Revisiting your internal culture in 2022

Navel-gazing has got itself a bit of a bad rep over time. By definition, it means looking at ourselves, without considering the bigger picture. But what if we told you that now, as we enter 2022 and begin to contemplate recovery from COVID-19, that a bit of navel-gazing might do us all some good?  

 

The bigger picture part will come in later. 

 

As a sector, we’re obsessed with data. Rightly so, it’s very important. It informs what we do, telling us whether we got that bit of marketing right or, indeed, wrong. When analysed and simplified, it can tell us a story of where the organisation is going based on where it has already been. It helps us build on the lessons of the past so we can more effectively move forwards. 

 

But we tend to focus on the data of our donors, our beneficiaries, the people who search our cause online. We neglect the wealth of data we have at our disposal internally and how much it matters.  

 

A charity’s volunteers and employees are stakeholders in the success of the organisation, too. They have the same behavioural patterns as any external audience and can provide the same map towards what is working, directing us away from what’s not.  

 

By not using the data we have in-house, charities are missing out on a key source of information that can – and will, if used – have an impact on the future of the organisation as a whole. 

 

Currently, it’s a bleak picture. While nearly all (94%) of executives are receiving data from their People departments, more than two thirds say they are not heavily reliant on it. Three in five are point blank not using it to drive any decision-making at all.  

 

This is wasteful when there’s just so much of it coming from your people. Data from recruitment, for example, can tell you who applied, their employment backgrounds, and just who your charity is appealing to as an employer. Likewise, turnover data and information gained from exit interviews can tell you how your attempts to support people are being received.  

 

With nearly half of charity leaders themselves considering leaving the sector due to burnout, learning how to better support staff and volunteers is vital. It also can have an effect on your bottom line – a worthy concern considering one in ten charities were facing bankruptcy in 2020 as a result of the pandemic.  

 

The People Count 2020 study found that the median cost of voluntary turnover per leaver in 2020 was £1,896, money that could otherwise be funneled into things like marketing, fundraising, and service delivery.

 

 

Creating a positive culture through listening 

 

Building a positive internal culture is extremely important, particularly in the charity sector where the demands on employees and volunteers are often high. But, given that culture is so important, a surprising amount of organisations are failing to use data from their people to develop one; Sage People found that more than half are not using any People data to inform culture and experience decisions.  

 

Understanding the different motivations of your team is crucial to getting the best out of them. Listening to what makes them tick doesn’t just mean implementing a suggestion box, but also analysing the data that shows how they perform, the demographics of who is drawn to your charity for work, and the average length of time someone stays at your organisation. 

 

Far from searching around for the mysterious problem that is making your internal culture stagnate, this data can show you exactly what needs to change. Data from employee engagement surveys can be effective here, but other factors like absence rates can also tell you a lot about how your staff and volunteers see you and whether you are supporting them sufficiently. 

 

Charity employees and volunteers are not immune to the impact of the pandemic on the charity sector’s operations. Nine in ten charity workers have experienced stress, overwhelm, or burnout during 2020, resulting from an inability to draw boundaries between work and home life and the huge increases in demand at a time of difficulty for everyone.  

 

It has arguably never been timelier for charities to re-evaluate how they support their people and check in to see if the current system is working. People may be hesitant to write things down formally, but the data speaks.

 

 

Fixing what is broken 

 

Perhaps the worst part about organisations not using internal data to make decisions on company culture is that they are ignoring the very people who can tell them something is wrong. The People and HR departments of charities know the warning signs when it comes to employee disengagement and frankly, the signs are already there. 

 

According to Sage People, more than three in five people working with employees and volunteers are aware of the limitations of their current system and are not fully confident that their HR tech is fit for the future. So not only are organisations aware of their failings when it comes to supporting their colleagues, they are also ignoring the clearest way to fix it by not looking to their data for guidance.  

 

A charity’s people are such an important source of information, and yet those in charge of looking after them are being excluded from making the decisions that affect them. More than half feel that they are not playing a leading role in company culture and more worryingly, two thirds don’t feel they are influencing operational excellence. 

 

Charities cannot afford for one of its biggest departments and one that looks after the lifeblood of the organisation – staff and volunteers – to be given a back seat. As any charity worker knows, it is always about getting all hands-on deck whenever possible. It is true when it comes to service delivery, and it remains true when it comes to building a positive culture.  

 

A positive internal culture means more highly motivated employees, an improvement in recruitment and retention, and just generally a happier place to work. When stress levels run high, it is heartening to know that your organisation has your back throughout.  

 

So, while charities focus externally on how to bring new supporters in, it is also worth looking at the supporters within. It’s not really navel-gazing at all. It’s insight.