Hiring employees with disabilities brings new perspectives to your nonprofit and helps you meet the needs of the community you serve. Many resources exist to help your organization become an outstanding employer of people with disabilities. Here are some of the ways that work can benefit your nonprofit.

First, the basics: Federal law requires organizations to treat candidates and employees who have disabilities equitably. Employers cannot discriminate in hiring or employment under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Any employer with 15 or more employees must provide reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities unless doing so would create an undue hardship.

When your organization hires workers with disabilities, you tap into a robust talent pool. More than 25 percent of American adults have a disability, but only 19 percent of people with disabilities participate in the U.S. workforce.

Hiring and retaining workers with disabilities helps your team become more inclusive. An inclusive culture benefits an organization’s ability to innovate and to work with all populations. The more perspectives your team includes and values, the more capably your organization will deliver services and execute on its mission.

Employees with disabilities bring diverse perspectives that help your organization better reflect communities you serve. If your organization lacks the perspective of people with disabilities, you run the risk that your services won’t be inclusive or meet the needs of persons you serve who have disabilities.

Financial assistance exists to help organizations hire people with disabilities. The Work Opportunity Credit can provide eligible employers with a tax credit on as much as the first $6,000 of first-year wages for a new employee who has faced barriers to employment, such as a disability. Multiple states offer tax incentives to hire and train employees with disabilities. And if your organization hires and trains a veteran with a disability, you may be eligible for financial assistance from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs Vocational Rehabilitation & Employment Program.

Support exists to help organizations recruit, hire, and train people with disabilities. Workforce Development Boards help organizations strengthen their workforces, including through connections to skilled employees with disabilities. American Job Centers can help recruit, hire, and train employees with disabilities. And job coaches provide one-on-one training to assist employees with disabilities in learning job duties.

The employees with disabilities you recruit today could play a key role on your future teams. Employers from Pizza Hut to Washington Mutual have reported that the turnover rate among their employees with disabilities is a fraction of the turnover rate for employees without disabilities. Having long-term employees can benefit morale for your whole team.

Employing team members with disabilities can inspire community members to engage with your nonprofit. Many people and organizations want to support individuals with disabilities when they choose where to receive services or who to partner with in the community. If your organization does the work to recruit and retain employees with disabilities, you could make powerful new relationships and connections that stretch outside your nonprofit.

Resources exist to help your organization make reasonable modifications for employees with disabilities. Job modifications help employees with disabilities perform tasks that are essential for their jobs. Modifications might add ramps to an office, adjust an employee’s work schedule, provide an employee a screen reader, and much more. Most modifications cost employers nothing, according to the Job Accommodation Network (JAN). On average, modifications that do cost money have a one-time expense of $500. JAN and the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission offer resources to help employers craft modifications for employees with disabilities.

Additional Resources

• Employers Embracing Employees With Disabilities – RespectAbility
• Hire Employees With Disabilities – U.S. Small Business Administration
• Job Coaches – Job Accommodation Network
• America Works: How To Hire Workers With Disabilities – U.S. Chamber of Commerce
• The Tax Incentives For Hiring Employees With Disabilities – ADP

Compensation reviews can reveal pay equity issues at a nonprofit, or individual cases in which staff members aren’t being paid appropriately for their duties. Here’s how to do an accurate, informative, and valuable compensation review for your organization.

Set goals for the review. Why is your nonprofit doing this? Do you hope to uncover and remedy any structural inequities in your pay, to meet a legal or regulatory requirement, or to address talent recruitment and retention issues?

Know your nonprofit’s compensation philosophy. If your organization doesn’t have one, create one before you undertake a compensation review. What do you hope to accomplish with your organization’s compensation approach? What specific challenges do you face in hiring and retaining staff? How will your organization prioritize, solve for and ensure pay equity across gender, ethnicity and other differences? What funding opportunities and limitations do you face in implementing your compensation philosophy?

Gather information for comparison. Many state nonprofit organizations publish salary and benefits studies. National nonprofit organizations such as Guidestar.org, sell compensation reports. Consider using multiple studies or surveys as resources for your compensation review, to ensure a breadth of information. Pay attention to the sample size, time period, and demographics of the compensation surveys to make sure your comparisons are valid.

Network. Ask colleagues in your network of nonprofit executives whether they have conducted recent compensation reviews? Ask if they can share general lessons learned without breaking confidentiality or contractual commitments to the firms retained to conduct those studies, and offer to do the same if your nonprofit will allow it. This area of nonprofit management is evolving rapidly, and collaborative learning can benefit the whole sector.

Rank jobs in a way that shows the relative levels of responsibility they involve and minimum educational, skill or experiential requirements. (Make sure you rank positions here, not people.) You can do this with a formal system that allocates points for the skills, education, working conditions and judgment each job requires, or with a less formal estimate for those values.  You can group like jobs into families, or evaluate each job individually.

Set ranges for what you will pay employees. Pay ranges provide guardrails for what employees in a specific type of job or level of your organization can expect to earn. Use the salary data you gathered to help craft your ranges. Aim to set the middle of your range around the market value for the role, as entry-level employees may start at the low end of the pay range, and those with extensive experience may start above the midpoint.

Make changes. Apply your data to see if any employees fall above or below the range for their position. Set a standard for how your organization will handle these cases. Evaluate the demographics and pay amounts of employees across your nonprofit. Consider all variables that could shape pay, such as gender, ethnicity and other differences; tenure in a role; and remote work status. Identify any areas with pay gaps that appear inequitable. Talk to your legal counsel or HR/risk consultant and create a plan to fix pay gaps. Making an adjustment to solve one pay inequity can create others, so consider a variety of solutions and their potential impact before you decide what actions to take.

Fund your program. If numerous employees are being paid less than the range for their positions, your nonprofit might not be able to bring them all up to the range immediately. You may need to consider a multi-year plan to allocate funds to bring employees to parity. Even if you can’t do it immediately, make a plan to get employees to their range as soon as possible.

Talk to the team. Let your staff know you’ve done a compensation review and will make changes as needed. Teach your managers to explain how pay was determined. Don’t promise employees anything you can’t deliver. If your organization has decided to bring employees up to their new ranges over time, communicate that as soon and as clearly as you can.

Set benchmarks. Commit to review pay ranges on a periodic basis to determine whether discrepancies have arisen. If your organization does this on an ongoing basis, it will be much easier to address any cases where an individual or group falls outside the range. Remember that one needed adjustment could potentially cause other inequities, so continue to apply your pay equity analysis approach regularly.

Resources

• A Roundup of Nonprofit Compensation Reports: Strengths + Weaknesses – Maine Association of Nonprofits
• Five Questions To Ask When Setting The Compensation Philosophy You Need – Maine Association of Nonprofits
• How To Conduct A Compensation Analysis And Avoid Mistakes – Payscale
• How To Establish Salary Ranges – Society for Human Resource Management

We spend much of our waking lives at work, but many of us have only superficial relationships there. That contributes to a broader loneliness epidemic that weighs us down and can even shorten lifespans. Connecting with colleagues doesn’t always happen easily, but the effort can benefit individuals and the organization, and make work more productive and fun. Download the infographic below for some simple ways to get started!

Most of us have experienced bad performance reviews: harangues about things that already happened—things we can’t change. Great performance reviews deepen an ongoing, regular conversation about performance. They are two-way conversations between a manager and an employee. And they focus on the future and how employees can reach their goals. Here are five steps to transform your performance reviews from an obligation to an opportunity.

1. Make performance conversations a regular practice. A once-a-year performance conversation feels so heavy it’s hard not to dread it. When you talk with your team members about their job performance quarterly or even monthly, employees are less likely to feel surprised or ambushed by anything you say, because you’re talking about issues before they get out of hand and while they have plenty of opportunity to correct them.
   
2. Don’t just give feedback, solicit it. The performance review should focus on your employee. It should be their time to learn how to continue to grow in their role. That time should include an opportunity for them to share feedback on how their manager can make their job better. Listen calmly to all feedback. Take time to process it if you need to. Say yes to every request you can, and if you can’t grant a request, explain why and offer a compromise.
   
3. Approach the conversation from a strengths-based framework. People dread performance reviews because they associate them with negative feedback. Reviews should include discussion of how employees can improve, but they should include more discussion of what employees do well and how to build on those strengths. This will empower and engage team members, and could lead them to identify new areas of growth for their role with the organization.
   
4. Involve the employee. Ask your team member for a self-evaluation. This gives them the opportunity to summarize their achievements and challenges in their own words. Give staff a short list of open-ended question prompts and several days to reflect on their answers before you meet. For example:
   • What accomplishments are you most proud of this year?
   • Where have you fallen short of the team’s expectations and goals, or your own?
   • What are the areas where you most need to grow, and how are you working to do that?
   • How can I more effectively support your progress and success?

Ask your team member to add any topics they wish to discuss to the agenda for their review.

5. Talk about career goals. Your ongoing performance conversations should include discussions about what the employee hopes to accomplish in their career in the long term. At performance reviews, talk with your employee about concrete steps you and your organization can take to help them develop new skills and experience that support their immediate and future career plans. Put in writing the steps you and the organization will take to support your team member’s career development, just as you put in writing steps your employee will take to improve their job performance.

Additional Resources

• 13 Performance Review Tips That Actually Improve Employee Performance – Quantum Workplace
• A First-Time Manager’s Guide to Performance Reviews – The Muse

Curious how NRMC’s new HR and Risk Resources Center can help your organization? Join us for a tour of the site and tips to help you improve human resources and risk management at your nonprofit.

When you hire someone, you want them to find success with the organization. But sometimes, they don’t. Terminating someone’s employment is the riskiest action a nonprofit can take, but sometimes it’s also a risk-aware decision and possibly a necessary step in the employee’s journey to find a fulfilling role for which they are well suited.  Here’s how to meet your obligations when you terminate an employee—including the obligation to treat them with decency.

Before You Terminate an Employee

Articulate your reasoning. Document the objective, business-related reason to terminate the person’s employment. If you can’t articulate it, stop and reconsider your decision.

Check for fairness. Ensure that disciplinary and termination decisions are not based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), national origin, disability, age (40 or older), or genetic information, including family medical history. Ensure that disciplinary and termination decisions are not based on an employee’s decision to report discrimination, participate in a discrimination investigation or lawsuit, or oppose discrimination (for example, discussing filing a discrimination complaint).

Review your organization’s directors’ and officers’ liability insurance or consult with your insurance broker or agent. Confirm that your organization has coverage for employment practices liability claims and make sure you understand when you must notify your carrier of an incident that could give rise to a claim.

Consider a separation agreement and release. This legally enforceable contract commits the organization to compensate the departing employee more than they would otherwise receive, per existing policies, in exchange for a commitment not to bring legal action against the employer. Caution: do not offer separation agreements for every departing employee. Reserve this tool for instances when there is risk of a future claim due to the circumstances surrounding the termination. Always obtain legal review of a release before presenting it to an employee.

Consult legal counsel experienced in employment matters. This is a worthwhile step in all terminations, but especially if you plan to deviate from your organization’s established employment procedures.

If possible, don’t terminate an employee on the spot. Termination for unsatisfactory performance should only happen after the employee has received a reasonable opportunity to improve. If you terminate an employee for conduct, document the conduct, and the fact that the employee knew or should have known the conduct was inappropriate. If immediate termination for unprofessional, illegal, or dangerous conduct seems necessary, consider whether you should instead suspend the employee. This can provide a brief window for your organization to investigate the situation and, if you do terminate the employee, have documentation of your deliberations.

During the Termination Proceedings

Ensure two members of the organization’s management team meet with the employee to deliver the news. One should deliver the information, and one should take careful notes on what was said. Write down the most important things you plan to say and stick to your script.

Stick to the handbook. Closely follow the policies and procedures laid out in your organization’s employee handbook. Before you take an action that will have a negative impact on the employee, determine whether the handbook covers the situation. If so, follow established procedures if at all possible. If you deviate from procedure, have a clear reason why, and document it.

Deliver the news in person. If the employee works remotely and can’t come into the office, notify them of their termination by phone or video conference. Clearly explain that their employment has ended, briefly state why, and explain what will happen for the employee in terms of final pay and benefits. Request the employee’s computer password and the return of the organization’s property. If the employee has demonstrated violent or unstable behavior, don’t terminate their employment in person. You can ask legal counsel to help you draft a termination letter to communicate necessary information.

Be direct and concise. It’s OK to show empathy, but don’t say anything that could be construed as flip-flopping on your decision. Don’t say you know how the employee feels, or that this is as hard for you as it is for them. The most important role you can play is to listen and communicate essential information about what happens next.

After You Terminate Someone’s Employment

Meet your obligations to the employee on final pay. Tell the employee when their final paycheck will be delivered, if not immediately. Know your state’s requirements. Federal law does not require immediate delivery of a final paycheck to the employee, but some states do. Generally, it’s illegal to withhold anything from an employee’s paycheck without the employee’s prior written authorization.

Meet your obligations to the employee on their health care options. The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) generally requires group health plans sponsored by employers with 20 or more staff to offer employees and their families a chance to temporarily extend health coverage in certain instances where coverage under the plan would otherwise end.

Keep details confidential. Don’t discuss details of an employee’s separation with other staff members, clients, or members of the public.

After the conversation, take time to process. Although the conversation wasn’t as hard for you as it was for the employee, it was hard. Give yourself time and space to process that. Ending someone’s employment is a very difficult decision. It merits a moment to breathe. Acknowledge the many emotions the conversation may have brought up for you, and the lessons those emotions may have to teach you for your future as a manager.

Resources:

• Termination – U.S. Department of Labor
• I need to discipline or fire an employee – Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Job openings at your nonprofit present a tremendous opportunity to bring in new, diverse perspectives that will strengthen your team—or to hire people who look, sound, and think just like you, and will bring your nonprofit more of the same. Here are some ways to make your hiring process more inclusive.

Create a diversity recruitment strategy. Set specific goals for how the composition of your workforce needs to change in the short and long term to fortify your mission and meet the needs of your community. Spell out what actions you will take to make that happen. Clarify who will be responsible for the activities your nonprofit will take and how you will measure whether your strategy is successful.

Craft job descriptions thoughtfully. Your job descriptions should use gender-neutral words, and they should read the way people at your organization talk. Avoid all jargon! Include only job criteria the position truly requires—for example, making a master’s degree a job criterion automatically eliminates thousands of qualified candidates for many jobs. Include information about how candidates with vision, mobility, or hearing needs can request interview accommodations.

Make communications about job openings welcoming and accessible. State your commitment to diversity and inclusion prominently on your website, and spell out the steps you’ve taken. Don’t rely on stock photos of diverse teams. Include images of your real staff members, with their permission. Implement Web content accessibility guidelines, alternative text for images, and transcripts and closed captioning for video and audio files.

Stay in recruitment mode. Seek out partnerships with organizations that train people from diverse backgrounds for the workforce. Attend job fairs and networking events of industry associations that represent professionals from diverse communities. When you do post a job, post to sites that target diverse audiences, not just the standard nonprofit or industry job boards.

Tell the truth. The candidates you want will ask tough questions about your organization’s progress on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Don’t just share information about your improvements. Speak openly about your challenges and how you’ve tackled them. Those great candidates are probably already reaching out to connect with your employees. If you gloss over important issues, candidates will find out.

Standardize the job interview process. Ask all candidates the same set of questions in the same order. Use interview panels, and make sure to include people from diverse backgrounds on your panels. Create scorecards for your interviews to directly compare candidates on job skills.

Assess the candidate’s skills and learning abilities, not “cultural fit.” Consider asking, “How would you do this type of task?” instead of “Tell me about a time when you did this type of task,” to better assess the capabilities of candidates with lived experience. And consider skills-based questions like asking the candidate how they would solve a problem the organization might face.

Be careful with automated hiring systems. Ask lots of questions about how the algorithms the vendor uses work and how the vendor controls for algorithmic bias. Algorithms can tune into the preferences of the human running the search, bringing human bias right back into the mix.

Monitor your results and take action to improve. How many candidates from diverse backgrounds did your organization interview for recent job openings? How far did those candidates progress in the hiring process? If you find that you’re struggling to diversify your candidate pool or that candidates from a variety of backgrounds aren’t advancing in the process, research why that’s happening and address the causes.

Resources:

• 12 Inclusive Hiring Practices You Should Implement – Academy To Innovate HR
• 6 Best Practices to Creating Inclusive and Equitable Interview Processes – Harvard Business School
• 3 Essentials to a More Inclusive Hiring Practice – UVA Darden Business School
• 9 Diversity and Inclusion Recruitment Best Practices – Factorial HR

Teams can use the Risk Bow Tie, a classic unpacking exercise, to learn more about the intricacies of identified risks. By understanding underlying conditions, positive and negative consequences, and proposing proactive and reactive controls, teams are better positioned to create an actionable plan to bolster resilience, seize opportunities, and reduce the downside effects of adverse risks.

Children are naturally inquisitive, unfortunately, as adults, we often lose that curiosity or inclination to ask, “WHY?” Use this fillable worksheet to explore a childlike learning technique by asking “why” five times. This process can peel away distracting layers, revealing the root cause (or causes) of a challenge or risk after the 5th “why” answer.