Highlights from the HR Council's Voluntary and Non-profit Labour Force Study: Report #3
By Andy Levy-Ajzenkopf
July 20, 2009
Last month, the HR Council for the Voluntary & Non-Profit Sector (HR Council) released the third and final part of its ongoing study on labour force issues within the sector.
The first two reports - Report #1: A framework for understanding the sector's labour force and Report #2: Findings from Canada-wide surveys of employers and employees - were published last year and can be found on the HRVS website if one wants to start from the beginning. (Note: CharityVillage covered the second report last year.)
The latest report, titled Toward a Labour Force Strategy for Canada's Voluntary & Non-profit Sector: Report #3 - Recommendations, adds to the growing volume of evidence gathered by the council, pointing to a serious need by sector organizations to review their labour recruitment and retention programs.
"The goal of a labour force strategy is to make sure that the sector has access to the people and skills it needs. A labour force strategy consists of a number of interconnected efforts by many players to respond to needs that the sector identifies. It is important to see a labour force strategy as more than a document or a one-time plan; it is a long-term undertaking that involves looking at the sector through a labour market lens." – HRVS Report #3
In a June 25 release marking the publication of the third report, HR Council executive director Lynne Toupin said the recommendations made "go a long way toward addressing the range of HR challenges identified by stakeholders since the inception of the HR Council. The report suggests strategic actions for people in the sector to take to
bring change to their organizations."
The seven percent solution
One of the first stats relayed in the report reminds the reader of what's at stake in a sector populated by more than a hundred thousand nonprofits and charities. Namely, that nearly seven percent of employees in Canada - 1.2 million people, according to the council's figures - work in the Third Sector.
This last report goes on to recap some of the major findings from its predecessors, specifically recalling that the Canadian workforce is aging; the boomer generation is getting ready to retire and take their years of experience off the market; youth entering the job market are ever more demanding in terms of finding work that can satisfy their technological and flexibility needs; and that the cultural mosaic in Canada is not as widely reflected in the voluntary sector. All are issues that need to be addressed by sector organizations.
Additionally, the authors of the report remind readers that according to recent StatsCanada numbers, the sector is expanding in an attempt to service the increasing demand by Canadians spurred on by the gradual tapering-off of service provision by government over the last 20 years.
Lastly, the report looks at the unpredictable ramifications of the current economic downturn, stating that "evidence is emerging that shows an increasing demand for some services (like food banks and family support services), as well as reductions in corporate and individual giving due to the erosion of investments. However, it is very early days to try and assess the implications for the sector and its labour force."
Regardless, the message being sent by the council by this point in the report is clear: recruitment challenges for many nonprofits and charities are about to get even tougher as the economy stalls, their skilled employees are lured away by the more abundant availability of work, cash - and career mobility - in the corporate sector, and the slow adoption of a "labour force lens" in recruitment strategy by sector leaders, which threatens to create a systemic myopia that can exacerbate an already delicate situation.
A word from the top
When asked about the ramifications of today's economy on the council's report, Toupin told CharityVillage that objectives should be looked at with a long-term view.
"It is indeed challenging for voluntary organizations to invest in their employees in this economic downturn, but economists and governments alike are reminding all sectors of the economy that when this recession ends, the need for qualified employees will return. Canada's labour force demographics - i.e. the supply side of the equation - won't fundamentally change in two or three years' time," she states.
Nonetheless, it won't be easy in the meantime. "We realize that this tough economic climate is forcing voluntary organizations to make difficult decisions. Staff layoffs and cuts to training budgets may be inevitable for some. The strategies proposed in the recommendations report, therefore, take a long-term view of labour force development for this sector," she adds.
Toupin also encourages those interested to read the report's companion document, entitled Mission Driven, which she feels makes compelling arguments for investing in the sector's labour force over the long term.
"There are some organizations who have taken a strategic approach and are using this time to invest in their staff through training and development in order to ensure they retain the talent they know they need now and in the future," Toupin said, citing Unicef Canada as one such organization. (Its HR manager, Veronica Utton, is on the council's board of directors.)
The recommendations
The HRVS steering committee lays out five key recommendations for sector organizations to use in dealing with their "labour force challenges." They are listed below in the words of the report:
- Attract and develop the people that organizations need. In order to do this, the
Committee recommends: a deliberate, purposeful focus on doing a better job of
HR management.
- Benefit from the full range of talent available in Canada's labour force. In order to contribute to an equitable, accessible labour market, the Committee recommends: intentional efforts to continue building an inclusive workforce.
- Focus on research and development. In order to build and promote understanding of the sector's labour force and to indicate the best directions for change, the Committee recommends: a research and development strategy that produces empirical evidence that is useful and used by the sector.
- Promote the value of work in the sector. In order for Canadians to see the importance of the work the sector does and for the sector to promote itself as a viable work choice, the Committee recommends: broadly-based coordinated efforts to promote the value of work in the sector.
- Ensure financial resources to sustain the sector's labour force. In order to ensure that financial resources are in place, the Committee recommends: that organizations and funders commit to supporting competitive compensation, good working conditions, and effective HR management.
The above recommendations are expanded in greater detail with multiple strategic action suggestions for each by the HR Council. For brevity's sake, this article will not list all the action points suggested. However, a full read of the report will yield a greater appreciation of the work and consideration given the issue by the council and its steering committee.
Love's labours won
In the report's summation, the council acknowledges that its recommendations may take time to filter through to sector boards and organizations. However, it remains hopeful that these changes have already begun and that, in time, sector leadership will embrace the need to reform many of its outmoded HR models, realizing that in order to fulfill their mandates to do good for the community, one has to "do good" by their employees.
"Acting on these recommendations to make progress toward a labour force strategy means rethinking how organizations see themselves and how they work together," the report states. "It is a cultural shift. Long held ideas will be challenged and there will be resistance. Transformative change takes time and requires a clear reason for change that is communicated well...and frequently. Our core purpose is to foster an effective labour force, which is the essence of an effective sector. Strategic action is required to ensure that the right people with the right skills are in place to provide the crucial programs and services upon which Canadians rely."
Andy Levy-Ajzenkopf is president of WordLaunch professional writing services in Toronto. He can be reached at andy@wordlaunch.com.
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