Blog

Governance, regulation and compliance

16 November 2012, 16:50

Making the most of your people

We’ve been reviewing the top risks in charities for 11 years now, and it’ll be no surprise that year on year income reduction and uncertainty top the pile. The advice ...

Post byJane Tully

Where next?

Events »

Monday, 11 October 2021
Annual Conference 2021 More »

News »

Tuesday, 13 July 2021
CFG responds to government consultation on restoring trust in audit and corporate governance More »

We’ve been reviewing the top risks in charities for 11 years now, and it’ll be no surprise that year on year income reduction and uncertainty top the pile. The advice in response here is always to review income streams and diversify if possible. A familiar mantra - one that's easy to say, but in reality difficult to achieve as often the right business practices, time and skills are needed to see it through. There are plenty of indications that charities have been trying to put themselves on a more sustainable financial footing by looking more closely at their business practices, partly a consequence of tighter budgets and partly a result of growing professionalism. For example, procurement is improving according to our latest iteration of our PKF/CFG survey Managing Risk: Making the most out of your resources. Over 80% use tenders and forecasts, and many are assessing support costs and property needs. Charities are looking not only at inputs and outputs, but also at the assets on which an organisation sits, and how it maximises them for the future. To do this effectively however, charities need skills, and responses to the survey indicate that a skills shortfall is holding many back. The four top concerns about staffing were: retention of good staff (55%); attracting the best staff (49%); motivation levels (38%); and new skills and competences (32%) - mirroring the findings of our salary survey earlier this year. Retention of staff is closely correlated with motivation levels. But staff motivations are likely to be complex and offering financial incentive isn’t always an option or seen to be the right fit for the sector. According to the survey half rely on thanking their staff as the key incentive, 18% of respondents are not sure what incentives to provide. Given the range of skills needed, attracting and retaining those with the right talents, is key. While no doubt many are already seeking to up-skill existing human resource, the survey indicates that improvements to performance management systems could have a significant impact here:

Less than one third had carried out skills audits in significant areas to identify the gap between skills required and those present within the organisation;
Around a quarter surveyed report not being given objectives or targets, making it difficult to meaningfully assess performance;
Almost half of managers and 40% of other staff do not have personal development plans. In such circumstances skills gaps are more likely to remain and may have an observable demotivating effect.
Only a quarter of charities assess the capability needs for volunteer roles, only 10% have development plans for volunteers, and less than a third set objectives.

Overall, when it comes to the range of options that charities have for trying to make the most of what they have, be it people, investments, or other assets (including a brand), there simply is not enough time in the day to do everything. 77% of charities identified ‘time’ as a risk factor for staff performance and this demonstrates that individual charities have to be selective and take risks on an area of strategic focus. At the same time, without the people to do the job, it will be difficult for charities to move forward. « Back to all blog posts

Blog

Making the most of your people

Related Content

CFG responds to government consultation on restoring trust in audit and corporate governance

POLICY: Response to the BEIS consultation on restoring trust, July 2021

CFG joins with partners to produce Charities Bill briefing

Finance Focus May 2021

Finance Focus April 2021

Finance Focus January 2021

How to share your story through your annual report

Finance Focus November/December 2020

What does the Spending Review mean for charities?

Are you Brexit ready?

Three-year Comprehensive Spending Review replaced

Welcome to IFR4NPO

Finally, international guidance is within reach

Finance Focus September

Finance Focus August

Finance Focus July

Charity Commission guidance on Serious Incident Reporting during the coronavirus pandemic

How to guide: Covid 19 Charities SORP Committee Guidance

Charities and insolvency

Top ten tips for how to handle the year end in a pandemic

Caron Bradshaw appointed as a member of new SORP Committee

Has the Charity Commission has taken the wrong tone in its election guidance

Why does the narrative around public 'trust' makes me feel so uncomfortable?

Civil society asks of the Spending Review 2019

Five takeaways from August’s Inflation Report

The lessons for Oxfam and the wider sector

Finance Focus July 2019

BEIS Review of the Financial Reporting Council

CFG Annual Handbook 2019

How the best boards do it, from preparation to meeting execution

Seeing the wood for the trees

CFG responds to the Charity Commission’s consultation on the SORP-making process

What the recent SCOTUS judge controversy can teach us about the Charities’ SORP

Annual Report 2017-18: Empowering Your People

Changes to the CFG Board of Trustees

Finance Focus May 2018

The key to good governance - truly understanding the business

Essential Charity Finance for Trustees Guide

Does your charity follow serious incident reporting guidelines?

Charity finance professionals need to be aware of new automatic disqualification rules

How big a threat is property to your charity?

Money is not the issue when it comes to charging for Charity Commission

How can charity investors perform better in a volatile market?

A stairway to heaven on business rates for the charity sector?

Investing in financial governance is one of the most cost effective ways to help your charity

Sarah Atkinson - Have your say on the annual return for charities

New report raises concerns about complacency on financial governance

Trustee Survey Report

Time to review your risks? An update from the experts...

Where are the ‘automatic stabilisers’ for charities income?

6 simple steps your charity can take to help protect themselves from fundraising fraud

Do I need a fraud response plan?

Fraud and the 3 C's

Three new Charity Finance Group trustees elected

How can charities ensure they work towards gender equality in their organisation?

What can charities learn from the recent fraud cases?

CFG launches Counter Fraud Campaign

Record Management Toolkit Launch Roundup

What can charities learn from the international cyber attack?

NCVO Almanac points to fundamental shifts in the charity operating environment

Better partnerships needed between finance and fundraising teams

Annual Report 2016-17

We must not see a rush to charging charities for regulation – House of Lords report

IFS 2017 Green Budget – the good, the bad, and the worrying?

Responsible Record Keeping: what do voluntary organisations need to know?

Trustee Week: Working to inspire good leadership

Charging charities for regulation isn’t inevitable but it is risky and inefficient

Let's talk about the F-word

Tony Armstrong looks at Devolution: working with local organisations to transform public services

Devolution is our chance to advocate for the most vulnerable

How will the 'devolution revolution' be financed?

Caron asks: 'Why does the voluntary sector need a devolution summit?'

Do charities need to become social enterprises to survive?

Ten things you should know about the new power to make social investments

New report should prompt major re-evaluation of social investment

EU Referendum: Keep watching this space…

CFG's SORP Survey