Case Study: Oakland Asian Students Educational Services
Human Resources Capacity Build
The Project
Oakland Asian Students' Educational Services (OASES) needed a Human Resources Capacity Build to address the emerging challenges posed by rapid growth, increase leadership capacity, and improve staff retention.
The Need
OASES serves Oakland youth with limited resources, providing education and enrichment programs designed to meet their diverse needs and prepare them to serve as productive members of their communities. 52% of OASES youth live below the poverty line; 36% live in low-income households.
The Taproot Foundation awarded OASES an HR Capacity Build to address a range of HR-related challenges. The organization recently grew from eight to 14 full time staff, with three or four of these positions turning over each year. In addition to the strain of continually rehiring and training new staff members, OASES was also impeded by an organizational design that funneled virtually all responsibilities and decisions to the Executive Director, with no leadership team to efficiently manage staff performance, evaluate training and professional needs, and ensure that all staff were aligned with the broader mission of the organization. "We had some good basic systems," says Nhi Chau, Executive Director of OASES. "But how are you going to handle things as you grow? That's the real question."
OASES' leaders knew that a well-executed HR system could enhance the organization by reducing staff turnover and building leadership capacity, but they needed professional support to begin this effort. The HR Capacity Build was perfect for OASES, as it provides a starting point for organizations that have outgrown their HR systems. By analyzing the most pressing needs and finding strategies to address these issues in the short and long term, says Chau, the HR Capacity Build provided OASES an opportunity to "rip up the carpet" and see everything that was going on with OASES' people management systems.
The Work
The pro bono team worked with OASES' staff and board to discover the strengths and weaknesses of their existing HR systems, and qualify the importance of each of these areas. The team determined hiring, organizational design, benefits and compensation, performance management, and training and development were the priority items to be addressed, and then suggested both short-term and long-term action items to overcome these challenges. Because the issues were interrelated, any solution had to be integrated. The pro bono team provided OASES with a comprehensive assessment of their HR systems and an actionable plan to improve them, leading to enhanced leadership capacity, better staff engagement, and ultimately improving their ability to deliver services to their constituents.
The Impact
The HR Capacity Build highlighted the need for a management team to oversee the day-to-day tasks for various programs, building the executive team's capacity to manage bigger-picture external affairs. In developing these leadership positions, OASES also created incentives, career pathways, and professional development goals that will keep the staff engaged and reduce turnover. Further, by empowering this new management team, Chau now has the capacity to serve as an external force addressing more strategic items, such as advocating for policy change and growing OASES programs to serve a broader student population. "By smoothing out these systems," says Chau, "we've created more time for all staff. We were even able to start a new program that we'd been planning for years. And because everyone is on board, because everyone understands our HR priorities, I can look outward. It's really freed up my time to be the external face of the organization."
The Pro Bono Consulting Team
The pro bono consulting team brought a combined 60 years of consulting, HR, and project management experience from the business and nonprofit sectors.
- Deborah St. Pierre has more than 14 years of experience implementing and managing HR programs at corporations like SBC, Verizon Wireless, and LightRiver Technologies, and is currently adjunct faculty at Golden Gate University. She is a CPA with her MBA from the University of New Orleans. After her work as the pro bono Account Director for the OASES project, Deborah joined a Strategic Staff Development team working with another nonprofit.
- Sheren Chiang is an HR Manager with Gap Inc. She holds an MBA from Santa Clara State University and has experience in human resources, project management, and marketing on projects such as creating new organizational systems and coaching executives on organizational effectiveness. Sheren wanted to engage in pro bono work with OASES to help them better serve their clients by creating an HR infrastructure that improved their leadership capacity. As the pro bono Project Manager, Sheren provided subject matter expertise and kept the team on track with the project blueprint.
- Karen Mounday and Laura Petersen, both independent HR consultants, rounded out the Service Grant team in their roles as HR Strategist and HR Generalist. Karen and Laura's previous experience includes time at Siemens, the National Economic Development and Law Center, as well as several school districts and nonprofits.
About the Client
By providing individualized tutoring and mentoring, OASES empowers youth who have limited resources, particularly those in the Asian and Pacific Islander communities of Oakland. Learn more at www.oases.org.
About the Taproot Foundation
Every year, hundreds of nonprofit organizations rely on the Taproot Foundation's award winning Service Grant program to provide millions of dollars worth of pro bono strategy management, marketing, HR, and IT consulting services that better equip them to tackle our society's toughest challenges.
About the Sponsors
The Leadership Development & Strategic HR Practice is presented by American Express as part of their ongoing commitment to building the leadership capacity of the nonprofit sector.
The design of the HR Capacity Build Service Grant is supported by the Lumina Foundation as part of their investment in nonprofits helping improve educational attainment nationwide.
