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It has been a turbulent year for organizations – the great resignation, quiet quitting, the year of efficiencies, and finding the balance of a hybrid-work life. Specifically, nonprofit organizations are experiencing great uncertainty, not knowing the long-term impact of the pandemic on government funding and donor dollars. As a result, they are having to be even more cautious about hiring, increasing salaries, and adding other perks to support and engage their team.    
 
Regardless of what side you have found yourself on – employee or employer – there is the similar experience of stress, ambiguity, added workload, and the uncertainty as to what comes next.  For those who have found themselves on layoff or as part of a headcount reduction, we recognize this comes with its own challenges, confusion, and uncertainty. 
 
This article, however, is for those left behind. Those who have been tasked with higher workloads, fewer resources and greater output demands. In this scenario, it is a challenge to keep the culture positive and your team engaged. With limited resources to help solve the problem, like perks, salary increases or additional headcount, managers are left with the challenge of keeping their team engaged and retained on a very tight budget. 
 
In reviewing fresh exit data from our database that crosses 16 industries, including an extensive representation of the nonprofit and government sectors, we have found that there is hope for engagement beyond financial rewards. In fact, our research suggests that there are just three things that leaders should focus on to ensure maximum engagement during this turbulent time: 

1. Build rapport with your team 

You likely have heard the old quote “employees leave managers, not organizations,” and this insight still holds true today. Reviews of our exit data and engagement survey insights show that the quality of the relationship a direct report has with their manager or leader is directly correlated to their sense of job satisfaction, loyalty, and engagement levels.  

This does not mean being best friends with your staff or lacking healthy professional and personal boundaries. What it does mean is having a human relationship with your direct reports where you know them as people including their interests, hobbies, traits, and goals.  
 
The level of relationship will look different for each colleague, but this foundational element of professional intimacy forms the basis on which trust can be built. The best way to ensure a solid foundation of care and rapport is to schedule an uninterrupted one-on-one at least once a month, which is not tactical but rather focused on growth and connection.  

Our model for one-on-ones follows the 4C approach – Connect (15%), Check in (30%), Coach (40%), and Close (15%). Another way to build rapport in your meetings is to begin your weekly huddle with “What went well last week both at work and at home?”. At our Monday weekly focus calls, we have been doing this for years, and it has been a highlight of the week.

2. Be clear on expectations and goals for growth 

In the face of uncertainty, your team needs to be grounded by what they can control, including growth and taking on new challenges. With so much ambiguity, managers need to be clear about the three things that each employee needs to focus on each quarter and have a well-defined path for growth. This doesn’t only mean career growth, but also individual and role growth. 

The best way to do this is to ensure that you start the week with a weekly focus meeting where everyone shares their top priorities so the team can align on what is important and start the week with greater clarity. Rework and constant pivoting become the engagement killer in times when margins are tight, and staff feel overworked.  

To reduce the sense of ambiguity and helplessness, ground your team in some form of 90-day clarity tool, where each team member identifies their top 3 performance priorities including detailed metrics and a clear description as to what success looks like.  

3. Provide regular feedback  

People want to know they are doing well, but they also want to be challenged. If they don’t feel like they are growing, they will become disengaged at work. Regular feedback involves frequently stating what’s working, what’s not working, and what to do differently to develop themselves. This is more than just cheering, “you are doing great!”, it is intentional feedback focused on improvement. 
 
For overworked managers, it does seem counterintuitive to provide tough feedback on steady overworked talent. However, in the absence of care, clarity and a clear path for growth, your team won’t want to stick around. To ensure feedback is balanced and received well, we have been fans of the SDI-E framework, which is Situation – describe the context of the feedback or situation you observed; Behaviour – focus on the specific behaviours, not the person that you are concerned about; Impact – highlight the impact of the behaviour, which could include how it was perceived by others: provide a pause for reflection and then end with Expectations – what you expect to see next time. 

In coaching 1000+ leaders, I have observed that each of us is gifted at 1 or 2 of the items mentioned above and that at least one of these “Three Things” does not come naturally to us. To ensure that you are fully balanced in your leadership approach, I encourage you to be your “opposite self” in your next one-on-one by focusing on the one thing that you do less frequently or naturally.  

Rob Luke is a highly sought-after advisor to CEOs and Founders who are leading through periods of rapid business growth or navigating through significant change. Over the past 10 years, Rob has worked with 75+ businesses across 16 industries and has supported CEOs, Founders, and Boards through business restructuring, stabilizing core culture while scaling fast, CEO/President selection, finding and integrating key leadership talent into existing teams, and advising on change plans.