How can we engage and motivate people to work in the social sector?

The history of volunteering, and its semi-professional and semi-structured talent management practices, make the social sector unique for job seekers. Despite, or perhaps because of this, we don’t think of the social sector (as opposed to IT, communications, etc.) when we hear “talent management” and vice versa.

As the sector grows in size and responsibility (especially post-COVID), we are also witnessing increasing interdisciplinarity and professionalisation of roles in the sector. In the absence of lucrative working conditions and despite non-competitive salaries, what brings and retains employees in the sector? What part of their roles is driven by intrinsic motivation and to what extent do extrinsic rewards boost their motivation to work? How commensurate are the two to each other and is there a way to reconcile these, without one becoming counterproductive to the other?

So far, personal, intrinsic motivation (a desire to serve, satisfaction from contributing to a cause, alignment with purpose, meaningfulness of the job, etc) is reported to be the primary reason for people to work in the sector.

A recent study conducted by the Centre for Social Impact and Philanthropy (CSIP), Ashoka University and Indian School of Development Management (ISDM), found an overwhelming number of reasons that pull talent into the Indian social sector. Importantly, it reported that while some of these reasons are altruistic and intrinsic motivation related, many others relate to extrinsic rewards and opportunities for career development.

The study reported external rewards like “learning opportunity and personal growth” as the top cited (86%) and “opportunities for career development” as the third most cited (63%) criterion determining people's decisions for joining Indian social purpose organizations (SPOs). At the same time, intrinsic motivations like “opportunity to contribute to a larger cause” and “alignment with the vision/purpose of the organization” were the second (72%) and fourth (62%) most cited reasons for accepting roles.

Similar to the reasons for joining their organizations, motivations for continuing in the sector are also reported to be almost equally oriented to intrinsic motivation as well as career development. For instance, “opportunities for learning and development” and “satisfaction from meaningful contribution to a cause” were equally cited (66%) as motivating factors for workers to continue working in the social sector. Interestingly, as people move from “joining” the sector to “continuing” in the sector, career-related motivations like “job security” (15%) and “compensation” (13%) emerge as the least motivating aspects of their jobs, pointing towards the need to strengthen these.

The nonprofit sector has higher voluntary attrition and turnover rates than other industries. The limited existing knowledge shows that uncompetitive pay and unfair compensation practices, along with a tightening labour market, pose serious challenges to organizations in retaining talent. The above-mentioned CSIP-ISDM study (covering 10,251 social sector personnel) proved that compensation paid in the Indian social sector is 58% lower (total cost to company) than in the for-profit sector.

Further, it added that while almost all personnel (96%) reported being aligned with the mission and vision of their organizations and taking pride in their work, more than half displayed discontent with the compensation offered to them. It is not surprising that this study, like previous evidence, indicated that unsatisfactory compensation and pay perks are the most common reasons for high voluntary attrition in the sector. Other reported reasons for voluntary attrition included burnout at work, talent aspirations, and better work opportunities.

While the talent pool is widening for the social sector due to an increased appreciation of for-profit values and skills, the gap in for-profit and non-profit salaries, along with unsatisfying career development opportunities, threatens a possible and easy transfer of talent from the social sector to for-profit organizations.

Most formal, as well as informal discourses, on social sector careers centre around how to retain and increase workers’ intrinsic motivation to “serve”, with an almost absolute acceptance of the limitation posed by poor salaries amidst and despite challenging working conditions. Such an absolutist and essentializing approach to poor compensation in the sector assumes that motivation and compensation are two unrelated factors.

Undermining the significance of extrinsic rewards, the social sector only confirms the elitist, classist understanding of social work and adds to the continued devaluation of work of the traditionally underpaid groups that form the dominant part (especially entry-level) of the social sector. As women and other disadvantaged castes, religious, racial and tribal groups work towards protecting the rights of their own communities, the low/no wages function towards not only the devaluation of their work but also the devaluation of the social sector work. It is no surprise then that “intrinsic motivation” may be causing a compressed wage structure in the sector.

There is no sure way to know what an individual finds most motivating to continue their engagement in an organization. Each new and existing employee has unique expectations from their organization. Unless a bouquet of opportunities for boosting intrinsic motivation and providing extrinsic rewards is provided for talent to choose a combination from, organizations will always be looking at a high turnover rate.

Building on the drivers of motivation as highlighted in the CSIP-ISDM study, I argue for considering the following to realise a well-thought-out compensation policy that aligns intrinsic and extrinsic factors to attract and retain competent employees.

Unless social sector leaders make concerted efforts to leverage and boost intrinsic motivation of employees by ensuring attractive extrinsic rewards, the talent – with their transferable skills and ethics – may find themselves motivated to move to other sectors. And, that is going to be costly not only within the sector but the society.