Why Indian Nonprofits Are Losing Talent

“The first two years were good, even though the amount of money I was making was far less than what I would have made in the corporate sector. I had a purpose. There was a clear work-life balance,” reflects Sameer, who worked at the Bengaluru-based education and skills non-profit for nearly three years till October. The organization works with industrial and vocational training institutes to improve the computational skills of youth and adolescents. Works with.

They say that in the third year things started to feel different.

“I was not happy with the pace at which we were moving. I was not sure of the impact we were making, if we were able to solve the problem (of unemployment) in a real sense,” he says. Huh. He now works as a product manager at Seckel Tech, a technology startup.

Sameer’s story is not unique. Over the past few years, many Millennials have found refuge, at least for a while, with social sector organizations in their effort to find meaning in work.

Aishwarya Chaturvedi also had a brief stint in this field between 2017 and 2019, first at a Gurugram-based fellowship, and later at a Delhi-based think tank. Later, he was entrusted with an agricultural project aimed at helping farmers earn their fair share through better price realization. He applauded the ambitious vision but grew tired of hearing “we’re in this for the long haul”. Chaturvedi eventually grew frustrated with the lack of clear short-term goals and lack of accountability.

Initially, the attraction was mutual. The region has become more vibrant than ever during the last decade for a number of reasons.

The legislation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) not only increased the money flow for the sector but also brought with it the corporate impact. There was also an increase in the availability of philanthropic funds due to pledges and donations by high net worth individuals (HNIs). CSR funds almost doubled in four years 25,715 crore in 2020-21, shows government data. According to a Hurun report, HNI donations to more than double between 2018 and 2022. For example, the Bengaluru-based education non-profit that Sameer worked in received a grant from Accenture CSR.

With the new funding came demands for greater professionalism and higher efficiency not typically associated with nonprofits. This approach is reflected in new age social sector organizations and fellowships – such as Acumen, Central Square Foundation, Gandhi Fellowship, Teach for India, and The/Nuz Institute, to name a few – that draw talent from premier colleges. For example, Sameer is a graduate of the National Institute of Technology, Surathkal, and has done his post graduation in design from Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology.

Although the talent pool has improved in recent years, the sector still finds it difficult to manage hiring. A 2019 study by the impact philanthropy organization Dasara showed that talent management was the second biggest challenge for nonprofits, second only to insufficient funding. A 2022 study by the Indian School of Development Management (ISDM) and Ashoka University’s (CSIP) Center for Social Impact and Philanthropy, which covered 100 organisations, also found that the limited size and quality of the talent pool is a major factor for them. is a persistent problem.

“Organizations operating at the intersection of technology and society face the challenge of talent attraction and attrition most severely,” says Satendra Rana, a researcher at ISDM. Sameer’s role at the Bangalore-based education and skills non-profit was at a point where technology and society meet. During his tenure, the organization lost good people like data scientists, user experience researchers and designers, he says.

loads of problems

I understand that social sector problems are complex, need a change in mindset, need for restructuring of various stakeholders, which is the need of the hour. But you still need to define some goals,” says Chaturvedi. In the business world, corporates invest money, and seek a return on this investment. “In the social sector too, funding on a quarterly or annual basis is mobilized, so there should be a way of measuring performance against that,” he added.

Sameer had his own take on problem solving by nonprofits. “Organizations start out with solving one big problem, but as they grow, they settle for low-effort, high-impact (as defined by their impact metrics) problems,” he says. Huh. Be resolved. It is also linked to the cycle of money and the mandate.

Ravi Sreedharan, one of the founders of ISDM, points to a gap in understanding how social change works among those who become impatient with the pace of things. “There may be some initial successes, but change takes time,” he says. Also, youth need to know that it takes time, he says.

job or career

Before pursuing his MBA at the Indian School of Business (ISB), Shantanu Gharpure worked for over three years at ATE Chandra Foundation on various agricultural projects. After graduation, he has been working in an agritech startup for the past six months. For him, the decision to go to ISB was to open up more opportunities, which would not have happened, he thinks, if he had stayed in the field.

At the Foundation, he came across several senior professionals who came from the corporate world and demonstrated skills such as fundraising and communication. He had his own network. He also wanted to acquire similar skills. He says that if he wanted to “go beyond” his current position, there was a business school for him.

Another barrier to high-performing individuals is that most non-profit organizations do not offer long-term career options. Often, employment is tied to projects with a definite timeline. The relationship between a professional and an organization ends with the conclusion of a project. The difference between job and career is clear.

According to the ISDM-CSIP study, very few organizations invest in their talent pool with a focus on creating suitable opportunities for career progression and role transition.

Pranay Patil, who is pursuing a master’s in public policy at Harvard University, agrees with the findings. “Five years from now, it’s very difficult to predict what kind of job and role one is going to get,” he says. Higher studies he decided to expand his career opportunities in other fields also.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom. There are professionals who are excited about the influx of talent into nonprofits. Praveen Khanghata, associate director at Convergence Foundation (a grant-making incubator), has been in this space for 11 years. Is this sector able to show career trajectory to new entrants? “My answer is a cautious yes. Opportunities in the impact sector have grown over the years. The work that consultants like E&Y do with the government, the various government fellowships, are all part of the broader impact sector.”

Khanghata is optimistic about the future for mid-career professionals. They may lead non-profits, work in foundations and CSR, support the government, or even work for the government. But, he agrees that the sector places less priority and spends less on learning and development, capacity building, and upskilling – keys to career growth.

lack of moolah

It is no secret that the social sector is unable to attract talent in the first place due to low remuneration. According to the ISDM-CSIP study, remuneration levels in social sector organizations are less than half of general industry levels. Neha Nimble, the study’s lead researcher, says ineffective pay perks are also cited most commonly by those exiting the sector.

Atul Satija, founder of The/Naj Institute, a non-profit that works on livelihood opportunities, makes a provocative point. If Bangladesh’s largest non-profit, BRAC, has an annual budget of $1 billion, why can’t India have a $5-10 billion non-profit given the size of our problems? here is the biggest 400 crores one. Poor budgeting of nonprofits has an impact on compensation structures, thereby discouraging the best talent from choosing it as a career option. He said that in Africa and Bangladesh the salary in the social sector is two-three times higher.

Until the funding landscape for nonprofits improves, this problem will persist. Foreign aid from multilateral institutions does not go to non-profits in India but to the government. And domestic philanthropy from HNIs is still in its infancy. Hence, CSR is the only major source of funding, says Satija.

In recent years, the government has tightened the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010, which has adversely affected the fund flow of nonprofits under this route.

Rewards need to be viewed holistically – money, of course, but also other things like meaning, purpose, culture, integrity, alignment to a desired life. This, says Sreedharan, will also eliminate the petty competition and rat race that can happen inadvertently.

To further complicate issues, there is the entry of startups into the picture which attract the best and brightest from the region. Though Sreedharan’s words give us a glimpse of the higher purpose of the social sector, at the grassroots there is talk of money. And it’s taking talent from nonprofits across the startup universe—Chaturvedi, Sameer and Gharpure are cases in point.

All three approach their innings differently. Sameer would like to get back into the social sphere once he feels tired, while Gharpure and Chaturvedi broaden the idea of ​​their impact. They no longer think that the common good cannot be created in a for-profit organization.

what works

Nupur Bhargava, human resources consultant at the Central Square Foundation, an education nonprofit, says an organization needs to engage employees with meaningful work or projects, increase opportunities to work independently with different stakeholders, and create a clear succession path. is required.

A small NGO called Community Development Center working with the tribal population in Madhya Pradesh has an innovative solution to the problem – it only hires from the local population, and invests in skills, to reduce job losses. To be. Not only is it less expensive to hire from the local talent pool, but they are more emotionally invested in the project, and may not want to leave after spending a few years.

The/Nudge Institute has tripled its workforce to 350 in the past few years. Atul Mishra, head of people and culture at the nonprofit, has a way of tackling the people challenge. “If you’re able to figure out the right personality for a role, it helps,” he says. A nonprofit, for example, might consider hiring someone with a successful career in startups—they may be financially secure, thanks to ESOPs (employee stock ownership plans). “We also target dual-income families where one of the partners is in the for-profit world,” he says.

The other interesting pool is returning NRIs. “We hired people who had spent a decade or more in the US or UK, and had enough savings to choose the nonprofit role,” he says.

So even while things are improving, nonprofits have a long way to go to find the talent they need to attract. Also, the sector will face stiff competition from startups on this front.