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Manitoba Non-profit Health and Social Service Organizations Survey (2010)

The objectives of this research survey were to assemble information that would provide the sector with a greater awareness of the labour market issues specific to the Non-profit Health and Social Services sub-sector within the Province, including the sector’s role in the economy and to provide a baseline of information. Early in 2010, a survey report was prepared and a number of fact sheets were generated to highlight the findings

Background:

There has been a great deal of activity in the non-profit sector in recent years.  These included nationally, the Human Resources Council of the Voluntary and Non-profit Sector of Canada conducting a three-part study on issues, employers and employees and recommendations for a labour force strategy.  In June, 2009, the HR Council, the Manitoba Federation of Non-profit Organizations (MFNPO) and the Winnipeg Foundation sponsored a provincial forum that explored issues and challenges facing this sector within the province.

 

Subsequently MFNPO, in collaboration with the Manitoba Bureau of Statistics conducted a survey in late 2009 of the non-profit Health and Social Services subsector in Manitoba.   This was a precursor for conducting further surveys of the whole non-profit sector in Manitoba.  (See the scope of the non-profit sector as depicted by the international classification structure found in the Connections section of the MFNPO website.)

 

The objectives of this survey were to assemble information that would provide the sector with a greater awareness of the labour market issues specific to the Health and Social Services sub-sector within the Province, including the sector’s role in the economy and to provide a baseline of information.  Early in 2010, a survey report was prepared and a number of fact sheets were generated to highlight the findings.

 

Survey Reporting: (Fact Sheets)

 

 The information in the Report and the following Fact Sheets comes from a sample survey (305 completed returns representing  a 43.4% return rate) of voluntary and non-profit organizations in the health and social services sector located in Manitob.  It was conducted in late 2009 by the Manitoba Bureau of Statistics (MBS) for the Manitoba Federation of Non-Profit Organizations (MFNPO) and the Government of Manitoba to undertake labour force development planning for Manitoba’s non-profit sector

 

Fact Sheet #1: A Profile of non-profit Health and Social Service organizations in Manitoba

Profile of Voluntary & Non-profit Health & Social Services in Manitoba

Fact Sheet #2: Current Skill Needs and Future Skill Requirements

Current Skill Needs/Future Skill Requirements - Health & Social Services in Manitoba 

Fact Sheet #3: Obtaining and Retaining Needed Employees

Obtaining/Retaining Needed Employees - Health & Social Services Non-profit Organizations in Manitoba 

Fact Sheet #4: Employee Retirement Rates

 Employee Retirement Rates - Health & Social Services Non-profit Organizations in Manitoba

Fact Sheet #5: Employee Vacancy Rates

Employee Vacancy Rates - Health & Social Services Non-profit Organizations in Manitoba

Fact Sheet #6: Providing Further Training and Development

Providing Further Training and Development - Health & Social Services Non-profit Organizations in Manitoba

Fact Sheet #7: Using Human Resource professionals and Board of Directors’ adoption of a Human Resource Policy

Use of HR Professionals/Board HR Policy - Health & Social Services Non-profit Organizations in Manitoba

 

Initial Findings:

 

  • The survey had a 43.4% return rate represented by 305 completed returns

 

  • The median number of employees was 15, and the average was 47; 18% of organizations had more than 50 employees.

 

  • The median total expenditure was $461,000 and the average was $1.62M; 21% of organizations had total expenditures of less than $150,000, and 32% with more than $800,000

 

  • 44% of organizations reported labour force increases over the past three years, and only 8% reported decreases. Most increases were in large, non-Winnipeg and elderly and disabled services organizations.

 

  • 60% of employees are full time, with the largest proportion in medium size organizations, Winnipeg organizations and child care.

 

  • Low salaries are the norm with a median of $27,650 and an average of $29, 870; with larger organizations, Winnipeg organizations and education organizations paying highest salaries.

 

  • Organizations reported current skill improvements and future skill requirements in both job-specific and generic skills. The highest priorities for current skill improvements were in communication skills, interpersonal skills and computer literacy. Highest priority future skills requirements were communication, child care, interpersonal, and computer literacy.

 

  • 75% of organizations reported difficulties obtaining employees and 47% in retaining current employees. Difficulty varies by organizational size in a non-linear way, and child care organizations have the most difficulty. Organizations with medium salary levels also have the most difficulty.

 

  • 40% of organizations reported vacancies. The overall rate was 4.9% and the rate for those with vacancies was 12.3%. Smaller organizations and social advocacy and transportation agencies experienced higher rates.

 

  • The main reason for difficulty in filling vacancies was the absence of qualified applicants.

 

  • 62% of organizations anticipated retirements in the next two years, with an average of 15.3% of their current workforce retiring. This constitutes 6.4% of the total workforce. This is highest in services for the elderly and disabled, civil and social organizations, transportation and education services.

 

  • 73% of organizations provide further training or development to their staff “often” or “always”. The smallest organizations are the least likely to do so, and education, residential, children and youth organizations are the most likely to do so. The most common form of support was paying for training expenses or offering time off

 

  • 24% of organizations made use of a human resource professional in the last year. Larger organizations were more likely to do so, as were residential, children and youth and health care services.

 

  • 49% of organizations reported a human resource policy passed by the board. Large organizations were more likely to do so, as were children and youth services, other individual and family services and health care and residential services.

 

Summary Observations coming out of the Findings

 

  • The non-profit world is a very diverse sector in all of size, employment levels, focus, and need.  Just under half (48%) of the organizations have fewer than 10 employees while 18 per cent have more than 50.  Twenty-one (21) per cent have total expenditures of less than $150,000 while 32 per cent have expenditures of more than $800,000.  The level of full- vs. part-time employment varies considerably.  Twenty-three (23) per cent of the organizations have fewer than 40 per cent of their employees working full-time while 27 per cent have more than 80 per cent of their employees working full-time.  There is a broad focus to the work of these organizations.  Child day care accounts for 30 per cent of all the organizations, services to elderly and disabled persons represent 11 per cent, 9 per cent offer individual and family services, 7 per cent residential care services.  Social advocacy, children and youth services, transportation, grant-making, civic and social describe some of the other focuses of these organizations.  The range of needs these organizations identify for current and future skills also is quite broad.  In total 162 different current skills and 194 future skills were identified by the respondents to the survey.  The 15 most common of these skill needs accounted for about two-thirds of all the responses with the remaining one-third covering the remaining number.
  • The sector is also growing in the number of employees.  Overall, 44 per cent of respondents indicated a recent increase in employment levels, while only 8 per cent indicated a decrease.  The ratio of increases to decreases is highest among those organizations with the greatest number of employees, and the sectors growing the most are elderly and disabled services, civic and social and residential services.
  • The sector also is characterized by low wages.  The overall annual salary for full-time employees is just under $30,000, with 21 per cent of the organizations paying less than $20,000, another 32 per cent paying between $20,000 and $30,000, 25 per cent paying between $30,000 and $40,000 and the remaining 22 per cent paying between $40,000 and $63,000, on average.  Larger organizations pay higher salaries than the smaller ones, with the following sectors paying the highest average salaries: education, health care, children and youth and social advocacy.  By comparison, elderly and disabled services, transportation and child care services pay the lowest average salaries. 
  • As noted above, there are a broad range of skills and work habits needing improvement now and required in the future.  The most commonly cited is communication, both oral and written.  Also very high on the list are computer and interpersonal skills.  The work habits most frequently cited as needing improvement now and in the future are professionalism, time management and initiative.   Child care skills are cited only by child care services, health care training is cited almost exclusively by health care organizations and counseling skills are cited almost exclusively by individual and family service organizations.  Other top 15 skills needing improvement and required in the future include education, organization and planning skills, management skills, accounting and financial management, fund-raising, critical thinking and problem solving skills.
  • Obtaining the type of employees needed by organizations is a very prevalent issue for these organizations.  Seventy-five (75) per cent identified this as a difficulty.  And, those which identify it as an issue are also more likely to identify retaining employees as an issue (58% vs. 47% overall).  The smallest organizations (less than 5 employees) are the least likely to experience difficulties obtaining and retaining employees as are service sectors that serve the elderly and disabled, education and other individual and family services.  Those organizations with the lowest and highest average salaries are the least likely to have problems obtaining and retaining employees, indicating that other factors are at play than salary levels.
  • By comparison, organizations have very low vacancy rates (4.9%) and the anticipated retirement rate within the next two years also is low at 6.4 per cent of current employees.   The smallest organizations (less than 5 employees) have the highest vacancy rate and the highest per cent of anticipated retirees.  Thus, while the smallest organizations currently do not have problems obtaining needed employees, they will experience the greatest need to fill vacant positions now and in the near future.  Certain sectors face high vacancy and retirement rates including civic and social, social advocacy and transportation.  Other sectors, such as residential services, health care and child care, face low vacancy and retirement rates.
  • A large majority (73%) of organizations indicate that they ‘often’ or ‘always’ provide further training to staff who need it, typically either by paying for it and/or through mentoring and in-house training.  The smallest organizations are the least likely to do so, while the education, residential services and children and youth sectors the most likely to provide it often or always.   
  • By comparison, only 24 per cent of organizations indicated that they had used a human resource professional in the last year and 49 per cent said that their Board of Directors had passed a Human Resource (HR) Policy.  Again, the largest organizations were the most likely to have both used an HR professional and have a policy in place, while the smallest organizations were the least likely to have done so. 

 
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