chapter 8 social human resources. objectives to understand the importance of the human resource...

Chapter 8Social Human Resources

Objectives

• To understand the importance of the Human Resource Management function in social enterprises• To study the Human Resource problems encountered by social

enterprises• To understand employee acquisition in the social sector• To understand how to retain employees in the social sector.

Social Entrepreneurship Chapter 8: Social Human Resources

Human Resource Management- Introduction• Human Resource Management (HRM) is of utmost importance to

social enterprises owing to its distinct core offering.• The human resource draws lot of attention and focus owing to the

acquisition and retention issues.• This makes social entrepreneurs and systems to adapt a strategic

viewpoint towards HR concerns to ward of his vulnerability to disturbing turbulences.


Human Resource Management- Importance• Managing Human Resources is extremely crucial in social enterprises

given the excessive dependence on the People element in delivering its core objectives and offerings. • These personal services that social enterprises offer cannot be

replaced by investment in physical facilities and equipment. • Social enterprises require a very distinct set of capabilities and

accountability to manage its conduct, thereby justifying the over emphasis on employees.


Job Dissatisfaction & Employees of SEEmployees may be more dissatisfied in case of

1. The anticipated public welfare from the program is not achieved;2. The mission is derailed by other considerations.3. The value system are inconsistent and not viable with organization’s

conduct


HR in SE- Problems

• Recruitment, retention, and workforce diversity are some of the major problems being faced by HR managers in nonprofit organization. • HR managers encounter a great deal of difficulty when they plan

recruitment in the non-profit sector.• Largely many such enterprises especially the ones that deal in

industries and fields like IT cannot match the industry standards with respect to the pay.• These third sector organizations, with limited resources have to

struggle to balance the expectations of top talent in a fiercely competitive economy and also pursue their donors


• Compensation is an important factor leading to employee turnover in social enterprises. • Employees, who relate to the mission of the social enterprises and are

satisfied with their profile, may not find the compensation attractive enough for them to remain in the organization for long.• The lack of investment in human resources leads to various critical problems

such as low morale, high frustration, job switching, etc. among employees, which act against the development of the organization. • Social enterprises spend large portions of their scarce resources on recruiting

and training new employees from time to time..


Talent Acquisition

• The role of human resources in organizational excellence is indispensable. • Talent has become the key differentiator for performance

management and for leveraging competitive advantage.• Maximizing team engagement, motivation, and retention through a

meticulously planned talent acquisition endeavors is vital in today’s highly competitive environment. • Only a talent resourcing process that is well defined and well-

executed from start to finish yields consistent and compliant results which will in turn yield a competitive advantage.


• As social enterprises have limited resources to spend on recruitment, Internet and campus recruitment mechanisms turn out to be more viable options for recruiting large numbers, especially those with specialized knowledge and skills.• For specialized skills and for sourcing from wider areas social enterprises

generally use the available web-based job portals to advertise about their organizations and post the job profiles of the vacant positions. • Usually these organizations prefer dedicated development-sector job-portals

such as devnetjobs.org, barefootjobs.com etc. rather than general job portals such as naukri.com or monster.com. • Over the years, the number of corporate executives looking for a career shift

has drastically increased. This talent pool is a good HR resource for social enterprises


Talent Retention

• Employees’ Oneness with the Vision and Mission• Reward Mix• Beneficiaries turning into Employees• Alternative Hiring Options• Induction Programs• HR Systems• Performance Appraisal• Attrition• Growth Path• Work Environment• Non-monetary Appreciation


Employees’ Oneness with the Vision and Mission

• Goal congruence positively affects employee performance, job satisfaction, tenure of working with the firm, and overall success in the career. In absence of such congruity the employee would never to be able to develop the bond and association towards the organization.• On the contrary there would be a lot of negative attribution on the

organization in the event of non-establishment of organizational goals.• Actions must be taken in ensuring that the recruitment policies are so

designed that the organization recruits only those employees who pursue the same value system and display same emotions and commitment towards the mission and goals in question, as the organization.


Reward Mix

• Since the small social enterprises cannot afford to pay high compensation to their employees, they try many other different methods to compensate their employees. • One of them is to provide fringe benefits. • Such benefits may be offered in many ways such as support for employees to

pursue higher studies at foreign universities, provide opportunities to do part time consultancy work for other organizations which could supplement their income.• Encourage employees to go for various national and international

conferences, provide all kinds of support to employees if they want to change their work profile to other areas so that their interest can be retained.


Beneficiaries as Employees

• Social enterprises all over the world often recruit their own clients or beneficiaries as employees• Since the ‘clients’ have received free or subsidized service from the

organization they would be willing to work for it for low pay or no pay. • There is the case of a hospital that picks up sick and abandoned

people from the streets and treats them to health.• Once they are restored to health, many of them do not have a place

to go to, and so decide to work for the hospital.


Alternative Hiring Options

• Social enterprises have felt the need to bolster their efforts at recruitment of full-time employees with options and sources other than the traditional ones. • Social enterprises have found it a good practice to hire candidates on a part-time

basis initially. • On being convinced of mutual suitability, the organization and employee work

towards a full-time commitment.• While this kind of an arrangement has been reported to work, founders do cite

instances of losing part-time employees to full-time and more stable alternatives.• However with the increase in awareness of social entrepreneurship as a discipline

and a career, there are candidates who have some background of the field and have a bent towards the field as a career option.


Induction Programs

• Most Social enterprises report having induction or orientation sessions for new recruits since majority entering into the social enterprise space would not have a background of it. • These induction programs would range anything from informal chats

with seniors and peers during the initial period to elaborate two-to-three week’s program at organizations’ head offices or training cells.• Social enterprises have devised their own ways to introduce the new

recruit to the rigors of the job• Some have the new recruit shadow a veteran on the job, observe and

learn from the experienced senior staff.


HR Systems

• A large number of social enterprises lack planned sophisticated policies for operation. • Many things are assumed to be done on an impromptu basis.• Systems and processes laying down the rules of basic conduct such as

leave policy, travel policy, expense reimbursement and dress code, among others, are usually ad hoc and created at the moment of a felt need at most of the social enterprises. • They advise social enterprises to ensure that they build these systems

at the earliest because they are difficult to superimpose on a group of people who have got used to not working in a prescribed system.


Performance Appraisal

• Performance appraisals when are timely and strategically conducted can be a very effective retention measure. • Appraisals to discuss salary increases and promotions are generally

done annually across all levels. • Most These appraisals must be very structured, and the feedback,

responses, criteria and appraisals must be documented rigorously. • Tracking appraisals from time to time can also give important insights

for job description decisions.


Attrition

• Social enterprises often do not enjoy the benefits of the investment they make in terms of training and up-skilling owing to the high attrition in the sector.

• It’s generally found that attrition is at its highest at the junior levels, thereby diverting lot of time and attention in recruiting activities.

• However, attrition among the lower level staff that is hired locally is low, especially in rural areas or small towns.

• Attrition is less endemic at the middle and senior levels. • This is more because of the fact that once the senior managers buy into the organization’s

mission, they are less likely to think or scout for new jobs. • Middle managers more often than not leave for better career prospects, a higher level in

hierarchy and a better remuneration package. • These are also employees with greater aspirations for their career and with growing family

commitments.


Growth Path

• A knowledge environment is always desirable for both the founders as well as the employees since both the parties find it conducive to their development and growth. • In addition to such an enriching environment, there is a strong need for

employees to be able to foresee a future growth for themselves in the enterprise; a growth path that reflects their positions two-three-five years down the line. • And it is for this reason that founders seek “intrapreneurs” who are willing to

work hard even for lower salaries in exchange for an exciting growth a few years down the line.• The concern perhaps is that founders, with very few but notable exceptions,

seldom share these growth paths explicitly with their employees.


Work Environment

• Given the fact that attrition is an omnipresent concern in social enterprises, founders keep looking for solutions to combat this situation. • Unattractive remuneration remains one of the biggest drivers for attrition.

One of the key ways they tried to make up for not offering glossy salaries was to provide a congenial work environment.• Many Social enterprises offer flexible and even informal working

arrangements with low levels of tracking time or progress.• They follow a participative decision making approach. Many decisions are

arrived at through brainstorming sessions in which employees from all levels participate and are given a chance to present their suggestions and ideas.


Non-monetary Appreciation

• Social Entrepreneurs realize the importance of communicating to the employees the kind of social impact that their efforts are bringing. • This not only motivates the team to achieve greater impact but also

drives home greater job satisfaction. • This also motivates the employees to keep aligning their future

personal goals with organization goals. • Employees also respond favorably to non-monetary compensation

like specially organized rewards functions, meetings, company-wide mailers or newsletters etc.


Summary

• Human resources are the most crucial asset for any social enterprise.• A strong team force is a pre-requisite to operationalize the physical

and intellectual assets to deliver to their best capacities and achieve the targeted social impact.• Social enterprises are posed with human resources management

challenges given the opportunities that the alternative employment options can offer.• Having a sophisticatedly planned HR policies and system, can equip

the enterprise to face the challenges.


chapter 8 social human resources. objectives to understand the importance of the human resource...

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