Skills and Leadership Development in Canada's Nonprofit Sector
Overview
According to our 2008 Labour Force Study, budgets for staff training and development are nearly universal among the sector’s largest employers (those with 100 or more employees), but are less prevalent in the mid-sized (those with 10 to 99 employees) and small organizations that make up the vast majority of the sector.
A much-needed portrait of learning and development in Canada’s nonprofit sector is beginning to take shape. While there are some sub-sectoral initiatives that are developing and implementing multi-organizational strategies for training and professional development, the portrait is not comprehensive and our sector lacks a coherent approach to skills development.
This 30-month initiative seeks to support the development of skills and leadership in the nonprofit sector and is comprised of three specific projects:
Understanding the state of skills development
Asking the question: Is there a leadership deficit?
Developing an occupational standard for administrators of volunteers
Understanding the state of skills development
The HR Council’s Labour Force Study drew attention to the availability of learning and development opportunities as a key factor in successful recruitment and retention. While nonprofit employees responded that they are satisfied with their jobs overall, they reported lower satisfaction with opportunities for professional development and career advancement than with other aspects of their jobs.(1)
What is the HR Council doing about it?
In response, the HR Council will convene stakeholders to identify skills development goals in addition to recommending further action for achieving these goals. To support stakeholders in this process the HR Council will analyze skills development strategies used by other sectors in Canada and internationally. We will also generate research findings that stakeholders can draw from, supported by their own knowledge about the sector, to identify these goals.
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Asking the question: Is there a leadership deficit?
Several Canadian and American studies raise concerns about where future nonprofit leaders will come from to fill vacancies as baby boomers exit the labour force. In a similar vein, key informants from the HR Council’s Labour Force Study(2) also identified the impending leadership deficit as an issue and raised questions about how the sector will handle leadership succession. There is much speculation about who will take on these key leadership positions and about the challenges boards will face recruiting people with the right skills.
How we’re responding:
- Providing stakeholders with research-based information about recruitment for top positions
- Stepping up outreach to members of nonprofit boards to support their critical role in recruiting top executives
- Clarifying stakeholder concerns and perspectives in addition to promoting stakeholder dialogue on prospects for future leadership in the sector
Findings from the proposed research and stakeholder inquiry will provide evidence-based information about the competencies of newly-hired leaders and the competencies boards recruit for. In doing so, the project will start to identify challenges organizations face in hiring for the top paid position, inform the development of strategies and highlight specific resources and tools to meet these challenges. Given the changing demographics in Canada’s labour force, this research will pay particular attention to inclusion and diversity in hiring for top positions.
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Developing an occupational standard for administrators of volunteers
As we are building upon the overall portrait of skills development in the sector, research and stakeholder input are already pointing to the need for concrete action to support professional development for one particular key occupation in the sector: administrators of volunteers. The coordination and administration of volunteers is an important area of nonprofit work; in 2007 alone over 12.5 million Canadians volunteered with various nonprofit organizations.(3)
The HR Council has partnered with the Canadian Administrators of Volunteer Resources (CAVR), the national umbrella organization for practitioners, to develop and validate an occupational standard for administrators of volunteer resources and to develop related communications materials. This occupational standard will benefit employers in recruiting and retaining their administrators of volunteers as well as help incumbents with career planning and management.
What is an occupational standard and why should I care?
Occupational standards identify and group tasks associated with a particular occupation and describe the knowledge and skills that a worker must demonstrate to be considered competent in that occupation. Occupational standards describe the skills and knowledge needed to perform competently in the workplace.
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How to get involved in this initiative
There are a number of ways to get involved in this initiative, including:
- Sitting on the skills and learning advisory committee: 10-12 stakeholders who will support research and stakeholder consultations to identify skills development goals for the sector in addition to making recommendations for action
- Participating in stakeholder consultations that will inform the identification of skills development goals for the sector
- Validating proposed skills development goals for the sector and making recommendations for action
- Sitting on the leadership development advisory committee: 8-10 stakeholders who will support us in guiding research to assist hiring for top positions in nonprofits
- Participating in stakeholder workshops: 60-75 stakeholders from nonprofit boards will participate to help us clarify challenges in hiring for top positions
- Participating in a dialogue on leadership: approximately 50 stakeholders will participate in a dialogue on the prospects for future leadership
- Validating and testing the occupational standard for administrators of volunteers
For more information about this initiative, please contact a member of the project team:
| Conrad Prince Project Manager cprince@hrcouncil.ca 613.244.8332 (extension 230) |
Erica Paradis Project Assistant eparadis@hrcouncil.ca 613.244.8332 (extension 231) |
