Professional Development Goals and Objectives for Safe Haven Ministries

ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS AND OBJECTIVES REPORT

December 8, 2014

Colin Cumming, Chad Rossiter, Eugene Sueing, Lizzette Villegas

PA 612: Human Resources in Organizations

Cumming, Rossiter, Sueing, Villegas 1

Overview:

To complete this component of the Talent Development Platform (model shown above),

some of the employees from Safe Haven Ministries and those conducting the survey met to

discuss goal setting in order to make the process as strategic and specific to the employee as

possible. Meeting with the organization for this part of the process is vital for the success of the

goal setting as not all characteristics of the employees have been captured by the various

surveys that have been conducted throughout the process of the Talent Development Platform,

especially given the fact that there were some employees who did not respond to the surveys

throughout the last few months. Luckily, an employee from the organization also was a part of

the surveying team, and thus was able to give insights into the characteristics of the


organizations that were not captured by the various surveys. With him, he brought personal

opinions as well as ideas shaped by various conversations with co-workers, some of whom took

the surveys and had extremely valuable input.

In this meeting, it was decided that the three goals would represent the organization’s

three position proficiency gaps: Financial Management and Social Entrepreneurship; Human

Resource Management and Volunteerism; Planning and Evaluation. As a reminder, position

proficiency gaps represent areas in which the organization’s average position proficiency

requires a higher level proficiency for tasks than the employees currently possess. In the

sections following the overview, the report will make suggestions on goal setting that will

strategically empower the employees of Safe Haven Ministries to develop skills, gain

knowledge, and increase their proficiency levels in areas that their positions cumulatively

require. However, it is important that these suggestions both respect their individual learning

styles and learning preferences, as indicated by their responses to the Learning Styles

Assessment.

Accordingly, this report makes use of three objectives under each larger goal, which are

centered around three important components of the goal setting process for an organization: a

variety of training types (learning on the job, mentoring and peer to peer, and trainings);

objectives catered to Safe Haven Ministries’ Collaborative, Independent, and Participant

learning styles; aggregate and averaged learning preferences for trainings in terms of time of

day, location, type of training, etc. This process will start with the social change competency of

Financial Management and Social Entrepreneurship.


Before starting the report, however, it is important to mention a few things about the

report. First, the objectives do not always correlate directly with the three types of training that

the Talent Development Platform suggests. In part, this occurred after consideration paid to all

three types of training formats, organizational learning styles, and the learning preferences

impeded the process of suggesting goals and objectives. Also, it was suggested by the

employees of the organization that the report should more closely follow the learning styles of

the organization, especially since the organization had very specific guidelines for their training

formats, which will discussed in more detail below. That being said, the report will now delve

into goals and objectives are as non-competitive and representative of the SMART (specific,

measureable, agreed to, realistic, and time bound) guidelines as much as possible.

Goal 1:

To address the organizational deficiency in Financial Management and Social

Entrepreneurship, we developed a goal of increasing organizational financial literacy. With a

current organizational proficiency level of novice, and a desired proficiency level of three, or

intermediate, we are hoping to increase the Financial Management and Social

Entrepreneurship category by one point according to the Talent Development Platform

assessment. Three objectives have been developed, using previously identified learning styles

to ensure compatibility with the staff, to help Safe Haven Ministries achieve the above goal. It is

important for the entire staff to be dedicated to the successful completion of the outlined

objectives.

The first objective developed to meet the organizational goal, in the learning on-the-job

category, is to provide financial management learning resources to all the staff so they may gain


a base knowledge of financial management. These resources will be distributed in various forms

so that they will be available and effective for anyone. These forms will include book, video, and

web resources. The board will identify education sources that they feel are relevant to the

organization’s financial management and those will be distributed to the staff. Those with an

independent learning style will most identify with this objective as it will be largely self-

directed. By the entire organization using this objective, the overall financial literacy of the

organization will be improved and hopefully the organizational goal will be met.

The second objective that was identified, in the mentoring or peer-to-peer category, is

to have the Development Director give an overview of the process of applying for a grant to all

staff members, either individually or in small groups. This objective will appeal best to those

who have a collaborative learning style, which was prominent among the staff at Safe Haven

Ministries. It will be helpful to implement this type of peer-to-peer training as the collaborative

learning style was largely represented by the staff. This type of cross-training, will help all staff

be aware of a process that leads to the financial security of the organization as well as help the

staff be able to identify potential grant opportunities. As this may be considered to be part of

fundraising, it is helpful, for the overall financial health of the organization, to be aware of

funding sources and have a better understanding of basic financial management. This objective

will require the cooperation of the entire staff to be successfully met, but is an incredibly

important objective in reaching the goal of increasing financial literacy through the

organization.

The last objective for the financial management goal is to have all staff attend a financial

management conference within the next calendar year. This objective, in the training category,


will be most favored by those with a participant learning style. It will allow flexibility as it is up

the employee to identify and attend a conference that is relevant to the organizations financial

management proficiency. By having each member of the staff, even those not directly involved

in the financial management of the organization, will create financial awareness among the

organization as a whole. The conferences will be attended by the staff on their own and the

staff will be able to choose which conference, as long as it is relevant, that they wish to attend.

After assessing the learning styles and organization proficiencies, the area of financial

management and social entrepreneurship as been identified as an area of need for Safe Haven

Ministries. By implementing the three objectives outlined previously, Safe Haven Ministries will

be able to, or make progress toward, reach the goal of increasing financial literacy by one point,

according to the Talent Development Platform. The overarching strategy is to get the entire

organization involved so that the overall financial management of the organization is

understood by the staff as a whole.

Goal 2:

According to the results of the Individual Professional Development Assessment and

talent mapping, the staff at Safe Haven Ministries needs professional development in the field

of Human Resources and Volunteerism. Those results coupled with organization learning style,

resulted in the following goal: Improve recruitment strategies to achieve a more diverse (e.g.

age, sex, race, etc.) and culturally competent staff, board, and group of volunteers. This goal

covers the strongest needs of the staff members and is integral to the success organization’s

mission.


Now that we have decided on a goal, it will be important to discuss what the objectives

are for this goal. The three objectives have been created with the use of the “SMART” criteria.

Using the smart criteria we have established three objectives for this goal that are specific,

measurable, agreed to, realistic, and time bound. Each one of the professional development

objectives fits into one of the three identified learning realms. The three objectives are as

followed: Leadership team will partner with local nonprofit organizations and public agencies to

promote vacant positions as well as board and volunteer opportunities using a variety of

advertising methods (i.e. social media, online job postings, community boards, posters, word of

mouth, etc.); annually, all staff will vote on and then screen a movie that features or highlights

the value and merits of diversity, especially diversity in the workplace; Executive Director will

budget an annual onsite training by an outside expert on diversity in the workplace.

In terms of the first objective, we encourage Safe Haven staff members who will be

attending professional conferences or visiting other nonprofit organizations to combine

recruiting efforts with their visits. Staff should be encouraged to solicit curriculum vitae from

promising candidates and to maintain ongoing contact with professional organizations,

associations and agencies that have job referral services. This objective can also be carried out

through inviting women and scholars who are persons of color from local nonprofits (e.g. YWCA

of West Central Michigan, Center for Women in Transition, Family Futures) or universities

(GVSU, Aquinas, Calvin).

On the subject of the second objective, our group suggests that Safe Haven Ministries

provides its hiring authorities with media consultants who can help with the placement of

employment ads. They should be utilized to place targeted diverse advertisements (e.g., Mlive,


Hispanic Center of Western Michigan, Grand Rapids Urban League, the Grand Rapids Press, The

Grand Rapids Times, El Vocero Hispano Newspaper, radio, Internet-Facebook, LinkedIn, and

Twitter). Utilizing the services of a media consultants is often free. In most cases, they receive

their commission from the media, so the department is only charged the current line rate for

each publication. We encouraged Safe Haven to take advantage of this service to improve the

quality, diversity and quantity of applicants for vacant positions.

Further, to enhance diversity discussions as it pertains to the mission and values of Safe

Haven Ministries. Staff will be given a list of movies to select from generated by the direct

supervisor of the department. Examples of movies to be included on such list are as followed:

Beauty and the Beast, Bend it like Beckham, Billy Elliot Birth of a Nation, Boys Don’t Cry, Boyz 'N

the Hood, Brokeback Mountain, Crash, Dances With Wolves, David and Lisa, Do the Right Thing,

Fried Green Tomatoes etc. The person in charge of creating the list can Visit the ABA for more

diversity film titles (http://www.abanet.org/publiced/resources/diversity_ae.html).

For the viewings, Safe Haven’s staff will need to complete a diversity movie review

activity. Staff will view one of the movies on the list provided and write a brief review. Here are

the steps to the assignment: First, rent and watch the movie (you may do this as a solo

assignment or assign groups of staff by department to watch the movie); Then, while watching

the film, ask staff to watch for themes that reflect diversity and Safe Haven’s mission and

values; Next, staff is asked to write a two or three page, double spaced paper that reviews the

movie, including the diversity themes that were noted. As a best practice, papers should be

done individually and not as a group effort.

http://www.abanet.org/publiced/resources/diversity_ae.html


Lastly, regarding the third objective which feeds into the overall goal for this section,

onsite diversity training is the one of the best options for fostering a more tolerant workforce.

Rather than Safe haven Ministries sending their team to diversity workshops, seminars, or

training classes at traditional training facilities, we suggest saving the hassle and expense by

having the executive director budget to have an expert trainer on diversity come into the

agency. Safe Haven might also be able to save money by partnering with other nonprofit

agencies to cut cost. Safe Haven could invite instructors on diversity from Network 180 or CBT

planet (http://www.cbtplanet.com/onsite/diversity-training.htm). Through this objective, Safe

Haven Ministries’ employees will learn how to deal with age, ethnicity and race, religion,

gender, and sexual orientation issues through instructor-led onsite Diversity training.

Goal 3:

For the third goal, this report formulated a goal around the social change competency of

Planning and Evaluation. As mentioned in the Organizational Talent Map Report, the agency

exhibited a position proficiency gap in the planning and evaluation category will a current

proficiency level of a 2.3 but a position proficiency level of a 3. This indicated that while the

organization, as a whole, currently possesses the ability to, for instance, recognize external and

internal influences of program and organizational development or review the creation of logic

models, the organization requires the employee, on average, to assess external and internal

influences or coordinate the creation of logic models. Thus, this report suggests that the

organization implements professional development centered on the goal of enhancing staff

members’ engagement with agency’s process of strategic planning and program evaluation.

http://www.cbtplanet.com/onsite/diversity-training.htm


This goal will be carried out through the three following objectives, which, once again follow

the agency’s learning styles and learning preferences.

First, the leadership team will meet and establish an annual strategic planning session,

gathering ideas from all staff members and volunteers. This represents the organization’s

Collaborative learning style as well as the employee’s preferences for the training to occur

during office hours. Further, this objective allows the employees to directly contribute to the

agencies strategic plan, which will certainly allow them to more closely identify with its

components, raising their proficiency level in this category. An easy way to carry out this

objective would be to take time out of a staff meeting to gather responses and opinions about

the strategic plan.

Second, on a biannual basis, the Department Directors will create, update, and

implement a self-assessment processes based on departmental learning objectives and staff

input. This objective correlates with the organization’s Participant learning style as the

assessment process will be designed and implemented by those other than the Board of

Directors and the Executive Director. This more individualized form of assessment will bridge

the gap between the leadership team and the staff, improving the agency’s overall proficiency

in the Planning and Evaluation social change competency. This objective may have to take time

out of employee’s days, but could be accomplished with a short (>1 hour) department meeting

with all respective staff, as the Directors already have knowledge about the department’s

learning objectives being in a directing role.

Third, program facilitators will be required to create learning objectives and surveys to

evaluate the success for all trainings and events, and report results to staff at meetings. This


represents the Individual learning style of the organization as the evaluations are created by

individuals rather than distributed to them by others in the organization or by the Director of

Prevention and Education. This objective also does not require employees to leave the office,

takes less than three hours, and can be done online, all of which are learning preferences

present in the organization as a whole. This objective is particularly useful as trainings are often

recycled and the evaluations will, thus, not need to be constantly changed each time they are

facilitated.

Conclusion:

To move forward in the adoption process of the goals and objectives introduced and

outlined in this report, a few contingencies must be met in order for the suggestions made in

this report to be effectively implemented. First, it will be important for the Board of Directors to

approve these goals and objectives before officially integrating them into the organization’s

strategic plan. We believe that this will not be a huge hurdle, as the goals and objectives were

strategically determined both from the reviewers and the respondents. Pending approval from

the board, our group will then attend a staff meeting at Safe Haven Ministries to present the

report to all staff and any volunteers that the organization finds appropriate to invite. At this

meeting or shortly after, the staff will be asked to confirm the goals and objectives as

representative of their needs and their desires to meet these needs. Lastly, it is important to

acknowledge that although these goals and objectives represent the current organizational

needs, these needs are subject to change as the environment exerts pressure on the

organization and new employees are hired. Thus, these goals and objectives will need to be

revisited over time to ensure that they are relevant to the organization.

Professional Development Goals and Objectives for Safe Haven Ministries

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