Issue #25

Weekly evaluation inspiration for...

Non-profits who DARE

Hi, I'm Allison. I'm a learning-focused evaluator and an advocate for decent work in non-profits. Having worked in and with many non-profits over the past 20 years, I understand that a lot of the barriers to improving working conditions are structural and rooted in government and funder policies and practices.

Throwback to 2006. I was headed on a Caribbean cruise with my family. We were due home on Saturday, and Monday morning I was driving 3 hours to deliver some training for Supervisory Duty Council with Legal Aid Ontario. I was 23 years old and this felt like a big deal.

The night before we left, I was in the airport hotel revising my presentation. This was back in the days of MSN messenger and a friend came online and asked why I was online when I was supposed to be on vacation. I said the classic "I just want to finish this last thing and then I can go relax". He told me something that has stuck with me ever since - when you're 100 years old, you're not going to remember the presentation. You're going to remember the time spent with your family.

Obviously he was wrong, I remembered both.

But he was right about making those last minute edits - the presentation was fine as it was and I really didn't need to be working on it while my family was enjoying the first night of vacation. These days, I do my best to not even bring my laptop when I'm headed on a trip.

I always encourage organizations to look at times before and after rest. Whether it's a vacation or a holiday, are people scrambling before they leave? Are the heads down as soon as they get back, or do they have some time to tell those vacation stories and ease back into things?

While we might not be able to change wages or even the amount of vacation time overnight, by reflecting on the hustle we experience when taking time off, we can put systems in place to reduce it.

Maybe it means putting back up staff in place for certain projects. Perhaps there are processes you can streamline or document so that it's not piling up when a person's away. Sometimes, it's communicating with participants, funders, donors, or other staff, that you protect people's time off.

Ensuring that people get enough time to rest is about treating them with dignity. We are all worthy of time off, and we can find ways to make that sentiment the norm.

What's life like when you take time off? Hit reply and let me know what keeps you from fully relaxing!

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