Beyond the typical HR Department challenges, nonprofit HR Departments face the on-going struggles to balance the vision of their mission with limited resources. Often the development of clear HR goals, strategies, systems, and processes takes a backseat to their mission. Non-profits must realize their vision while maintaining organizational efficiency and HR tech can play a significant role in helping them achieve this level of efficiency. 

Non-profit is one of the largest hiring sectors, yet according to the 2020 Talent Management Priorities Survey by NonProfit HR, 65% of nonprofit organizations do not have a formal talent management strategy and 8% said they don’t know if they have one. This means those nonprofits are at a huge disadvantage vs. other non-profits and for-profit companies that have an established recruiting strategy in place and are using HR technology. These organizations can recruit, hire, onboard, and train new employees and volunteer staff faster so they can be more productive and immediately contribute to their organizations’ mission. On the flip side, the nonprofits that don’t have a talent management strategy will have a tougher time competing for talent, thereby making it harder for them to carry out the mission of their organization.

In the Talent Management Priorities Survey by NonProfitHR survey, the top three areas that participants included in their formal talent management strategy plans (the 27% that have a plan) are:

• Talent Acquisition
• Learning and Development
• Retention Planning

Participants were also asked what key obstacles they foresee will impede their Talent Management Priorities. The top 2 responses were:

• Not enough staff resources dedicated to HR to achieve them
• Not enough financial resources dedicated to HR to achieve them

This is precisely where HR Tech can significantly play a role to help minimize the gap between achieving your talent management priorities and falling short on doing so.

Interestingly, it isn’t that charities are tech averse. Several non-profits use state-of-the-art solutions in areas like productivity, finance, and customer relationship management (CRM). However, HR tech remains untapped according to an interesting post on HR Technologist.

A recent survey by Charity Digital revealed that 95% of charities have never used tech solutions for administrative HR tasks. Yet, the numbers for other functions were very different (62% – productivity software, 40% – finance software, 26% – CRM software). To encourage more use of HR technology throughout nonprofits, it’s important to understand the positive impact it can have in minimizing the key obstacles above.

The concern there are not enough staff resources dedicated to HR to achieve the top talent management priorities can begin to be mitigated with the use of cloud-based technology. Cloud-based applicant tracking software and learning/training management software are very budget-friendly and could transform HR productivity levels and reduce manual intervention by up to 80%.

Today, organizations across many verticals are embracing HR technology like never before. Not surprising considering how HR tech has evolved in recent years. At its core, HR Tech helps to optimize processes, automate redundant administrative HR tasks, simplify and improve the recruiting and onboarding process, measure performance and engagement, and provide insights into all aspects of HR. However, research suggests that non-profit organizations might not be up to speed when it comes to modernizing HR administrative tasks.

Over the last 10 years, the landscape of talent management has evolved tremendously. Advances in technology have led to many of the HR tasks commonly associated with hiring and training to be done more efficiently and effectively. Visibility Software recently surveyed HR leaders across sectors to determine the top talent management challenges they face. The survey revealed that more than 50% of the respondents shared similar talent management pain points. From streamlining hiring practices to automating training needs, there are flexible HR solutions available to rid your organization of time-consuming, daunting tasks to take your talent management practices to the next level. Business leaders are ready to move in that direction. But with any business decision comes the question, “What is the ROI, or return on investment?” And it is certainly a relevant question as ROI not only affects your budget, but it lets decision-makers know if the HR solution will improve the processes you have in place, save time for your staff, and create better hiring experiences for your job candidates. Ultimately, you want to know that you have an HR solution in place that will offer efficiency and effectiveness.

We will continue this conversation during our upcoming webinar on February 11th, 2021.  Register below:

  Upcoming Live Webinar:
Why Non-Profits Need HR Technology … Now!
Date: February 11

Register Here