Recruitment, hiring, mentoring and retention

Tess C. Taylor writes:

The inclusive hiring process actively recognizes diversity and embraces a wide range of qualities and perspectives that candidates bring to the organization. It’s not simply about recruiting people from underrepresented backgrounds or with disabilities in an effort to tick off a box. Instead, inclusive hiring practices aim to level the playing field for all applicants in order to fight against recruitment bias and any form of discrimination.

The land conservation movement is a strongly networked segment of the nonprofit and public sectors, which has been helpful in building land-trust-to-land-trust and land-trust-to-conservation-agency partnerships, coalitions and collaborations. The same network is also often tapped to fill job openings, with many land trusts and conservation groups recruiting and hiring professionals they may have partnered with in previous positions. While this is a plus for organizations, to be able to recruit and work with professionals who are known entities, it has the potential to miss out on opportunities for innovation by not including diverse identities, perspectives, skills sets, backgrounds and experiences.

Victoria M. Phillips asks:

Years of research on women of color suggests that mentorship is crucial to leadership development and combating bias. If nonprofit leaders truly want their organization to include women of color at the apex, they have to prepare for profound change. The question we need to ask is how can leadership encourage women, especially women of color, bring about the changes through mentoring and fill the inequality gap?

There are countless studies documenting the efficiency, effectiveness and innovation that results from having a diverse workforce and inclusive, equitable and just work environment. As founders retire and the Baby Boomer generation leaves the land trust workforce, it is imperative that the movement embrace the strategies and approaches that will ensure the long-term sustainability and relevance of the next generation of land trust leaders, staff and volunteers. This will require, at a minimum:

• Organizational goal-setting that is rooted in hard questions being asked, existing practices being examined with economic and racial justice lenses, and intentional outreach, recruitment and hiring of a workforce that includes women and people of color in leadership.

• Exploring and implementing new/alternative models of leadership and staffing that create space and an environment for employee growth, professional development, and other compensation, benefits and incentive considerations.

• Investing in mentoring support, which has been proven crucial to leadership development, especially for oppressed and excluded professionals.

• Analysis of organizational cultures and work environments that may have stagnated.

It is generally known that demonstrating empathy is positive for people, but new research demonstrates its importance for everything from innovation to retention. A new study of 889 employees by Catalyst found empathy has some significant constructive effects:

• Innovation

  When people reported their leaders were empathetic, they were more likely to report they were able to be innovative—61 percent of employees compared to only 13 percent of employees with less empathetic leaders.

• Engagement

  Seventy-six percent of people who experienced empathy from their leaders reported they were engaged compared with only 32 percent who experienced less empathy.

• Retention

  Fifty-seven percent of white women and 62 percent of women of color said they were unlikely to think of leaving their companies when they felt their life circumstances were respected and valued by their companies. However, when they didn’t feel that level of value or respect for their life circumstances, only 14 percent and 30 percent of white women and women of color respectively said they were unlikely to consider leaving.

• Inclusivity

  Fifty percent of people with empathetic leaders reported their workplace was inclusive, compared with only 17 percent of those with less empathetic leadership.

• Work-Life

  When people felt their leaders were more empathetic, 86 percent reported they are able to navigate the demands of their work and life—successfully juggling their personal, family and work obligations. This is compared with 60 percent of those who perceived less empathy.