The Importance of Continuous Leadership Training in the Charity Sector

In this article, Sharon Hughes, Manager of The Leadership Academy (a project of The Wheel), discusses current challenges and limitations faced within the charity sector, and why the need for upskilling leaders is growing in importance.

Did you know that there are 34,331 community, voluntary and charitable organisations in Ireland?

Were you aware that registered charities employ over 281,250 people?

Are you among the 27% of over 15s who volunteer, according to the Irish Charity Engagement Monitor? (That is 1,116,950 people).

The charity sector also makes a significant economic contribution: in the EU, the social economy employs nearly 14 million people and accounts for 8% of Europe's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

If these facts surprised you, you are not alone; the sector is poorly understood for several reasons. Firstly, the sector is made up of several types of organisations, notably community groups and voluntary organisations, charities and social enterprises. These organisations may all have very different missions, but they do share a common governance structure (governing bodies made up of unpaid volunteers) and a mandate to operate for the common good on a not-for-profit basis. 

Organisations in the sector are focused on addressing various issues in society but in different ways, some provide housing, some provide health and social services, some work with young people and some with older people. How might they show up in your life? 

If you or someone you loved were to receive a cancer diagnosis in the morning, one of the first places you might be referred to is a cancer charity for support and information.

If you have an older person in your life, they might be receiving meal deliveries or attending locally organised social events. 

If you enjoy sports, your local sports club is probably run on a voluntary basis and the centre where your sports club meets is probably a community organisation as well.

The charity and community sector provides services across Irish society in innovative, responsive and flexible ways, every day of the week. Given the importance of the life-changing work that sector organisations carry out, it’s absolutely crucial that we support the leadership development of those who turn up to work and volunteer in the sector every day. 

The Wheel is Ireland’s national association of charities, community groups and social enterprises. In our most recent member survey, we found that one of the biggest challenges for our sector is retaining talent, with 40% of organisations saying that they cannot recruit and retain staff sufficiently. Many simply cannot offer salaries and packages that can compete with the public and private sectors. While the sector is worth over €19 billion, only 3% of charities have income of €10m or more. Almost two-thirds of charities have an income of less than €250k. 

These limitations mean that charities often do not have enough funding to invest in upskilling their teams. Yet, upskilling is a proven means of improving employee retention. That is one of the reasons why we are advocating for greater investment by the government in continuing professional development across the sector. 

One of the easiest ways to resource people is to support them in taking the next steps in their career journeys. Leadership upskilling is almost unique; it is one of the few upskilling topics in which both an individual and an organisation have the same level of interest.

When people are resourced to develop their leadership potential everyone wins, and it creates a positive ripple effect throughout organisations, sectors and society. This is why The Wheel developed The Leadership Academy in 2022 to help people in our sector access resources and take the next step on their own leadership journeys. The Leadership Academy is supported by the National Training Fund and the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. 

The sector works on the frontline with some of the most vulnerable communities and tackling the most pressing issues facing Irish society, from climate change and integration to mental health care and demographic changes. When we are most in need, we hope the person who responds is someone resourced properly, remunerated sufficiently and given the training and upskilling they need to feel confident and engaged in their work.

That is why The Wheel is committed to ensuring that Ireland’s nonprofit workers, both paid and unpaid, and the organisations they work in, have the skills they need to deliver their varied and important missions across Irish society.  

Luckily, others agree with us. In a recent OECD review of Ireland’s National Skills Strategy, the authors stated:

“These organisations [in the charity and community sector] are acknowledged as making a vital contribution to Ireland’s economic and social prosperity and are increasingly deploying new technologies and creative approaches to address societal and environment challenges. . . . Addressing [their] unmet [upskilling] needs should be considered a priority in Ireland.”  

To make sure we have a thriving nonprofit sector, and a thriving society, we need more opportunities for our people to upskill and develop their own leadership potential. 

Leadership upskilling takes many different forms. Leadership is deeply personal, and people require different upskilling options at different times of their journey, but there are always benefits such as:

It boosts your confidence. Learning a new skill is empowering and it makes us feel good. Asides from the content, you are sure to pick up new ways of doing things, new online tools or resources, all things you can add to your skill set.

You can grow your network. Meeting new classmates and lecturers as well as being exposed to new thought leaders can open your network to new opportunities. 

It adds value to you and your organisation. When you bring your new learning to your organisation your organisation gets to benefit from new skills without having to onboard any new staff.

At UCD Professional Academy, we are delighted to share that members of The Wheel can avail of exclusive rates of study with us. Enquire here to assess eligibility.