a distraction from our mission, what if we saw it as part of our mission?

Let’s rethink it

Organizations working in the social impact space typically have some kind of equity, well-being, or sustainability purpose. They exist to solve problems or to provide care.

Business model aside, the difference between a social impact organization and other members of society is that social impact organizations care. When they see a problem, they feel compelled to act. When they see suffering, they try to do something about it.

HR is a key part of that response.

First, there is the practical need to attract, retain, and organize skilled people to do social impact work. We can’t restore clean drinking water or assist the unhoused or mentor youngsters without skills. This work doesn’t succeed by accident or with best wishes. It succeeds because of strategies, resource allocation, insight, and hard work. All of that comes from people.

Second, public interest organizations need to practice what they preach:

• If you believe in equity, you shouldn’t rely on harmful power imbalances to succeed.
• If you are anti-violence, then you should manage with consent rather than fear or force.
• If you believe in sustainability, then you shouldn’t extract more from your team than you give back in exchange.
• If you advocate for accountability in government and business, then you should practice accountability yourselves.

See? Managing human resources isn’t separate from your mission. It’s part of your mission.

Human Resources is in your mission

To bring new HR approaches to life, it’s helpful to revisit your organization’s mission and/or values statements.

(If your organization doesn’t have a written mission or values, write a personal statement for yourself. What goal is your organization aiming for? How will you achieve it? What are the values that underpin that goal?)

The management of your Human Resources practices and procedures should reflect those values.

This won’t happen by accident — it takes sustained effort. But it’s worth it.

The present generation of nonprofits probably won’t solve most of the problems they are tackling within our lifetimes. But they can make enormous progress. Part of that progress should be setting up future leaders and organizations for success.

With a little attention, you can develop practices and habits that will help the next generation go further faster.

You can be the giant upon whose shoulders others stand.

That’s your mission.