32 Human Resources Management for Public and Nonprofi t Organizations
short - and long - term objectives? To be competitive, organizations must
be able to anticipate, infl uence, and manage the forces that have an impact
on their ability to remain effective. In the service sector, this means they
must be able to manage their human resources capabilities. All too often,
agencies have relied on short - term service requirements to direct their
HRM practices without giving much thought to long - term implications.
By invoking SHRM, agencies are better able to match their human
resources requirements with the demands of the external environment
and the needs of the organization. The human resources focus is not
just an individual employee issue; it also encompasses integrating human
resources into the organization ’ s strategy and becomes part of the visionary
process. Strategic planning, budgeting, and human resources planning are
linked in SHRM, the integrative framework that matches HRM activities
with strategic organizational needs.
The nonprofi t and public sectors are facing signifi cant numbers of
impending retirements from the traditionalists and baby boomers in their
workforces. Research funded in part by the Annie E. Casey Foundation
and reported in Nonprofi t Executive Leadership and Transitions Survey (Teegarden,
2004) found that 65 percent of the survey respondents anticipate executive
transitions in their agencies by 2010. Follow - up studies addressing the
wave of retirements in the nonprofi t sector — Up Next: Generation Change
and the Leadership of Nonprofi t Organizations (Kunreuther, 2005) and Staying
Engaged, Stepping Up: Succession Planning and Executive Transition Management
for Nonprofi t Boards of Directors (Adams, 2006) — predict that the fi rst wave
of retirements will occur in 2010 and the second wave in 2020. Accord-
ing to Ready to Lead: Next Generation Leaders Speak Out , a national study pro-
duced in partnership by CompassPoint Nonprofi t Services, the Annie E.
Casey Foundation, the Meyer Foundation, and Idealist.org, despite the
many disincentives to becoming a nonprofi t executive director, a signifi -
cant number of younger people are willing, but not necessarily ready, to
lead at this time (Cornelius, Corvington, & Ruesga, 2008). Hall (2006a)
and Halpern (2006) also note the need to
address strategic human resources planning
in the nonprofi t sector.
Between 2008 and 2013, nearly half
of federal workers will be eligible to retire,
including nearly 70 percent of senior manag-
ers. By 2018, about 60 percent of the federal
government ’ s white - collar employees and
90 percent of the Senior Executive ServiceThe nonprofi t and public
sectors are facing signifi cant
numbers of impending
retirements from the
traditionalists and baby
boomers in their workforces.