Does global development have a staff retention problem?

Development is like any sector: people transition in and out all the time, looking for a change, new opportunities, or just to have a break. But recent research conducted by New York City-based water NGO FLUSH found that there were very specific reasons people might be opting to step away. The research, which focused on the water, sanitation, and hygiene, or WASH, sector, found that respondents cited a lack of professional development, limitations on pay, little support for roles that can be emotionally and physically demanding, and issues with diversity and representation. “You want good people who can continue that work but when you’ve got people opting out and wanting to have an easier lifestyle, that is a red flag as to how we treat our people,” said Kimberly Worsham, founder and principal of FLUSH, who was driven to do the research after witnessing an exodus of colleagues. She believes these issues aren’t limited to the WASH space, but can be applied to the international development sector as a whole. A social impact career coach and strategist Julia Firestone agreed, sharing that leaving the sector is something a number of her clients talk about. “A lot of people I work with are on the precipice of leaving their organization or trying to figure out how to make it better,” she shared. Yet a loss of expertise means new people coming in and making the same mistakes. With funding tight, and a looming 2030 deadline to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, that’s something the global impact space can’t afford, said Worsham. With that in mind, she believes the sector needs “to have a really hard look at itself” and consider how to better support and retain the people it relies on to deliver a better world. Reasons for leaving Firestone shared that many global development professionals are frustrated about the lack of equitable salaries and inequity between global north and global south staff. “I have clients from the global south who have … done impressive work in global organizations and are so disenchanted seeing again and again … people with less experience or relevant knowledge from the global north being promoted to leadership roles before they are,” she said. According to Nonprofit HR’s 2023 survey, while retention has improved among other demographics in the United States, there are challenges when it comes to employees of color as well as those under 30 years old. At the same time, as more organizations make the shift to locally led development, individuals from the global north are rethinking their positions and asking whether they are helping or hindering the problem, according to FLUSH’s research. In the sanitation space, two-thirds of organizations have white leaders, and most institutions are still headquartered in high-income countries. Nate Rabe, who began his career with the UN Refugee Agency in 1988, transitioned out of the sector once in 2016 and then again this year in part because of a “recognition that I was exactly what the sector did not need or want: an elderly white man.” Deborah Doane, who previously held roles with the International Committee of the Red Cross and World Wildlife Fund, said she also grew tired of “white saviorism,” and seeing local civil society “steamrolled” by INGOs. She eventually opted to only work for smaller organizations What can be done Interviewees said there are steps they believe employers could take to address attrition and retain talent. According to research, over 70% of nonprofits in the U.S. don’t have a retention strategy. “There are amazing people committed to making the world a better place and it's the responsibility of these organizations to acknowledge where they are falling short, to be curious … and then actually shift their policies and practices and demonstrate that they are listening,” Firestone said. As a first step, she suggested NGOs get better at promoting organizational wellness. She said that the sector needs to move “beyond the typical self care way we talk about it on Instagram” to tangible benefits such as generous time off, good work-from-home policies, and access to mental health support. This might help to create a better working environment and address the struggles that many development workers face in terms of burnout. Organizations should also have a separate, nonnegotiable allocation in the budget for staff professional development, said Worsham. In FLUSH’s research and that by Nonprofit HR, interviewees highlighted the high costs of attending conferences and a lack of networking and professional development opportunities as reasons for leaving the sector. But for that to happen, there needs to be the funding in place for staff well-being, professional development, and salaries, and in a sector where every dollar counts, the justification for that can be hard. Firestone believes though that the payoff in higher positive gains as a result of more content staff would be clear. “Organizational leaders, particularly on the nonprofit end, have to be in bold conversations with funders to make the case for why investing in their employees … is absolutely critical to the impact work they’re trying to do,” she said. A larger piece of work lies in decolonizing the sector and creating equitable and inclusive workplaces, Worsham said. This would create more opportunities for growth at the local level and tackle the disappointment many feel about a sector still predominantly run by Westerners from Western-based headquarters. “Unsticking some of the barriers to letting local actors drive their agenda will make for a situation where values are more aligned with your work,” said Doane.