Research: Performance Reviews That Actually Motivate Employees

As organizations move away from traditional number-based performance reviews, many are experimenting with narrative feedback or a mix of the two. But how do employees actually perceive these formats? New research sheds light on what makes feedback feel fair, motivating, and actionable, offering valuable insights for organizations looking to refine their performance evaluation practices.

10% Happier Podcast: If You’re Stressed, Anxious, Or Depressed, This Is Your Counterintuitive Medicine

Ragan: Internal Communications Trends for Success in 2025

HBR: Your Employees Are Also Caregivers. Here’s How to Support Them.

Gallup: Employee Upskilling Is Vital in Rapidly Evolving Job Market

NonprofitPRO: Your Strategic Plan Is Likely Not as Strategic as You Think

HBR: When Expressing Gratitude to Employees, Timing Matters

NonprofitPRO: Study: Board Directors Balance Innovation, Risk Management Amid Financial Pressures

BoardSource: Reimagining Boards for High Impact 

MIT SMR: C-Suite Hiring: Seven Mistakes Companies Still Make

Here's what the Leading Edge team is learning about culture, executives, and boards this month.

What We're Learning | Leading Edge

The best of what the Leading Edge team is learning about culture, executives, and boards.

What We're Learning

Writing for eJP, Laura Herman and Deirdre Munley of JPro share how they introduced chavruta-based supervision within their organization, creating a model focused on curiosity, trust, and mutual respect. Bringing the centuries-old Jewish tradition of paired learning into their supervisor-supervisee relationship opened up new ways to deepen professional conversations and build meaningful partnerships. The chavruta model, adaptable to both Jewish and secular texts, can provide workplace pairs a structured way to enhance relationships while exploring professional growth together.

MIT SMR: Manage Boundaries Better With Your Team

Gallup: Managers Feel More Connected to Their Organization's Culture

Greater Good: Why Play at Work Can Inspire Employees to Take Risks

MIT SMR: Building Mastery: What Leaders Do That Helps — or Impedes

HBR: What the Best Leadership Teams Do Right

First Round Review: Radical Candor — The Surprising Secret to Being a Good Boss

HBR: Boards Need a New Approach to Technology

NonProfitPRO: Managing the Relational Aspect of Nonprofit Governance

Candid: Strong boards make strong nonprofits: What you need to know

Looking back and looking ahead: Lessons from a year of crises

Writing for eJewishPhilanthropy, Rachel Garbow Monroe (President & CEO of The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation and past Leading Edge Board Chair) reflects on a tumultuous year for Jewish and global communities and highlights key strategies for effective philanthropy during times of crisis. Looking to the future with hope, she invites funders and leaders to actively listen to both grantees and staff, embrace learning and growing, and to lead with kindness as all those in the sector continue the important work of striving to make the world a better place.

Chronicle of Philanthropy: Show How Your Nonprofit Is Making a Difference: 10 Dos and Don’ts

Journal of Management Studies: Not the Time to be Humble! When and Why Leader Humility Enhances and Deteriorates Evaluations on Leader Effectiveness and Satisfaction with Leader

Culture First (podcast): Seth Godin on building a culture of impact

SSIR: Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast. So Make Culture Your Focus.

SHRM: How to Model Civility for a Better Workplace Culture

AIHR: 9 Box Grid: A Practitioner’s Guide [FREE Template for Talent Management]

The Chronicle of Philanthropy: Can Elections Ever Be Normal Again? These 22 Nonprofit Leaders Have a Plan.

Joan Garry Consulting: A Seat at the Table: Why (Some) Staff Should Be Present At Board Meetings

SSIR: The Three-Legged Stool of Readiness-Centered Founder Transitions

Welcome to the state of VUCA, aka our new normal

In our new "VUCA" normal — a world of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity — the pace of change has accelerated dramatically with the advent of new technologies, requiring philanthropic organizations to adapt quickly. To navigate this landscape effectively, Barry Finestone (LE board member, non-voting), President & CEO of Jim Joseph Foundation, proposes three key mindsets for crisis response: embracing "good enough" over perfection, implementing rapid decision-making systems, and fostering trust within the philanthropic community. Recognizing that VUCA is now the norm, it's crucial for the philanthropic field to collaborate, share experiences, and apply best practices from past crises to better prepare for future challenges.

JFN (podcast): Joshua Foer - Innovating Jewish Education and Storytelling

McKinsey & Company: It’s cool to be kind: The value of empathy at work

Allwork.Space: Productivity Without Burnout: How Less Work Time Can Equal More Output

HR Dive: 6 ways employers are investing in compensation and benefits

The Chronicle of Philanthropy: The Empty C-Suite: Nonprofit Executives Are Leaving to Become Consultants

HBR: How to Equitably Assign High-Profile Work

CEP: Navigating the Equity Journey at Lean Foundations

SSIR: Where Strategic Philanthropy Went Wrong

NPQ: What Would Fiduciary Duty to the Community Look Like?

Holding both: Being a universal and particular funder in a post-Oct. 7 world

The impulse to restrict our focus to Israel and Jewish causes is understandable in a hyper-polarized, post-Oct. 7 landscape, as is the pull to give in to the ideological forces that would have us recuse ourselves from the fight for a more just world, writes Lisa Eisen, co-president of Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies. However, there is a dual focus in Jewish philanthropy: nurturing our own community while simultaneously working toward a better future for all. Eisen emphasizes that our job as funders and practitioners is not to unravel the sacred bonds of our tribal and prophetic responsibilities, but rather to hold and choose both.

Fast Company: Why work should make you less lonely

WorkLife: How pet bereavement policies can boost staff retention

NPQ: Restorative Compensation: Moving from Theory to Practice

HBR: 4 Experiments to Encourage Employees’ Career Progress

The Bridgespan Group: Why Gender Matters for Funders in Any Issue Area

NonProfitPRO: How to Get Your Board on Board With Fundraising

Joan Garry Consulting: The Hidden Ingredient of a High-Functioning Board

Report: State of the Global Workplace 2024

In its "State of the Global Workplace: 2024 Report," Gallup reveals a stagnation in engagement levels and a decline in overall wellbeing, resulting in an estimated $8.9 trillion economic loss. There is a critical need for organizations to enhance workplace culture and management practices, and not just with mindfulness and wellbeing apps. 

So, what works better? According to research by Oxford University, “organisation-level initiatives such as improvements in scheduling change, management practices, staff resources or tailored job design.” In other words, changing the way people are managed at the organizational level, advocating for strategic measures to improve productivity, and employee satisfaction in an evolving work environment.

The Forward: Both/And Thinking all Around: What are we Seeing in the Field

Culture Amp: Will Four-Day Workweeks Become the Norm?

Book: Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well

LifeLabs Learning: 4 Proven Steps for Building a New Manager Training Program

The Management Center: Four Guiding Principles for Managers During Unionization

HBR: Long Covid at Work: A Manager’s Guide

The Bridgespan Group: Three Pro Tips for Nonprofit Strategic Planning

HBR: 3 Lessons from The Washington Post’s Leadership Turmoil

Forbes: 20 Solutions For Navigating Nonprofit Board Member Conflicts

Report: State of Nonprofits 2024: What Funders Need to Know

In their latest "State of Nonprofits" report, the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) presents a multifaceted analysis of the nonprofit sector's current state and future outlook. Through survey responses from hundreds of nonprofit leaders, the 2024 report illuminates critical trends, challenges, and opportunities facing organizations across the country. The findings reveal that while most nonprofits maintained balanced budgets or surpluses, concerns about staff burnout remain widespread. CEP's research also highlights the importance of funders' continued commitment to streamlined grantmaking practices and advancing racial equity. The report emphasizes the need for nonprofit leaders to adopt adaptive strategies, cultivate robust donor relationships, and prioritize staff well-being to successfully navigate the evolving landscape.


Culture Amp (report): Workplace Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 2024 Report

Prizmah (resource): Jewish Day School Educator Pipeline Report and Playbook

WSJ: What Entry-Level Jobs Really Look Like Today

HBR: You’re Back from Your Leadership Development Program. Now What?

Fast Company: 4 strategies for promoting passion and purpose in the workplace

WorkLife: Why employers need to fine-tune their collaboration, productivity tech stacks

Jim Joseph Foundation: 13 Leaders with 13 Lessons over 13 Years

MIT SMR: How to Come Back Stronger From Organizational Trauma

Beth Kanter, nonprofit technology expert and co-author of the book Happy, Healthy Nonprofit: Strategies for Impact Without Burnout, presents strategies and practical tips for creating happy, healthy, nonprofit workers and workplaces in this Fund the People podcast episode. Learn about how nonprofit wellbeing has changed over the past several years, tangible tools for preventing burnout at the individual and organizational levels, if better salaries is the answer to reducing burnout, how to incorporate AI in nonprofit wellness, and more.

SHRM: Most American Workers Experience Incivility in the Workplace; Divisive Dialogue Undermines Inclusion and Employee Wellbeing

The Chronicle of Philanthropy: Women Leaders of Color Are Exhausted. Philanthropy Needs to Step Up

Business Wire: Mental Health Leaves of Absence Surge, Increasing 33% Over Prior Year

Culture Amp: HR’s complete guide to employee development

NonProfitPRO: Jewish Nonprofit Boards Perform Well But Need to Diversify, Build Stronger Cultures

eJP: Flexible funding and Jewish nonprofits: Meeting the moment calls for a trust-based model

The Chronicle of Philanthropy: Fewer People Want to Lead Nonprofits. What’s the Answer?

Getting the Jewish workforce out of ‘the Red Zone’

The concept of Blue and Red Zones, introduced by Susan Britton, founder and president of The Academies, contrasts two physiological states — one of calm and creativity (the "Blue Zone"), and the other of heightened stress and fear (the "Red Zone"). Barry Finestone, president and CEO of the Jim Joseph Foundation, emphasizes the damaging effects of being in the Red Zone for over five months for the Jewish community and the people who make it function, and warns of a “brain drain” that would accentuate an already acute workforce and leadership pipeline problem. He urges the Jewish workforce to get out of the Red Zone by making jobs more manageable, compensating our field better, and doing more to activate boards to help.

HBR: How to Become a Supercommunicator at Work

Culture Amp: Childless women feel overlooked at work: 5 strategies to change that

HR Dive: Majority of US workers say they lack awareness of workplace neurodiversity

WorkLife: Where middle managers need the most help, by the numbers

WorkLife: ‘More energized by their work’: How Shopify’s dual-track promotion plan is working out

Culture Amp: How to give effective feedback (Updated for 2024)

Forbes: The Crucial Role Of Boards In Advancing Organizational Equity

Fund the People: How Funders Can Support Nonprofit Workers in the Age of Burnout (Special Podcast Series)

The Chronicle of Philanthropy: Racial Justice Programs Under Fire: Foundations Are Running Scared When They Should Double Down

By incorporating Jewish values internally, Jewish institutions have the opportunity to build spiritually thriving workplaces and overcome the current crisis of culture they are facing. Through examining themselves through the lens of middot, embracing the Jewish value of ongoing learning, and being aware of the needs of the spirit, these institutions can  offer employees experientially rich workplaces that may be able to compete with the higher salaries and often lower stress levels offered by the for-profit world.

HBR: How High-Performing Teams Build Trust

Dolgin Leadership Group: Rethink your assumptions about feedback

Fast Company: This underappreciated skill is the antidote to workplace toxicity

MIT SMR (subscription access): Building Culture From the Middle Out

HBR: How Leaders Miscommunicate When Tensions Are High

Fast Company: 5 ways to fend off your mid-career identity crisis

CEP: Practicing What We Preach: Acting on Donor Feedback

The Chronicle of Philanthropy: Futurism Is Having a Moment in Post-Pandemic Foundation Strategy

NonProfitPRO: 3 Strategies to Help Nonprofits Overcome Donor Fatigue

The era of hybrid work has spawned a new kind of office culture — one that has left many workers less connected and less happy than they have ever been. Emma Goldberg, a business reporter covering workplace culture for The Times, explains how mixing remote and office work has created a malaise, as workers confront new challenges and navigate uncertainty, and employers engage in a wave of experiments.

Inc.: The Viral Cloudflare Termination Video Is a Master Class in How Not to Terminate Someone

Gallup: In New Workplace, U.S. Employee Engagement Stagnates

Culture Amp: 7 trends that will define HR in 2024

eJP: Supporting managers when they need it most

Fast Company: The ultimate guide to what middle managers need in order to excel

McKinsey & Company: How to identify employee disengagement

HBR: Should Your Nonprofit Charge Its Beneficiaries?

The Chronicle of Philanthropy: A Warning From the Gates Foundation: The Wealthy Must Give More

NPQ: Report Assesses Impact of Philanthropic “Big Bet” on Employee Ownership

Doubling down — in a healthy way — during a crisis

On October 7, when the horrific attack on Israel took place, the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) was one month away from what was going to be their largest-ever professional FedPro conference. While others might have decided to cancel the conference with everything else going on, JFNA made the opposite decision and doubled down on offering this experience for professionals. Here are the lessons that they learned about the importance of investing in professionals in the Jewish community and being able to hold multiple truths at once.

The Jewish Educator Portal (Resource): Israel in Crisis: Educator Community Hub

HBR: How to Create Your Own “Year in Review”

BCG Global: More Than a Quarter of Employees Globally Are Ready to Move on From Their Current Jobs

worklife: Why employer misunderstanding of psychological safety is hurting teams’ performance

The Speed to Hire Show with Josh Tolan (Podcast): Cultivate Candidate Relationships Early and Nurture Them Through the Full Recruitment Cycle

HBR: Businesses Need to Bring Younger Employees into Their Leadership Ranks

eJP: Raising tired arms: How boards can support their leaders during periods of crisis

NonProfit PRO: 4 Ways to Lead Your Nonprofit During Tumultuous Times

HBR: Research: How Women Improve Decision-Making on Boards

What We're Learning | January 2024

American Jewish philanthropy today needs a ‘yes, and’ approach

Barry Finestone, CEO of the Jim Joseph Foundation and a Leading Edge board member emphasizes the importance of adopting a "yes, and" approach for Jewish philanthropy. While support for Israel at this moment is crucial, he writes, attention should also be given to fortifying the American Jewish community to prevent potential long-term challenges. Urgent areas of focus include security, staffing shortages, mental health support, education, and fundraising for local Jewish institutions, emphasizing the need for generous giving and hope as an active force in securing the future of both the American Jewish community and Israel.

TIME: Burned Out at Work? Find Someone to Split Your Job 50-50 With You

The Conversation: Teamwork is not always the best way of working – new study

Allwork.Space: How To Evaluate The Efficacy Of Your Hybrid Work Model

MIT Sloan Management Review: The Potency of Shortcuts in Decision-Making

Bloomberg: Return to Office Brings CEO Relationships Back to the Forefront

SSIR: 10 Ways Funders Can Address Generative AI Now

BoardSource: Purpose-Driven Board Leadership

HR Executive: What Boards of Directors Want From HR—And How You Can Deliver

What We're Learning | November 2023

Resource: How To Support Yourself, Your Staff, and the Entire Community Throughout The War In Israel

The Jewish community is grieving right now, and our tradition teaches us that we must support and care for one another in times of need. There is no right or wrong way to grieve and there is no timeline for how long grief lasts. The "WAVE OF LIGHT” Resource Guide, applicable for individuals, leaders, and organizations throughout the Jewish world, was created by I Was Supposed to Have a Baby to support the Jewish Community as we move through this current crisis.

HBR: Supporting Your Team’s Mental Health After a Violent News Event

HBR: The Future of Mental Health at Work Is Safety, Community, and a Healthy Organizational Culture

MIT Sloan Management Review: Make Culture Unconditional

Shine A Light: Navigating the Hamas Attacks and Supporting Your Jewish Employees (Workplace Toolkit)

SHRM: How to Create a Trauma-Informed Workplace

Culture Amp: What I wish more CEOs knew about trust at work

State Policy Network: Six Ways a Board Chairman can Help your Organization in Uncertain Times

CEP: Before and After 2020: How the COVID-19 Pandemic Changed Nonprofit Experiences with Funders

Joan Garry Consulting: How to Write a Good Board Report (Free Template)

What We're Learning | October 2023

Report: The Nonprofit Workforce Shortage Crisis

In April 2023, the networks of the National Council of Nonprofits conducted a nationwide survey to secure the latest, comprehensive information about the nonprofit workforce. When nonprofits cannot hire enough employees to provide vital services, the public suffers. Data from this survey and others show that along with increased demands for services, there are longer waiting lists, reduced services, and sometimes elimination of services. When any of those happen, the ripple effects cannot be ignored: communities lose access to food, shelter, mental health care, and other vital services on which people depend.

NPR (Podcast): The Sunday Story: The Good Enough Job

SHRM: Why Fewer Employers Are Requiring College Degrees

Fast Company: Why the performance review is dying out—including at companies like Apple and Microsoft

PJC: Planning for leadership succession is imperative for Jewish nonprofits

DRG: Emerging Trend: Compensating Candidates for Interviews and/or Skills Assessments

Dolgin Leadership Group: Closing the Recognition Gap

NonprofitAF.com: Why funders need to rethink the concept of nonprofit resilience

The Chronicle of Philanthropy: The Donor Pyramid May Be Bad for Giving. Can We Do Better?

SSIR: 8 Steps Nonprofits Can Take to Adopt AI Responsibly

What We're Learning | September 2023

You can build a dream team. Here are 5 ways to attract and retain the top performers

When it comes to organizations, there’s a widely held belief that it’s neither realistic nor desirable to have a team of only top performers. To this end, many organizations have systems that actively work against having a dream team. However, as we move into an era where much of the easier work is likely to be automated through AI, it’s not so hard to imagine a time when fewer people will be needed to do the same job. Is it time to reevaluate traditional performance management systems?

Allwork.Space: More U.S. Employees Are Taking Vacations Than In Pre-Pandemic Years

Bloomberg: Burnout Is Back in a Big Way — Here’s Why

MIT Sloan Management Review (paywall): CEOs Can Make (or Break) an Organization Redesign

HRDIVE: Workdays now end 37 minutes earlier than one year ago

NYT: Even Zoom Is Making People Return to the Office

SSIR: Strong Boards: An Antidote to Founder Syndrome

NPQ: Operationalizing Co-Leadership Structures: Lessons from the Nonprofit Intermediary Field

CEP: Various Forms of Generosity Matter, But Let’s Not Lose Sight of Charitable Giving

What We're Learning | August 2023

One year later, Hillel Ontario reflects on its investment in the well-being of its staff

In May of 2022, student organization Hillel Ontario announced a series of pilot projects aimed at safeguarding talent, such as implementing a summertime four-day workweek and allowing employees to carry over up to one unused week of vacation time from the past year. Despite critics' concerns and initial challenges, KPIs now indicate that the experiment has paid off in a 6% increase in student engagement, higher student touchpoints, remarkably successful advocacy initiatives, a 31% rise in fundraising revenue, and all-time high staff satisfaction.

HBR: How “Perspective Swaps” Can Unlock Organizational Change

Podcast: The Great Resignation is Over w/ The Daily

Allwork.Space: The Surprising Truth About Office Gossip And Belonging

HBR: Watch Out for These 3 Gender Biases in Performance Reviews

MIT Sloan Management Review: How to Help Employees With ADHD Address the Challenges of Remote Work

McKinsey & Company: Middle managers hold the key to unlock generative AI

BoardSource: Board Officer Succession Planning

HBR: How the Best Leadership Teams Navigate Uncertain Times

NonProfitPRO: How Your Organization’s Structure Can Support Your Donor Journeys

What We're Learning | July 2023

State of the Global Workplace: 2023 Gallup Report

What can leaders do today to potentially save the world? Gallup has found one clear answer: Change the way your people are managed. In their annual State of the Global Workplace Report which captures the collective voice of the global employee, Gallup examines topics including quiet quitting, engagement, stress, and remote/hybrid work, and offers insights that can equip leaders to make purposeful decisions in the face of change and uncertainty.

Jewish United Fund: Compensation and Credentialing in American Jewish Early Childhood Centers

Be More with Anu: Healing and Breaking Internalized Bias

The Management Center: Management in a Changing World

Bloomberg: Work Shift: Women CEOs (Finally) Outnumber Those Named John

MIT Sloan Management Review: Empower Your Team, Empower Yourself

Chronicle of Philanthropy: Charity Navigator Stars Can Boost Donations — but Nonprofits Might Game the System

The New York Times: Why Some Companies Are Saying ‘Diversity and Belonging’ Instead of ‘Diversity and Inclusion’ (paywall)

Bridgespan Group: How Nonprofits and NGOs Can Get Real Value from Strategic Planning

Addressing mental health for nonprofit program participants and staff

This article from Philanthropy News Digest explores the importance of addressing mental health in nonprofit organizations for both program participants and staff members. The impact of mental health spans across an organization—from program delivery, staff productivity and retention, and the overall well-being of the nonprofit sector. There is a need for nonprofits to prioritize mental health initiatives, foster a culture of well-being, and provide accessible mental health support to create a healthier and more sustainable work environment. 

TIME: Why Work Friends Are Crucial for Your Health

HBR: Make It Safe for Employees to Speak Up — Especially in Risky Times