September 26, 2008
Working Long Hours for Low Pay Doesn’t Make You a Better Person
Posted by Kevin | Print This Article
While I can kind of see Cindy’s point here — hearing about benefits that you can’t afford to offer can be a little discouraging — I’m going to have to disagree with her a little as well.
I agree that the “top” perks can sometimes seem a little out of touch with many of us who work in smaller organizations, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have a responsibility to stay competitive. (For determining your competitiveness, ASAE’s compensation and benefits surveys are more useful, if less interesting, than the report Cindy mentions, which is actually from CEO Update and not ASAE).
Cindy wrote, “As an association community we HAVE to figure out how to change the lack or minimal benefits in MANY associations and nonprofits …”
I don’t think that we “as an association community” need to do any such thing. I think associations who “lack” or have “minimal” benefits certainly need to figure out how to change that fact. But it’s their individual responsibility to do so, if they are going to compete (with other associations) for talent. Very small businesses, whatever their tax status, all have the same challenge.
I agree that there’s a LOT more to being a “great place to work” than the perks you provide. There’s freedom, there’s growth, there’s personal accomplishment, there’s managerial flexibility, there’s camaraderie and humor — in fact, while much harder to measure, I find those things to be much more important.
But I think it’s foolish to deny that benefits (and salary) play a significant role in getting good people to work for you, and keeping them there. Associations that “can’t afford” to stay competitive need to do some serious re-evaluation of their operations. If you can’t afford the right talent, then you can’t afford to provide first-class service to your membership, because that’s what talent does. And if you can’t afford to provide first-class service to your membership, then you’re either not charging enough or, frankly, you’re spending too much money on things you could do without.
The fact is: In any organization, priorities get funded.
Kevin,
Just to set the record straight on the new CEO Update annual report on Top Places to Work in Associations and Nonprofits.
AE On the Verge blogger Cindy Butts raises some interesting concerns about the report, but it seems she just read our marketing email, not the 12-page special report. I think she’ll be pleasantly surprised by our findings.
She says, “I hope I’m wrong, but why do I have certainty we’re going to see a big list of national associations in big cities with large staffs that get these kind of benefits?”
We can put her mind to rest. She is wrong. The organizations in our report ranged from a staff size of 6 to one of 2,400 and that’s only because AARP participated. One-third of the “top places” cited by CEO Update were under 30 staff.
The overall message is an encouraging one to small groups. While many associations/nonprofits mentioned did come from big cities DC and Chicago, others came from places like Leawood, Kansas, Durham, N.C. and Clovis, Calif.
We learned that the organization in the survey with the happiest staff is happy because of their managers, not because of their comprehensive healthcare plan or generous retirement perks. That is a no-cost “perk” that any nonprofit can work toward.
Some of the benefits highlighted can be implemented by an organization of any size, especially when you consider the cost to replace staff. Some workplace experts estimate that it costs one and a half times an employee’s annual salary to replace an employee — these perks are a bargain if you want to retain staff.
Sure, there are difficulties for a two-staff organization with perks like time-off, but, I think you will agree, retention is even more important for these groups.
By highlighting some of the benefits/perks in the nonprofit sector we are encouraging people to work for associations/nonprofits on any level (local, state or national). We are showing that people don’t have to sacrifice pay or benefits.
Kevin, your observations were right on target — those intangible benefits carry great weight and finding ways — financial and others — to recruit and retain a first-class staff to serve members is Job number one.
The message sent out to the association community — no matter what state the economy is in — these are the organizations competing for your best employees.
Anita Sama
Editor-in-Chief
CEO Update