How to Combat Nonprofit Staff Attrition with Learning and Development
Did you know that 94% of employees say they would stay at a company longer if it invested in their learning and development? When it comes to reducing nonprofit staff attrition, learning and development (L&D) could be your secret weapon.
But providing L&D resources and getting your nonprofit staff to use them are two different matters. If you want your L&D program to engage your team and help prevent churn, then you’ll need to build the right kind of culture around it.
The trick is to design an L&D program that gets nonprofit staff members excited to use it.
How learning and development programs improve employee retention
Research conducted for LinkedIn’s annual Workplace Learning Reports, including both analysis of LinkedIn data and surveys of professionals across numerous industries, has shown year after year that fostering a strong culture of learning and development in an organization is one of the most effective ways to increase employee retention.
In the 2024 Workplace Learning Report, LinkedIn used platform data to score companies on a “learning culture index.” This index determined whether companies on LinkedIn had a baseline, moderate, or strong learning culture, based on:
The size of their learning and development team
The rate of their employees’ skill development
- Their volume of learning-related posts on LinkedIn
This research revealed that companies with a strong learning culture experience 57% higher retention on average than those with a baseline learning culture.
Survey responses from the report offer one possible explanation for this correlation. Of the 1,000+ learners surveyed, seven out of 10 stated that having learning opportunities at work “improves their sense of connection to their organization,” while eight out of 10 said these opportunities “add purpose to their work.”
Being able to learn and grow at work can not only help employees feel a stronger connection to their work, but can also unlock new opportunities for them within the organization. If a top performer is unhappy or restless in their role, empowering them to transition into a new team can drastically increase the likelihood of them staying at your nonprofit, especially if they have L&D support to ease the transition.
But remember: even the most robust L&D program won’t help you retain your nonprofit staff if they aren’t excited about using it. Follow these steps to generate enthusiastic buy-in.
How to create a nonprofit learning culture that drives retention
1. Help employees set and achieve career goals
If you want your employees to engage with your nonprofit’s L&D program, you have to show them how they’ll benefit from it. You can do this by creating learning plans that are aligned to employees’ personal career goals.
Start by having your managers work with their direct reports to talk through their goals and co-create personalized professional development plans. Once you understand what your employees want to accomplish, help connect them with the right resources they need to get there. For example, if an employee wants to move into a management role and your nonprofit uses LinkedIn Learning, you could direct them to courses like “Making the Move from Individual Contributor to Manager” and “Building the Reputation and Skills to Become a First-Time Manager.”
The more concretely you can tie your L&D program to your employees’ career goals, the more engaged they’ll be. In fact, the 2024 Workplace Learning Report showed that learners who set career goals engaged with their organization’s L&D resources four times more than those who did not.
2. Personalize learning opportunities around your employees’ interests
Focusing on employees’ career goals can help secure the long-term health of your L&D program, but it may not be the fastest way to build initial interest in the resources available to them. Instead, consider stirring employees’ curiosity by giving them access to resources that align with their personal interests, too.
If your nonprofit uses a platform like LinkedIn Learning that covers a wide variety of skill areas, encourage employees to explore courses that aren’t directly related to their career goals, especially when you’re first rolling out your program. For example, one nonprofit in the UK leveraged LinkedIn Learning content on topics like wellness to get its team interested in the resources available to them, noting that it’s important to “encourage as many people as you can to access learning content in the first three months.” From there, it was able to showcase other resources that would have a big impact for the team and organization.
Interest-based learning doesn’t have to end after you’ve earned employees’ attention. LinkedIn Learning can be accessed on their personal devices at any time, so consider letting your staff know that they’re welcome to continue using these resources in their spare time, whether they want to learn to play an instrument, practice meditation, or write that novel they’ve been thinking about.
At the same time, be sure to create space and provide ongoing encouragement to empower employees to develop critical skills during work hours. That way, learning won’t become a burden, but rather something that fits seamlessly into employees’ lives.
3. Encourage inter-organizational learning mentorships
Chances are, your nonprofit is already a treasure trove of career knowledge, full of professionals with a wealth of skills and experiences the rest of your staff could benefit from. Creating opportunities for this knowledge to be shared is a great way to engage your employees and combat attrition.
Over eight in 10 nonprofit professionals say they’ve met co-workers they’d consider professional role models. These are people they’d love to learn from. But some employees find it more challenging to access professional mentors than others, which is where your L&D efforts can help. By building formal mentorship opportunities into your program, you can ensure that all employees can experience the benefits of mentorship — and feel assured that your nonprofit is invested in their growth and development.
As you develop personalized learning plans for your employees, look for opportunities to pair together those who have something to learn from each other. For example, if a social media-savvy employee wants to learn management skills, you could pair them up with a manager who wants to build a stronger thought leadership presence online.
When you find these opportunities, encourage employees to pursue them by scheduling recurring meetings during regular business hours. Make sure that both parties know what is expected of them and consider sharing resources ahead of time to help them get the most out of the experience. Here are three free resources that may be helpful:
As a manager or L&D facilitator, be sure to check in from time to time to ensure these cross-functional mentorships are working out. Gather feedback from both parties to learn how you can make mentorships more effective over time.
Building a culture of learning can have a profound effect on combating employee attrition. When your team members are excited about the career opportunities your nonprofit can offer them, they’ll want to stay to pursue them. They get the chance to expand their professional skills and advance their careers, and you get a more engaged and motivated workforce.
Looking for a dynamic learning platform that both frontline and desk-based employees will love? LinkedIn Learning offers over 23,000 courses that can be accessed anytime, anywhere. Find out why 78% of Fortune 100 companies use LinkedIn Learning and unlock a nonprofit discount by contacting us today.