In the last few years, I’ve watched several non-profit organizations look to hire leadership and/or key support staff to varying degrees of success.
We have to face it, sometimes our organizations aren’t great at transitions. But we still want to attract and hire the best candidates.
Even in the old days, the effort to identify new leadership when one key member of the staff moved up or moved on was challenging. But as we enter the second quarter of the 2000s it can feel impossible.
We want our shops to run smoothly, and there’s nothing worse than a hiring process that’s clunky and unsatisfying, even if it leads to the hiring of a candidate who is a good fit.
What follows are a few recommendations that can make the hiring process go more smoothly and, if you do it right, it could even be fun!
Take stock of your organization before racing ahead.
You’ll do a great service to the future of your organization if you take a moment with the board and some selected members of the existing staff and reexamine your mission. What areas of your mission are succeeding, and what areas could use some additional focus? What role could this new employee play in helping us move forward?
Use that discussion to consider the kind of employee who can help take you to a new level rather than thinking about just hiring someone to replace the person you had. It can tricky if the person you’re replacing is still on the staff, but you’ve just promoted them. Make a requirement of their new role be that that let go of their ego about how they performed their old role. Whoever joins you should be free and encouraged to make the role their own.
Looking for someone who can move you forward, rather than simply maintaining the operation at the level you’re on is a much healthier way to get excited about the coming transition.
Stop using 20th century bias to hire 21st century workers.
This starts with the resumes. Someone on your hiring team will look at the resumes that come in and notice that many applicants change jobs frequently. They will suggest that’s proof that the candidate doesn’t have the stick-to-itiveness to stay with a job for long. The assumption will be that the potential employee is not devoted to hard work.
That’s all BS. The revolving door of employment is real, and it says a lot more about the state of how employers treat employees than the other way around. In 2026 America there are something like 26 million full time workers who still qualify for public assistance programs. People leave jobs for a lot of reasons, but a lot of it has to do with their desire to have a job where they’re treated with care and respect.
Look at the job market today. While there are a lot of jobs out there, many don’t include benefits, or if they offer benefits, they provide little flexibility and even fewer opportunities for advancement. If employers have no loyalty to their workers, why stay? That attitude is reflected in many of the resumes you will receive. By being a great employer you can help change that system.
Make your job listing open and honest about the job you’re trying to fill.
It seems like a no brainer, but I’m surprised how many job listings leave out the details. What are you paying? How many hours per week? What are the benefits? What’s involved with the job you’re looking to fill? All of these should be clearly outlined in your job listing. Read your job listing as if you were a job seeker and you’ll see. Better yet, ask a complete stranger to read it and ask if it sounds like an interesting job.
Be realistic about your required and preferred skills.
It’s remarkable how many low paying jobs require an advanced degree and years of experience. Yes, nearly every job requires proficiency with computer programs and an ability to read and write. Being a human being in 2026 requires you to be able to work in a fast-moving setting and multi-task, you don’t have to include those things.
But what are the qualities you’re really looking for? My guess is that you want someone who is personable, can communicate, gets along with co-workers even when they’re jerks, shows up, works hard, and has a decent sense of humor. Ask for that. You can pretty much teach them the rest based on the job they’re doing.
Treat perspective employees with respect.
Your relationship with a new employee begins as soon as you reach out to them to arrange an interview. You might not go with your gut right away in the process, but I guarantee that the candidate will. The good ones will read into everything. Is your first email impersonal and feels like a form letter? Are you presenting a friendly attitude on the phone? Do you present your hiring process as organized and well-planned? Do you respond in a timely manner when they reach out to you with a question? A strong candidate will notice all of it.
Be open and honest in your communications.
From the moment the process begins until you make an offer, assume that the best candidates are assessing their interest in you just as you’re assessing your interest in them. But what’s different – and this is really important – is that they’re most likely only assessing you, while you’re probably trying to assess five or six different candidates all at the same time. Make each candidate you’re communicating with feel good about the process. Don’t blow smoke up their ass, or make things sound better than they are, just be honest. If you’re really busy, tell them that. If you’ve got seven other candidates, tell them that too. The more you level with them, the better tone you set for down the road when they become your leading candidate.
Require a cover letter.
A cover letter serves a couple of great purposes. First, it avoids having to sift through resumes that are automatically sent from the job search computer programs. Secondly, it helps ensure that the applicant knows what position they’re applying for. And finally, you’ll get a sense of whether or not the applicant can communicate clearly, can put words together in complete sentences, and proofreads their work. A good cover letter will make you want to learn more about the candidate. Then you can go on to the resume and do your online research. (See suggestion #9)
Be even more open and honest in the interview.
Your interview is not an audition. You don’t get to sit back and judge the candidates. As noted above, the best candidates are judging you, so get your shit together. Don’t pretend you’re more organized than you really are. Make sure you answer questions openly and honestly. If they’re smart, they’ll ask you about the climate of your workplace or the day-to-day aspects of the job. Answer truthfully, warts and all. The worst situation is for your new employee to arrive on the first day and learn that the job they’re doing is quite different than the job they thought they were going to do. The best employees won’t stay or at very least will be suspicious of your trustworthiness.
Cut out the References nonsense.
Sorry, references thing is really dopey and out of date. I recently saw a non-profit looking to fill a part-time support staff position and they required three letters of reference from each applicant. Come on, are you kidding me? References were probably necessary in the 20th century when we didn’t have the internet. Letters of reference were necessary in the 19th century. (Yes college programs, I’m looking at you.)
In 2026, when you get a resume, read the cover letter, glance over the resume, and then do your on-line search. Very few of us have no on-line presence these days. (If you’re one who doesn’t, get one.) If they’re doing anything of note a search can reveal that. Linked-In, Facebook, Instagram or even just a google search should point you to something. You can also use their resume to find interesting links. Are they volunteering in the community, or doing things with their friends and family, you’re likely to find it. You can learn a lot from a search and ideally, it gives you a sense of who they are as a person. If, for example, their entire Instagram page is filled with selfies of them, it will present a different feeling than a page that’s filled with pictures of smiling friends or places they’ve traveled. You might react differently to posts that talk about how much they hate their job, verses how much they love to eat at good restaurants. Take it all in. Yes, you’re going to find some sloppy and weird stuff. But don’t worry, we’re all a little sloppy and weird sometimes. It’s proof that we’re real people.
If you want to know about their experiences at a position they left, ask them in the interview. You’ll spot pretty quickly whether their story adds up. Trust your ‘Spidey’ senses. If you don’t buy it, but they’re still the best candidate, have a second interview and ask again in a different way. And if all else fails, then they might not be the right person for you.
Finally, make your new employee feel welcome!
This also seems like a no-brainer, but you’d be amazed how many times I’ve heard stories of new employees being left to figure out the workings of their office on their own.
Prepare your staff for the new hire. Share their resume and tell them why you chose this particular person over others. (Yes, even if an inside candidate got passed over.) Creating some interest and excitement about a new employee can do wonders to give the energy of your office a positive jolt.
Make sure you set aside time to train them. And make sure that training is personal. Everyone learns at a different pace, so don’t decide what the training pace will be before you start training. It might take a little more time or a little less time than you imagined, but in the end, a strong training process is an investment that worth it.
No, following these suggestions won’t make everything go smoothly, but it will go a long way in helping to avoid the supply closet whispers and negative assumptions that sometimes come with new hires, and might just ensure that your new hire sticks around for a whole and helps your organization continue to thrive.
Creative Problem Solving and Organizational Development 