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Trends & Issues

Better Together: Shared HR Services for Non-profits

When I think of the benefits of pooling resources, I am reminded of a scene in the 1986 movie Stand By Me. The four main characters – Gordie, Chris, Teddy and Vern – are in the midst of what will be their final boyhood summer adventure together. It’s late afternoon. They’ve already walked for miles, dodged a train, and lost the communal comb when suddenly it hits them. No one thought to pack food for the overnight trip. The procession stops and as if by instinct, the boys turn out their pockets, count up their change and send Gordie off to the store to buy the necessary provisions for everyone (For the record – Vern’s contribution was seven cents).

Better together. More with less. It’s a common theme – and not just in the movies. For the past year or so I’ve had the opportunity to work on a project that explored practical ways for non-profit organizations to work together, more specifically through shared services and collective business activities. Led by the United Community Services Co-op and Fraserside Community Services Society (both based in Vancouver, British Columbia), the project brought together a group of regional and national partner organizations to explore opportunities to develop shared service models in their particular regions or areas of activity. (For more information about the project and the partner organizations, check out the Project Index on our website).

For our part, the HR Council was interested in addressing the HR management capacity of leaders in the sector. In many organizations, HR management is just one part of one person’s (usually the executive director’s) job description. Considering the range of competing priorities (think funding, volunteer management or program delivery to start), HR management and its related activities are often relegated to the bottom of the proverbial To Do List. While other activities often take priority, the fact remains that the HR issues facing the sector are significant, sobering and stressing leaders to the point where programs and services are being impacted. Some of these issues include:

• Unsuccessful recruitment and retention practices
• Lack of, or out-dated HR policies and procedures
• Confusing and ineffective performance management systems
• Problems with legal compliance including costly terminations
• A lack of concentrated HR capacity building among leaders

Understanding that this is the reality for many organizations, we set about exploring the development of a shared service framework that would help leaders address these issues while building their own capacity to effectively manage HR and workplace issues. Specifically, the framework outlines the potential value and benefit derived when a group of committed executive directors comes together as an ensemble, pools their resources and collectively hires an HR professional – allowing them to access a level of expertise that they might otherwise not be able to afford individually. (Think back to Gordie’s buying power at the grocery store with the collective pocketful of change!)

Entitled Better Together, the framework provides non-profit leaders and their boards with background information on the shared HR service concept and outlines the steps and considerations required to collective hire and benefit from the experience of a HR professional. The content of the framework is largely based on experiences gleaned from the Muttart Foundation’s HR Cluster Pilot Project in Alberta and another current shared HR model serving a group of organizations in Toronto.

While it’s not an overnight adventure into the wilderness, embarking on a shared-services initiative is still a tremendous undertaking. Careful consideration, thought and planning must go into the process to ensure that the decision is the right one for you and your organization. In developing this framework, our intent was not to provide step-by-step instructions, but rather promote the benefits of shared HR services by presenting the learnings and experiences of some existing shared HR services models.
 
The HR Council is keen to connect with individuals and organizations that are interested in moving forward with the development of their own shared HR services models. We hope to follow the development of such models in communities across the country with the goal of documenting the experiences of participants for a follow-up case study series that would be made available on our website.
 
For more information about this framework or to express your interest in developing a shared HR service model please contact us by one of the following means:

And if you’re looking for a good movie to rent this weekend – well you know where I stand.