The key to employee-driven impact is an employee-first culture – the mantra is echoed by the likes of Richard Branson and Kip Tindell but is often (falsely) regarded as a significant financial burden or implemented as a list of superficial fringe benefits. A truly integrated employee-first philosophy promises significant ROI in the form of decreased turnover, increased engagement and productivity, improved mission outcomes – and in the case of Mental Health America, a seven-figure turnaround and industry-leading impact. This presentation highlights the myriad benefits of assimilating an employee-first approach into the heart of an organization. How did MHA’s leadership and culture shift transform the “impact-ability" of its employees and enable it to lead its field? How does great culture drive great ideas?

1. Culture as a Lever for Impact
Sachin Doshi and Jessica Kennedy, Mental Health America
From Seven-Figure Loss to Industry Leader
This Century-old NPO Prioritized its
Employee-first Culture and You
Won’t Believe What Happened Next!

2. About Us
Sachin Doshi
 Financial and SystemsAnalyst
 Joined MHA in January 2015
Jessica Kennedy
 Chief of Staff andVice President of
Finance
 Joined MHA in June 2009

3. Net assets, year over year
$2 M
$3 M
$4 M
$5 M
$6 M
$7 M
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
NetAssets,millionsofdollars

4. Turnover rate, year over year
42%
48%
8%
53%
20%
30%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Turnoverrate

5. Gain/loss, year over year
-$1,600,000
-$1,400,000
-$1,200,000
-$1,000,000
-$800,000
-$600,000
-$400,000
-$200,000
$0
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Gain/loss

6. And then something happened.

7. Net assets, year over year
$2 M
$3 M
$4 M
$5 M
2013 2014 2015 2016
NetAssets,millionsofdollars

8. Turnover rate, year over year
30%
71%
10.5% 10.5%
0.0%
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Turnoverrate

9. Gain/loss, year over year
-1400000
-1200000
-1000000
-800000
-600000
-400000
-200000
0
200000
400000
600000
2013 2014 2015 2016
Gain/loss

10. What changed?

11. What changed?
Culture.

12. What changed?
Culture.

13. Culture is never wrong.

14. Culture is (almost) never wrong.

15. What do we mean by culture?
Cul·ture (noun):
a. “the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that
characterizes an institution or organization.”
b. “the act or process of cultivating living material (as bacteria or viruses)
in prepared nutrient media.”
It’s the shared experience of what it feels like to be in our work environment.
“We want to understand what works here rather than what worked at any other
organization.”
Laszlo Bock, Google

16. Culture can be…

17. Vaguely defined

18. Strongly defined

19. Non-uniform

20. Uniform

21. Peripheral

22. Infused

23. Instinct-driven

24. Data-driven

25. Lecturing

26. Listening

27. Meticulous

28. “Good enough”

29. Closed

30. Open

31. Distant

32. Close

33. Top-down

34. Bottom-up

35. Conservative

36. Innovative

37. Slow

38. Fast

39. Professional

40. Casual

41. Hierarchal

42. Flat

43. One where supervisors are performance
managers

44. One where supervisors are mentors

45. Spectra of Culture
Vaguely
defined
Strongly
defined
Non-uniform Uniform
Peripheral Infused
Instinct-
driven
Data-driven
Lecturing Listening
From this…

46. Spectra of Culture
Vaguely
defined
Strongly
defined
Non-uniform Uniform
Peripheral Infused
Instinct-
driven
Data-driven
Lecturing Listening
From this… To this

47. Spectra of Culture
Vaguely
defined
Strongly
defined
Non-uniform Uniform
Peripheral Infused
Instinct-
driven
Data-driven
Lecturing Listening

48. Spectra of Culture
Vaguely
defined
Strongly
defined
Non-uniform Uniform
Peripheral Infused
Instinct-
driven
Data-driven
Lecturing Listening

49. Spectra of Culture
Vaguely
defined
Strongly
defined
Non-uniform Uniform
Peripheral Infused
Instinct-
driven
Data-driven
Lecturing Listening

50. Spectra of Culture
Top-down Bottom-up
CloseDistant
Meticulous “Good
enough”
Closed Open
Conservative Innovative

51. Spectra of Culture
Professional Casual
Supervisors
are managers
Supervisors
are mentors
Hierarchal Flat
Slow Fast

52. The 3 P’s
People
Policies
Programs

53. The 3 P’s
If you have the right people, you can set the
right policies for your cultural fit.
If you have the wrong people, you have to set
the wrong policies.

54. People-First
What were the qualities of the good people who stuck
around?
• Passionate about the cause
• Creative
• Efficient
• Sense of humor
• Solutions-oriented
• Good at synthesizing information
• Tech savvy
• Opportunities vs. challenges
• Highly anxious and slightly neurotic

55. People-First
How do we find more people like them?
• Hire for these qualities above experience
• Prioritize cultural fit
• Find them in new places
• The street
• Reddit
•Be real in interviews

56. People-First
How do we KEEP them?
 Prioritize them!!!
 Put them in a place to succeed
 Pay them
 No, really, like… pay them
 Make your policies people-first

57. Policies
 Sick notes
The 3 P’s

58. Policies
 Sick notes
From https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20130928223455-2042198
-will-your-firm-endure
The 3 P’s

59. Policies
 Sick notes
 Office hours
The 3 P’s

60. Policies
 Sick notes
 Office hours
From https://behindcorporatearmour.wordpress.com/2013/05/08/flexible-working-hours-vs-overwork/
The 3 P’s

61. Policies
 Sick notes
 Office hours
 Soda and snacks
The 3 P’s

62. Policies
 Sick notes
 Office hours
 Soda and snacks
The 3 P’s

63. Policies
 Sick notes
 Office hours
 Soda and snacks
 Telecommuting
The 3 P’s

64. Policies
 Sick notes
 Office hours
 Soda and snacks
 Telecommuting
The 3 P’s

65. Policies
 Sick notes
 Office hours
 Soda and snacks
 Telecommuting
 Professional development
The 3 P’s

66. Policies
 Sick notes
 Office hours
 Soda and snacks
 Telecommuting
 Professional development
From https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20130928223455-2042198
-will-your-firm-endure
The 3 P’s

67. Policies
 Sick notes
 Office hours
 Soda and snacks
 Telecommuting
 Professional development
 Communication - Slack
The 3 P’s

68. They were worried about the election…

69. We let them express themselves

70. From an office that felt like a dungeon…

71. To an office that felt like home

72. So how does this affect our
programs?

73. MHAScreening.org
 Almost 2 million screens completed
 3,000+ screens daily
 $600K+ in funding to build follow-up
Screening-to-Supports platform
What changed?
 Link to external tool with no quid pro
quo or data AND internal tool with no
data
 Inability to decide between tools
 Conflict over service
Instinct-
driven
Data-driven
Conservative Innovative
Meticulous “Good
enough”

74. May is Mental Health Month
 23M+ reach in 2016
 Thousands of downloads, millions of
impressions
 From $0 in funding to six figures per
year
What changed?
 “This is just fluffy stuff.”
 Unfunded for several years
 Unmeasured outcomes
Instinct-
driven
Data-driven
Lecturing Listening
Supervisors
are managers
Supervisors
are mentors

75. Public Policy
 Strong leadership position
 Guiding philosophy – B4Stage4
 Major mental health legislation
passed in 2016
What changed?
 Difficulty moving forward from past
legislative success in 2008
 Weak definition of priorities
 Fear to ask for our own priorities
Slow Fast
Non-uniform Uniform
Vaguely
defined
Strongly
defined

76. Mental Health Report
 40,000 hits
 Featured in U.S. News and World
Report
What changed?
 Board concerns
 Affiliate concerns
 Staff concerns
Hierarchal Flat
Meticulous “Good
enough”
Slow Fast

77. Affiliates
 New dues structure
 Positive relationship with affiliates
 Clearly defined value
What changed?
 Somebody promised there would be
no dues
 Shrinking staff support and benefits
to field
 Irritation with national
Lecturing Listening
Non-uniform Uniform
Hierarchal Flat

78. Digital Presence

79. Digital Presence
Instinct-
driven
Data-driven
Lecturing Listening
What changed?
Peripheral Infused
 No clear consensus on audience
 No clear consensus on CTA
 Not mobile friendly
 SOOOOOO many words
 Growth from 1.6 M to 6 M web
visitors
 Explosive social media growth

80. Why do people WANT to be here?
“I can be my authentic self.”

81. It was easy for us in some ways…

82. And it’s not perfect
 We’re a little TOO close
 Can still have cliques/silos
 Need some policy/process
 Hard for some people to fit in

83. What do I need to do?
Figure out where you are… and where you WANT to be.
 Does your culture even need to change?
 Where are you on the various sliders?
 Poll the staff. Poll the Board?
 Associations: Members?
 Small orgs:Volunteers?
 Large orgs: Different Departments?
 You can make it binary for them and then adjust accordingly
 SurveyMonkey, Google Forms, webform on site

84. What do I need to do?
Figure out what’s getting in your way.
 Raise your hand if…
 You’ve ever made a policy for ONE person.
 You have any policy that is longer than two pages.
 Management doesn’t trust employees to work from home.
 You had a meeting this past week where everything ended in the
same place it started.
 You had three meetings like that.

85. What do I need to do?
Figure out what you CAN change.
 CEO
 Management
 Board
 Staff
 Policies
 Size matters

86. Resources
 Dan Pallotta’sTED talk on nonprofit compensation and the double standard, ”The way we think about
charity is dead wrong”
https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pallotta_the_way_we_think_about_charity_is_dead_wrong
 The Hofstede Multi-Focus Model on Organizational Culture, for a model that influenced our work
https://geert-hofstede.com/tl_files/The%20Hofstede%20Multi-Focus%20Model.pdf
 TheCulture Engine: A Framework for Driving Results, InspiringYour Employees, andTransformingYour
Workplace by S. Chris Edmonds
https://smile.amazon.com/Culture-Engine-Framework-Inspiring-Transforming/dp/1118947320
 Work Rules!: Insights from InsideGoogleThatWillTransform HowYou Live and Lead by Laszlo Bock
https://smile.amazon.com/Work-Rules-Insights-Inside-Transform/dp/1455554790