The Society for Human Resource Management [SHRM] reported in a recent article that 2021 will likely bring a “turnover tsunami.” The pandemic and its impact on nonprofit organizations has left many long time leaders determining that now is a good time to move on. Those left in the wake of this exiting wave are scrambling to fill those C-Suite positions with in-demand talent and leadership that can lead the organizations through the challenges of an unforeseeable future. The change at the top represents a chance to revitalize the mission of the organization. But for many nonprofit Boards – those who carry the burden for executing a successful leadership search – seizing the opportunity within the transition is beyond their capacity as volunteers and busy professionals in their own right. As a first step in this process, we offer the following seven questions to those on the cusp of an executive search.

What strong internal candidates have been previously identified and/or groomed to step into this role? 

Most nonprofit organizations do not have deep enough staffing to have the luxury of grooming an internal staff member over time to step into the top leadership position. If you are fortunate to have depth on your leadership team, what is your process for vetting internal candidates?

How would we assess our HR department’s capacity to recruit and hire that leader? 

Many NPO’s don’t have the Human Resources capacity to undertake a search and recruitment process and all the work it entails. Most nonprofits boards will struggle to manage the process effectively and in a timely manner to allow their current leader to step aside on their own timeframe. Despite the best intentions of most nonprofit boards, managing all the aspects of a search in an efficient way is more than most can take on. Running a search in an inefficient manner is a signal to strong candidates that you don’t want to send.

How do we plan to reach the best candidates that fit our needs in such a tight market?

The marketplace for strong leadership candidates has always been highly competitive. Currently it’s even more competitive than it has been in recent history. The market generally has some strong leaders in it looking for their next challenge, but do they align with your organization’s needs, culture, and mission? Probably not all of them, which means you’ve just winnowed down your pool of candidates. How do you reach the handful that are likely good fits? Posting your position in an online job board is a given but that can’t be all you do; the chances of the right person finding you are now slimmer than they were. Combine these facts with another one: those good candidates are not only applying for your position, they are testing the waters and are likely candidates in other searches. 

What is our search process?

A strong search starts with a solid process. Do you just “wing it” rather than plan your day, week and year? Most likely not. The same holds true for executing a search. Strong candidates will look for a tight process (established timeline for the search and communications with a central point of contact). If the timeline drags, you can and will lose your better candidates. Your search process is an indicator of not just how you run a search, but it is also a reflection of your organization as a whole. First impressions matter. 

Be prepared at the onset of the search to layout your timeline, and commit those who will be part of the internal committee to times and dates well before you begin vetting candidates. By doing so you are demonstrating discipline to those who may be applying for the position. 

Will you have the time to structure your search so that as your committee evaluates candidates, it is really comparing apples to apples? Are you asking the same questions of each candidate? Are the questions really geared to evaluate skills that are priorities for the organization? 

What do we want and need in a new leader?

The world is a quickly evolving place, it would not be a stretch to say that the nonprofit world is even evolving faster. There are new organizations emerging all the time and some older and well established organizations that are struggling. Why? New organizations emerge because of an unmet need in the community (most of the time, but we’ll save that conversation for another day), older organizations may have outgrown their ability to evolve quickly and thus are constantly working to catch up, when in fact what has gotten them to this point was likely their innovative approach to solving issues, their key stakeholders in the community, or likely both. Does your organization really have a handle on what is needed as you seek a new leader? If not, how are you going to continue to steward the organization toward it goals and mission?

What is fair and competitive compensation for this position and are we prepared to provide it for the right candidate?

It’s not uncommon for a nonprofit organization to reevaluate compensation levels as it begins to plan for a leadership change. Perhaps your legacy leader has been in place for 25 years and has done a good job and seen compensation increases or added benefits over that time. It is not likely that you’ll budget that same compensation level for your new leader, but how do you know where your compensation should be? 

We are entering a period of time that has the search market transitioning to a “sellers’ market.” Strong leaders that are attracted to your organization’s mission still need to be fairly compensated. Are your compensation levels equal to or better than what competing organizations are paying? Are you sure? One of the services that Dunleavy has provided to some of our clients is a compensation comparison.  We pull data to compare salaries from peer organizations with yours to help inform where an organization should be on the playing field. This is likely not an exercise that most boards would want to undertake and although compensation studies are commercially available, they tend to be outdated or are not comparing your direct peer organizations, just a representative sample. 

Should we partner with an outside resource to manage the search and recruitment process? 

The search process on the surface appears to be a simple one – line up candidates and compare. The illustration above is not there to scare anyone but instead to inform. There are organizations that fare well undertaking a search on their own, but we often hear that they were shocked by the number of resources required to make the process work. We also hear search committees lament the fact that they did not partner in the beginning and this caused frustrating delays in the ability of a legacy leader to retire on their time frame. Going into any change of leadership requires thoughtful planning and very often nonprofits are stretched thin on time. MAKE the time for this or find a partner who can take you through that process.

If you would like to explore your options as an organization, the Dunleavy search team would be happy to discuss them with you. Contact us today for a complimentary call. 

About Mark Glidden

Mark Glidden has been the Managing Director, Resources and Solutions with Dunleavy & Associates since 2015. He is part of the Executive Search team. Prior to joining Dunleavy he spent decades in the technology field building teams from the ground up. His work in the non-profit sector includes over a dozen leadership and board positions involving hunger, disaster home rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina, Church Vestry and Youth Programs, Veterans relief and support, planning and zoning board appointments in his hometown and with the Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce. Currently, he serves as a Borough Councilman in Chalfont, PA.  Mark truly enjoys spending time outdoors and traveling with his family. He is an active Central Bucks Rotarian and a 50 year resident of Bucks County.