Penny Lovett, Chief Human Resources Officer for The Salvation Army presented at our NFP event recently. The topic for this event was ‘Transformation in a not for profit organisation and the lessons learned along the way.’
Below are some of the key highlights from this great event.
- To successfully navigate change and transformation, organisations need to have clear objectives around:
- Aligned vision
- United voice
- Stronger partnerships
- Increase innovation
- Greater impact
- Better stewardship
- Challenges of transformation Salvation Army faced: Perceived corporatisation – risky or inefficient processes were streamlined and tightened; many felt the Salvos were becoming too corporate and had lost spiritual and missional grounding.
- There is usually a “sense of loss” amongst staff through periods of transformation, so this needs to be recognised and addressed – a loss of community as people usually leave through a restructure and new people join.
- Develop one vision and mission and clear values; establish a national operating model and implement national policies and systems where appropriate.
- Lessons learned:
- engage hearts and minds and continue to do this as change fatigue sets in
- understand and share accurate vision from a frontline perspective
- value, respect and celebrate the past
- What to differently:
- Leaders need to be 100% on board with and own the changes. Consultants and headquarters were sometimes blamed for the changes being done to them instead of with them
- Keep communications authentic and remain transparent. Honesty and integrity are valued
- Have communication channels in place before we start
- Set expectations about when team members can expect to see change at the start
