Employing the right senior executives is critical to the seamless functioning and growth of a charity. The values the senior team bring and the culture they cultivate influence the operations of the whole organisation, so hiring the right people demands thorough consideration.
A key challenge is finding the right people, at the right time, and attracting them to your available opportunity. This can lead a company down many paths – promoting from within, finding candidates currently job searching and those who aren’t, which requires tactical headhunting. With restricted budgets and a very competitive marketplace, smart and strategic recruitment becomes imperative.
Below is a guide to recruiting senior roles into charities, but if you’d rather someone else do it for you jump down to Executive Search Companies.
Understanding the Not-for-profit landscape
The decision for a candidate to transition to the not-for-profit sector is often driven by values and the desire to make a positive impact. In all recruitment communications, you need to emphasise the work done with your beneficiaries to motivate candidates and offer them a stronger sense of purpose.
The not-for-profit sector can be a more innovative space, due to necessity. This can lead to more opportunities within post and more flexibility within the working structure. If your charity encourages unrestricted leave, remote working, collaborative project work, inter-sector partnerships, travel or regular skill sharing, shout about it.
Working with people who share the same altruistic goals can build some of the strongest bonds between colleagues, often enabling happier teams that work dynamically and harmoniously together – a unique quality of the not-for-profit sector.
Networks and Partnerships
Networking holds immense value, as building relationships with existing leaders expands the talent pool. Encouraging recruitment teams to go to networking events is crucial. People like to work for people they like, so find out about charity awards, events and fundraisers to meet leaders and learn more about them. Networking events are also opportunities to pick the brains of people in the market.
LinkedIn serves as a fantastic online networking tool. If your organisation needs to improve its awareness on that platform look at top-performing posts and the themes being discussed. Write articles that position your organisation as thought leaders or simply ask questions to get a conversation going. Be sure to follow up on responses to get those connections solidified.
Tailoring the Recruitment Process
Crafting a compelling job description is essential. Define your ideal candidate, and keep them in mind throughout the process. Highlighting what they will gain from this role, can encourage a candidate to keep reading.
The job description is a first impression of an organisation’s culture, so highlight your values and vision, alongside the benefits and perks. Bringing your organisation to life can be done through storytelling and testimonials, from either your staff or beneficiaries.
Keep things clear, concise and compelling. After writing the fundamental information required for a job description, concentrate on how to make this unique and memorable. Make your writing an extension of your brand.
Write as you speak, when creating recruitment content. Personalise it by using the term ‘you’ over ‘the successful candidate’.
A successful structure for composing job descriptions:
- An introduction that summarises the role and its impact
- A list of key responsibilities, outlining the main tasks and objectives
- A list of qualifications that detail the required and preferred skills and experience
- A closing that invites candidates to apply and provides contact information
You can use this framework, but always focus on how your post will stand out. Think of it more as an advert than a job description, by highlighting key benefits and opportunities for the role potential candidates can be hooked in.
Nurturing Diversity and Inclusion
Diversity and inclusion are vital components of an effective senior leadership board. Creating an inclusive environment at the top builds innovation, resilience and a deeper connection with diverse communities. It directly impacts the success of an organisation through increased skills and experience, performance and productivity.
Diversity recruiting is about hiring candidates through a process that is free from bias, for or against any group or individual. It is still merit-based recruitment, intending to find the best possible candidate, but it’s structured to give all applicants an equal opportunity. If your organisation is rooted in the principles of equality and fairness, spotlight that during the recruitment.
According to recruitee.com, 3 out of 4 employees prefer to work for a diverse company. So highlight any impressive stats about your female-focused policies or recognitions of cultural holidays. Consider blind screening with applications and post opportunities where diverse groups are spending time.
Executive Search Companies
We are specialists at identifying and attracting top-tier talent and streamlining the hiring process for our not-for-profit clients. By devoting our time to building a strong relationship with you, we genuinely get to know what your organisation needs to do to attract perfectly suited candidates and support your growth.
What NFP People do exceptionally well:
- Develop close bonds with our senior candidates, to confidently assist them in changing and developing their careers.
- Take your recruitment brief and know who to contact right away.
- Use our extensive database of high-quality candidates, and advanced Boolean search techniques, to target both applicants who are actively seeking new opportunities and those who aren’t currently looking for work.
- Utilise an array of resources to enable us to find the ideal professional senior candidates for your vacancies.
- Ensure all candidates have the best possible recruitment journey and that your employer brand is represented positively throughout.
Our effective process of sourcing candidates and taking them through the screening stages, before you need to be involved, is what has led to multiple 5-star reviews. The candidates we’ve placed are a testament to the effort we put in and the pride we take in ensuring everyone involved receives a positive experience.
“The level of professionalism and attention to detail demonstrated by Claire and the team made for a truly remarkable experience. From the initial scheduling to the smooth logistics, everything was handled with precision and care. The timely communication, clear instructions, and valuable resources provided truly facilitated my preparations and ensured that I had all the necessary information for each stage of the interview.” – Oarabile Mudongo, NFP People client.
Organisations seeking exemplary leaders can be supported by our team of experts.
NFP People have a team dedicated to executive searches. Contact us for more information and to elevate your organisational through exceptional leadership.