How can you ensure staff development is ongoing?

Staff development is not a one-time event, but a continuous process that helps your nonprofit team grow and improve. It can enhance their skills, knowledge, motivation, and performance, as well as foster a positive organizational culture. However, staff development can also be challenging, especially with limited resources, time, and opportunities. How can you ensure staff development is ongoing in your nonprofit? Here are some tips to help you create and sustain a learning environment for your team.

1 Assess your team's needs

The first step to ensure staff development is ongoing is to assess your team's needs and goals. You can use various methods, such as surveys, interviews, feedback, or performance reviews, to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your team members, as well as their interests and aspirations. Based on the results, you can prioritize the areas of improvement and align them with your nonprofit's mission and vision. You can also involve your team in the assessment process and ask them to share their own learning objectives and preferences.

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Dr. Smriti Walia

Behavioural Architect, L&OD Practitioner and Education-Ecosystem Development Expert, passionate about empowering people and organisations - Fostering Growth and Strategising Sustainable Change, using a Behavioural Lens
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Each employee is a part of a larger team. It is however equally important then to make sure that the development and learning goals are set up both from the point of view of the team as a whole as well as individually. The former helps in making sure that the employees work and develop together towards fulfilment of common team/organisational objectives. The latter provide intellectual and creative satisfaction for individual growth.

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Jenny Ames

Driving Customer Success Through Innovative Technical Learning Solutions | Manager, Online Learning Content at InterSystems
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Make sure to prioritize the needs. Some needs are not required for every member of the team, can be borrowed from other teams, or can be augmented by automation or a tool. Focus on the biggest needs to meet the most important goals (with space for developing people on what interests them as well!). If you try to develop everything at once, nothing will be great and you’ll lose momentum

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2 Plan your staff development activities

The next step is to plan your staff development activities based on your team's needs and goals. You can choose from a variety of formats, such as workshops, webinars, courses, mentoring, coaching, or peer learning. You can also mix formal and informal learning opportunities, such as online and offline, individual and group, or structured and flexible. The key is to make your staff development activities relevant, engaging, and accessible for your team. You can also set clear expectations, outcomes, and evaluation criteria for each activity.

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Dr. Smriti Walia

Behavioural Architect, L&OD Practitioner and Education-Ecosystem Development Expert, passionate about empowering people and organisations - Fostering Growth and Strategising Sustainable Change, using a Behavioural Lens
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One significant success matric that I have observed with respect to such activities critically depend upon their timing. Designing of such activities should be done keeping in mind the average attention span of the participants. Anything shorter will kill their energy and longer programs will make them tired. In both cases, the learning curve will not get altered.

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3 Implement your staff development activities

The third step is to implement your staff development activities and provide your team with the necessary support and resources. You can allocate time, budget, and space for your team to participate in the learning opportunities. You can also encourage your team to apply their learning to their work and provide them with feedback and recognition. You can also create a culture of learning by modeling and promoting the values and behaviors of a lifelong learner, such as curiosity, openness, and collaboration.

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Jenny Ames

Driving Customer Success Through Innovative Technical Learning Solutions | Manager, Online Learning Content at InterSystems
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Providing the time and space to develop is critical - and this needs to be done by upper management, the manager, AND the employee. If you need to create tasks to make sure this happens, do it. Build a certain percentage of working time toward this and follow up to make sure it’s clear it’s a value and important to do.

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4 Evaluate your staff development activities

The fourth step is to evaluate your staff development activities and measure their impact and effectiveness. You can use various tools, such as surveys, tests, observations, or portfolios, to assess the changes in your team's skills, knowledge, attitude, and performance. You can also collect feedback from your team and other stakeholders, such as clients, partners, or donors, to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your staff development activities. Based on the results, you can celebrate the achievements and address the challenges.

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5 Revise your staff development activities

The fifth step is to revise your staff development activities based on the evaluation results and the changing needs and goals of your team. You can update, modify, or replace your staff development activities to make them more relevant, engaging, and accessible for your team. You can also introduce new learning opportunities or methods to keep your team motivated and interested. You can also involve your team in the revision process and ask them to share their feedback and suggestions.

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6 Engage in community service

The sixth step is to engage in community service as a way to enhance your staff development. Community service can provide your team with opportunities to learn new skills, gain new perspectives, and network with other professionals and organizations. It can also increase your team's sense of purpose, commitment, and satisfaction, as well as improve your nonprofit's reputation and impact. You can choose from various types of community service, such as volunteering, mentoring, donating, or advocating. You can also align your community service with your nonprofit's mission and vision.

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7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Jill Fowler

Nonprofit Leader | Executive Coach | Strategic Planner
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For development to become an ongoing, sustainable effort, it must become a celebrated core value across the organization. The norming of development goes beyond needs assessments, planning, and specific activities. It must become part of the fabric of the culture and this starts at the top. When leaders prioritize learning and growth, it spreads.

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How can you ensure staff development is ongoing?

1

2

3

4

5

6

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1 Assess your team's needs

2 Plan your staff development activities

3 Implement your staff development activities

4 Evaluate your staff development activities

5 Revise your staff development activities

6 Engage in community service

7 Here’s what else to consider

Non-profit Leadership

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How can you ensure staff development is ongoing?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Assess your team's needs

2 Plan your staff development activities

3 Implement your staff development activities

4 Evaluate your staff development activities

5 Revise your staff development activities

6 Engage in community service

7 Here’s what else to consider

Non-profit Leadership

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