Should I stay or should I go: A study of New Zealand NGO social service managers' job satisfaction, job dissatisfaction and the implications for retention

Abstract

The NGO sector is a major provider of social services and is increasingly funded by Government to take on additional roles in the management and delivery of services. It is crucial that the NGO sector attract and retain a skilled and knowledgeable workforce for fitting service provision. This study draws on narratives of job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction and how these relate to retention from the in-depth interviews of fifteen social service managers within the NGO sector. It aims to increase understanding of manager value alignment, and the tensions that exist between the ‘new era’ of managerialism and an identity committed to care and social justice issues. Results demonstrate that conflict regarding managerialist practices viewed as divergent from NGO manager’s own ‘best practice’ contributes to a concerning degree of dissatisfaction and employee turnover. This study also reports on gaps in management pathways and training to be addressed by training and professional institutions; information for supervisors wishing to support their manager supervisees; key retention strategies for organisations; and proposals for setting up mentoring support networks. Overall this study seeks to build understanding of factors affecting the retention of managers in the current NGO sector context and how to enhance their capacity to achieve innovative positive social change in the new era.