People are far and away the most expensive item on nearly any nonprofit statement of income and expense. Our sector spends more on human capital than on buildings or supplies or any other cost. Buildings get depreciated on the balance sheet (right??) but what about the depreciation of our people? How do we re-invest in our most important assets and keep them contributing to our mission work and not just burning out (and metaphorically or literally falling down)?
Charities often struggle to provide meaningful pay, health-insurance, or retirement benefits. It’s as if we don’t expect our people to be around long enough to make that investment matter, and it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Most charities provide at least some Paid Time Off (PTO) but it seems like that benefit is always weighed against what the work load will look like when the short vacation is over.
Let them reset. Really reset.
Most of us only ever take vacations for a week, maybe as much as two. During that time, we are often so busy traveling, seeing family, or doing projects that we don’t really reset. It’s like pushing a power button on a computer, but never really unplugging it. What’s the first thing tech support suggests to fix nearly any performance problem? UNPLUG (don’t just restart) and wait. Then power back up.
An extended break – let’s call it three months – without a mountain of work to return to is a possibility for nearly any organization. We just have to envision it, plan for it, sustain it, and return from it.
- Envision it: First step, believe it is possible. This is a big one. Most of us have never worked in a place that allows long term leave without a medical crisis. Sit down with your team, hear everyone out, and let the idea sink in.
- Plan it: Create a personnel policy. At NEXT in Nonprofits, we decided an employee would be eligible for a sabbatical at five years, and every five years thereafter. The employee is invested in the organization, so let’s have the organization invest in the person. Some guardrails are probably needed in smaller organizations like ours, so we set up the rule that only one person can be on sabbatical at any given time, but also that an employee can call dibs on a time after their five year anniversary so they may align their break with… anything they want to. Seasonable weather. A partner with a break. A Star Trek convention. No judgement.
- Sustain it: Okay, this part is tricky for small teams. The work goes on, even in small teams, so we need a plan for who is going to pick up this extra work during this time. It may even need a small financial investment to hire a contractor for a bit. The longer the lead time, the easier it is to plan for an employee’s absence. So the full team should be notified as much as six months in advance, and then projects get planned to not use that person during their absence.
- Return from it. We can’t just jump back in mid-stream. We need to plan a return to ease people back in from break. Again, enough planning and lead time makes this work, but it has to be the responsibility of the team still at work to plan their colleague’s reintegration. Some briefings from fellow staff, some catch up meeting time with partners, and maybe just a day of reviewing staff meeting notes can all help bring someone back up to speed. We know they will need it. Make it part of the work.
Yes, this is the good and right thing to do. Some of us haven’t had a meaningful break from work …. well… ever. We took time off for family, for a short vacation to a beautiful place, to do major home repairs. Rarely to just be unplugged.
Let’s treat our people well. NEXT in Nonprofits has been working on policies for this, let us know if you want to talk about it.
