engleski

Human Resource Management and Motivation in Nonprofit Organizations (NPO): Evidence From Croatia

Non-profit organizations (NPO) play an important role in society because their activities increase the community's well-being. Although the primary goals of NPO are significantly different from those of for-profit organizations, the business practices and models of these types of organizations should be similar, especially in managing and motivating people. The success of a NPO depends primarily on its employees, associates, and volunteers because people are a crucial element of any organization. The topic of this paper is the specifics and challenges of human resource management (HRM) and motivation in NPO. NPO face problems such as recruitment, lack of financial resources, and loss of motivation among employees, affecting their HRM and motivational strategies. Two NPO from Croatia were analysed to determine the implementation of HRM and motivation practices in NPO. Structured interviews with responsible persons were conducted to provide insight into the business of the analysed NPO. The analysis showed that the observed non-profits apply good HRM practices (they carry out detailed job analysis, apply an complex testing procedures during the selection process, train employees and volunteers) and use various motivation strategies (bonuses, participatory management, flexible working hour and feedback). Moreover, some good business practices applied by non-profits do not appear in for-profit organizations either. However, there is still a challenging problem with motivating employees and volunteers in NPO, mainly because they often cannot motivate people with material compensation. Therefore, people who work in NPO usually have a strong internal motivation, but it can quickly disappear if the organization does not seek to increase it. It is crucial that the NPO successfully applies HRM practices and employee motivation – in that case, there will be no problem finding and retaining quality employees.

human resources ; human resources management ; motivation ; non-profit organizations (NPO)

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