EXCLUSIVE: Charity sector forced to compete with private sector reward strategy to recruit staff

Employers in the third sector can no longer rely on their organisation's charitable cause to attract, motivate and retain staff, they have had to compete with the private sector for the talent they need.

Research by Best Companies for HR magazine shows 40% of the top 25 charities to work for in 2009 offer staff career breaks and almost a quarter (24%) offer flexible benefits, compared with only 10% of the private sector.

Helen Giles, HR director at Broadway, which is included in the Best Companies ranking, explains: "It's true charities can have a head start. The people at work there are often motivated by making a difference, and it is much easier to make this link with any kind of work where profit for shareholders is not the main driver of the business. But this is far from being sufficient. Many charities are rotten places to work because their boards assume high level of intrinsic motivation and don't, as such, invest in people and people management.

"On the other hand," she adds, "there are many charities that have been doing strategic HR properly for years. They have really cracked the 'total reward' concept of being a great place to work by promoting and embedding a broad range of high-commitment practices."

She feels, however, charity sector employers should not try to compete with the private sector on all benefits. "The extent to which employees are motivated by benefits in any sector is open to debate. What most people want is meaningful work where they can have autonomy, empowerment, support and coaching from a well-motivated line manager, as well as professional development and flexibility in their working patterns."

Because most charities are sub-contractors of public authorities, Giles fears they will have to bear the brunt of the Government's inevitable public spending cuts. She also feels the sector does not always get the support it needs from industry bodies. "The CIPD pretty much ignores that the charity sector exists - it is only interested in large private companies and public-sector bodies," she adds.