Helping nonprofits build leaders, retain staff, and serve clients

Managers directly affect a nonprofit organization’s culture and success. We give them the skills and confidence to effectively manage and retain their staff and volunteers so they can better serve their clients.

 

Ready for Results? Invest in Skill-Building Training

Laurel and Associates, Ltd. can help you build managerial, employee development and technical skills through the design and delivery of participatory classroom and virtual training programs. We also provide train-the-trainer programs that will teach your trainers how to effectively design and facilitate high quality training programs.

Eight Urgent Signals Your Nonprofit Organization Needs to Train Your Managers

Since 75% of employees leave their jobs voluntarily because of a poor manager, it’s a good idea to recognize the warning signs that a manager needs to learn better management and interpersonal communication skills.  Otherwise, your nonprofit organization cannot ensure continued growth, efficiency, and adaptability.

Here are eight urgent signals that a manager is not performing well:

  1. Stagnating productivity, resulting in loss of donor base and stakeholders.
    Managers need to learn how to inspire and connect with their teams to boost productivity and streamline operations.
  2. Conflict and communication breakdowns, resulting in an unstable workforce. Better interpersonal communication skills will help managers bridge gaps, open dialogue, and constructively resolve disputes.
  3. Difficulty meeting deadlines, resulting in disrupted schedules and dissatisfied stakeholders. Managers need to develop skills in time management, planning, and resource allocation to ensure timely project completion.
  4. Poor decisions, resulting in ill-considered actions with negative consequences. Managers need to learn how to make timely and informed decisions, streamline processes, and improve productivity.
  5. High employee disengagement and turnover, resulting in increased absenteeism and the loss of high performers and institutional knowledge. Learning good management practices will enable managers to create a positive work environment where they recognize and encourage employee and volunteer potential, build loyalty, and reduce turnover of both employees and volunteers.
  6. Escalating grievances and complaints, resulting in a contentious workplace. Managers need to learn how to communicate goals and expectations more clearly and treat employees and volunteers with respect and consideration.
  7. Inhibited innovation and growth, resulting in lagging behind in the nonprofit arena. Management training will help managers become comfortable with delegating, accepting mistakes as learning opportunities, and guiding their teams towards creative solutions.
  8. Lack of leadership collaboration, resulting in confusion, conflict, and competing agendas. Management training will help the management team recognize their shared values, align their leadership approaches, and establish a sense of unity.

Each of these eight indicators is an urgent signal that managers are not performing well and need better management and interpersonal communication skills. Addressing these signals through management training can enhance a nonprofit organization’s performance. An investment in management training is an investment in the current and future success of your nonprofit.

Action: To learn more, contact Deborah Laurel at 608-219-3594.

The Not-So-Hidden Costs of Untrained Managers

Middle managers are the backbone of business. It’s up to them to translate policies and procedures and to manage the employee and volunteer experience to ensure that programs achieve their goals and clients’ needs are met.

SET YOUR EMPLOYEES & MANAGERS UP FOR SUCCESS

High Performers Aren’t Automatically Great Trainers

It happens every day. An employee who excels at their job is tapped to start training other employees on their topic of expertise. This is despite the fact that the individual has never been trained as a trainer. I call this an accidental trainer.

The problem is that the accidental trainer:

  • has no idea how to design and conduct a training program or manage participants.
  • is expected to conduct training on other topics unfamiliar to the trainer.
  • resorts to giving a lecture, which is generally ineffective.
  • doesn’t know how to create an environment that encourages and supports learning.
  • presents training programs that do not build the desired knowledge and skills in the participants.
  • is prone to stress and burnout due to the anxiety of being expected to perform a job they have not been prepared to perform.

Meet Your Trainer

My name is Deborah Laurel and I’m the President of Laurel and Associates, Ltd.

I have designed and facilitated training programs for public, private and nonprofit agencies, as well as for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and the United States Agency for International Development for the past 40 years. I have also trained and certified over 1000 trainers in the United States, Jordan, Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, UAE, and Croatia in how to design, facilitate, and evaluate participant-centered, skill-building training programs.

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