Nonprofit job site OpportunityKnocks.org has posted the 2008 edition of its Nonprofit Retention and Vacancy Report (found via Philanthropy Journal), with an equal mix of good news and bad.
The good news: Their survey of nonprofits found an average turnover rate of 21 percent, less than half of the average turnover rate for the aggregated private sector. The bad news: A large portion of the organizations were not tracking why their employees were leaving (a full third didn’t even know where they went).
The report offers tips and tactics for improving retention, as well as obvious steps toward understanding the problem (exit interviews, satisfaction surveys, management training, a full hiring/recruitment audit, and so on).
We all know (or we all should) that the pool of potential staff is getting smaller and more competitive. In a world where there aren’t enough butts to fill the seats in our offices (not to mention our theaters), we had best ensure that those seats are in demand.
