Retention and Attrition Management for NGOs and Social Enterprises
Who leaves, when, why — and which of them mattered.
What this looks like in ngos and social enterprises
The parts of retention and attrition management that are specific to this sector, rather than general.
Retention Against Funding Uncertainty
Keeping people when you cannot promise a year.
What this coversHide
Retention Against Funding Uncertainty
Keeping people when you cannot promise a year.
What this coversHideSector retention runs against a structural constraint: roles end when grants do. What can be managed is whether people leave before they need to.
- Redeployment across projects planned before roles end
- Funding position communicated early and honestly
- Attrition separated into funded-end and voluntary exits
- Burnout risk monitored in field and frontline roles
- Development funded from core budgets where possible
- Pay equity across projects maintained
- Alumni relationships maintained for re-engagement
- Exit reasons captured and distinguished by cause
Separating funded-end exits from voluntary ones is essential here. A combined figure makes the organisation look unstable and hides the exits it could actually have prevented.
The general method — what retention and attrition management covers, the questions it answers and what an engagement produces — is the same whatever the sector, and is set out on the employee retention and attrition management page. What is above is the part that differs for ngos and social enterprises.
Other HR topics for ngos and social enterprises
Where to start
Most engagements begin with a review of how this runs in your business today, then a written process and the sequence to implement it.
See all HR topics for ngos and social enterprises, or another industry.