Staffing Matters!

Getting staff for any Enterprise is crucial to it's succes. Round pegs cannot fit into square holes, so one cannot afford not to get it right.

Moreso for a non- profit that depends on donations and grants. No one would want to put money into something that is not working.

Through the lessons on Social Entrepreneurship,  I have seen the need to not work alone. One of the hallmarks of a change maker is the ability to  influence others, being able to tap the power within ones self and influence others to realize the power within them, and form the power "with" others . Then  it becomes power to others. A synergy of different parts putting in their best to make change happen.

And no one knows or has it all . To avoid burn outs and inefficiency, hence the need to recruit others into the work.

After the members of the board, who are not involved in the daily runnings of the Enterprise,  an Executive Director who heads the daily  runnings  and reports to the top management, needs Administrators, Program Managers , Project Managers, Communication officer etc , and field workers to do the work, depending on the size and budget of the Enterprise.

The posers set for me during the lesson on  Social Entrepreneurship are

1. What are my staffing needs?

2. Do I want to recruit right away?

3. Whom am I looking for?

And I will add

And what am I looking for?

These will all depend on the size of what I want to build and  the budget at hand. Though the vision might be big, it would only be realistic to start with what one has, and based on skills and expertise required to start. And because I want people who will team up with me to accomplish the goal of the program, people who come on board will be duly  and carefully picked.

For the initiative I tagged  Finding abilities in disabilities, a project to get 20 girls with disabiliities learn skills that will help them be financially independent, taking them off begging on the streets. With funding coming from donations, sales of crafts and other things , I will be needing to get staff from the top level staff and then use volunteers for the lower level like field workers, since these ones will not need specific expertise and trainings to come on board.

I will priortize getting a project officer and an Administrative/ finance officer to work along side me.

Where the Administrative / finance officer will provide the Administrative support for the Enterprise, also doubling as finance officer to handle the financial aspect of the initiative, reporting to the Executive Director. The project officer will be involved in the planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting the progress of this project.. With the three of us as staff on ground, we can work with volunteers and interns. This means working with the  bare minimum staff. This will be my staffing requirement. Any other expertise needed will be outsourced and can be done in partnership  with other NGO'S.

With the growth of the Enterprise, as needs arise and more hands are needed, I will be using the historical data  of the projects carried out to see what needs to go out or come in. With tracking the time put in to each task and project, I can monitor the efficiency of the initiative and add or reduce staff as time goes.

Recruitment of the staff will be Internally. Requirements for each staff will be a specified for those who desire to apply. In all people who same values with me and who I feel comfortable with will be selected. 

Hopefully, these will help our girls obtain the skills as expected and we being able to start them on their journey of financial independence with a sewing machine each.