More Ways to Curtail Executive Turnover

To the Editor:

I read Domenica Marchetti’s articles “Managing Turnover at the Top” and “Charities Face Mounting Challenges in Hiring and Retaining Executives” (June 3) with great interest.

I applaud the fact that the high rate of executive turnover in the non-profit sector, and the related turmoil caused by ongoing transition, has finally received attention. However, I found it disturbing that one of the executive-transition services mentioned that it was dealing with a “departing” executive director. There was no mention of exit interviews, which I firmly believe would yield valuable information when conducted by a neutral party.

This critical feedback would help an organization identify important issues that, if resolved or openly communicated to prospective candidates, might result in longer-term retention of their next leader. Conducting an exit interview is even more important when executives resign because they feel they were misled about a job or how well an organization was doing.

Marilyn H. Pollick
Principal
Philanthropic Resources
Philadelphia

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To the Editor:

There is one important use of a transitional or interim executive director that your articles on executive turnover did not address.

The articles discussed the difficulty of keeping executive directors on the job and the ways to create incentive for them to stay. One method for addressing executive-director stress and that of other key staff is the establishment of a sabbatical policy. A sabbatical can give a second wind to the career of an executive director who doesn’t want to leave his or her job but who needs more than a vacation in order to work with new energy and a fresh approach.

One barrier to the use of a sabbatical as a tool to extend the tenure of executive directors is the difficulty in replacing them for several months. The Environmental Support Center solved that problem through hiring an acting executive director to replace me while I was on a four-month sabbatical recently. We hired an experienced non-profit executive to take over my responsibilities and also to make suggestions for improvements in our operations and structure.

This system worked very well, and as a result we highly recommend both sabbaticals and the use of interim directors for leaves, as well as for permanent transitions.

James W. Abernathy
Executive Director
Environmental Support Center
Washington