Open access peer-reviewed chapter

Human Resources Management in Nonprofit Organizations: A Case Study of Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts

Written By

Beste Gökçe Parsehyan

Submitted: 23 November 2016 Reviewed: 27 March 2017 Published: 07 June 2017

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.68816

From the Edited Volume

Issues of Human Resource Management

Edited by Ladislav Mura

Chapter metrics overview

3,340 Chapter Downloads

View Full Metrics

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the efficiency and importance of human resources management in nonprofit organizations. The understanding was included to the literature as personnel management at the beginning of the twentieth century and it turned into an approach as human resources management in the 1980s. It could be observed that many organizations, which deem the human as the most critical stakeholder, adopt a traditional way of personnel management in operating human resources. The employees play a key role in the success of an organization. For this reason, subjects such as recruitment, training, development, career management, performance appraisal, occupational health, and safety are the fundamental functions of human resources management. The study examines to what extent these roles are evaluated through a case study. The subject matter of the study is the most powerful culture and art foundation in Turkey. Compared to many other nonprofit organizations, the foundation actively performs a variety of services within a year worldwide. The fact that the total number of employees might rise up to 800, including the field personnel, indicates the need of a good functioning human resources management. The human resources practices of the foundation are examined and evaluated within that scope.

Keywords

  • human resources management
  • nonprofit organizations
  • culture and arts foundations
  • IKSV

1. Introduction

Human resources management (HRM) emerged as a concept in the nineteenth century. However, the way it is used today, in other words, its modernization started only after the 1980s. The human factor has been ignored by the classical approach to organizations. The theoreticians of that approach aim to reach the best organizational structure. Therefore, they concentrate on maximizing the levels of activity and productivity. As a consequence of Hawthorne experiments conducted by Elton Mayo and his fellows between 1924 and 1932, the neoclassical period of organizations began. Through the data gained from the experiments, the role, needs, and behavior of people at an organization have been notified. During that period, when human relations started to be the focus of interest, the foundations of organizational behavior discipline were laid, yet human beings were still not considered as a resource. Studies continued to be performed under the name of personnel management. The need to take actions according to the requirements of the information era caused HRM to emerge in the 1980s.

The similarities and differences between personnel management and HRM often appear within the literature and one can summarize them into four main heads as follows:

  • Personnel management considers the employees as a cost while to HRM they are the most valuable element.

  • The target group of personnel management is the employees of the firm. HRM does not limit the group but it includes the potential candidates.

  • Personnel management prioritizes the compliance with the rules and regulations by the employees. HRM, on the other hand, tries to build a common culture by determining general collaborative and participative principles on personnel relations.

  • Personnel management is attentive, responsive, and short‐termed, whereas HRM is directive and long‐termed.

It could be suggested that HRM is a more complex concept than personnel management that ignores the outcomes of organizational behavior by paying attention only to the recruitment and payment of the employees who are the core of an organization. In contrast to personnel management, HRM helps the employees adopt organizational culture and raise organizational commitment by keeping the organizational behavior outcomes under control.

Advertisement

2. The role of human resources management in the organizations

HRM is interested in how to manage personnel in an organization more effectively so as to reach its goals. It works on actions that are taken, could be taken, or should be taken to provide the employees with high levels of motivation for more productivity. Association for Talent Development (ATD) defines nine main roles of HRM: training and development, organization and development, organization/job design, human resource planning, selection of personnel and insurance, research and information systems personnel, reward/benefits or aid, advice on personal problems of employees, and union/labor relations [1].

When the abovementioned definition of ATD is extended, one gets the following list [2]:

  • Job analysis

  • Human resources planning

  • Strengthen the organizational culture

  • Interpersonal relations

  • Goal setting

  • Recruitment and selection

  • Orientation

  • Performance appraisal

  • Motivation

  • Training and development

  • Career management

  • Wage management

  • Occupational health and safety

  • Industrial relations

HRM takes its place in organizational schemes in various ways. In large‐scale organizations, HRM stands as a separate department, while in small ones, it is deemed as a group of functions fulfilled by various departmental managers. Since it is very difficult for a group of functions to carry out the abovementioned roles, it would not be wrong to suggest that such organizations maintain a modernized understanding of personnel management. Modernized personnel management could be defined as a management method that includes staff evaluation and education—although not as detailed as HRM does—into its mission in addition to carrying out the functions of traditional personnel management.

The human resources manager and the concerned staff are obliged to carry out aforesaid rules in accordance with the objectives of the organization. Task analysis is of first priority. Determining the tasks that are suitable with the organizational structure, arranging assignments, and responsibilities depend on the operations of human resources. What is more, human resources should plan its own managerial structure and each operation should be included in the plan.

Organizational culture is dynamic and it can change in time. It is significant that organizational culture is embraced by the employees and that they identify themselves with that culture. Once they do, conformity can be maintained within the organization, which can be observed by the external environment. Human resources management plays a crucial role in the establishment and enhancement of the organizational culture. Human resources, which ensure close relation with the employees, strengthen the organizational culture through orientation, training programs, etc. Human resources can also reinforce the relationship among the employees. Business meals, organizational activities, etc., contribute to the communication. In addition, designating common goals also empowers communication.

Candidates should be assessed according not only to their professional sufficiency but also to their ability to adopt behavior models that would improve efforts needed for organizational aims. Test applications that we mostly encounter during requirement process at institutionalized firms minimize making wrong choices. These tests are prepared in order to evaluate the psychological status, characteristic traits, and related efficiencies of the candidates. Another method used by large‐scale organizations is group interviews.

Taking the right steps while choosing the candidates has a positive influence on the orientation process. Orientation programs are arranged to introduce the employees, physical environment, and activities of the organization as well as making the duties and responsibilities known to the newcomers.

Performance appraisal is conducted regularly by several organizations whether they have a human resources department or not. Performance appraisal, which is closely associated with organizational behavior, is carried out to see on what scale the employees take responsibility, their competence, appropriateness for the job description, and to see if they have positive tendencies. Some organizations conduct the assessment twice a year while some do it only once a year. Performance appraisal is closely related with motivation. If the test results turn out to be good, the organizations might reward the employees to promote them. Rewards could be given as wage increase or as presents.

Another practice that reinforces motivation is training and development programs. Training programs could be coordinated so that the employees can adopt and improve appropriate behavior or their motivation and organizational commitment can be established. Training and development programs can either be specific to individuals and department or to the whole organization.

Career management is a subject around which human resources department should deal with each employee as human resources can determine career opportunities, help them improve their knowledge and skills, and make them acquire necessary skills for a position once it is available.

Wage management can be a part of the human management department while it can also take place in the administrative department. It depends on how the institution is organized. Compensation and premium payments are among the subjects of wage management.

Occupational health and safety is one of the legal responsibilities of human resources and as a department it has to inform the employees on that.

Unions constitute the basis of industrial relations. They protect the social and legal rights of the employees and engage in dialog with employers on these subjects.

Advertisement

3. Human resources management in nonprofit organizations (NPO)

Nonprofit organizations (NPO) usually function within the fields of art, culture, aid, education, politics, religion, grants, and environment. They usually serve the needs which cannot be fulfilled by the state completely and when there is a social gap. Their priority is to provide the service that cannot be given by the state and the private sector [3].

There are three different dimensions to the importance of HRM in NPO. The first being the personnel services is out of the context of taking the employees for physical capital [4]. The employees of for‐profit organizations are usually considered as physical capital, while NPO sees them as the most important values of the organization. The second dimension is the fact that the employees of NPOs are affected by intrinsic values and that they are motivated by these values. The missions of organizations, the democratic nature of organizational culture, and the importance given to individuals can be counted as the intrinsic values [5]. The dimension is that employees are the most critical stakeholders regarding the strategic plans of NPOs [4]. As it can be inferred from these three dimensions, human factor underlies the sustainability of NPOs. For this reason, human resources stand as the primary element in such organizations.

Ridder and McCandless separate HRM that is applied in NPOs into four and they name them as administrative, motivational, strategic, and values‐driven [6]. The research that investigates into these four types presents the focal points of HRM practices in NPOs. Administrative HRM focuses both on strategic orientation and human resource base at a low level. The reason why it is called administrative is that the standpoints of NPOs toward future are either weak or nonexistent. They often do not tend to invest in their employees or they do not possess the opportunity to do so. On the other hand, motivational HRM focuses on strategic orientation at a low level while it concentrates on human resource base at a high level. The employees working at NPOs are motivated in a different way than those at for‐profit organizations. The latter are motivated through financial rewards while the former prefer to be rewarded with individual ones that can contribute to their personal development. Strategic HRM focuses on human resource base at a low level and they approach to strategic orientation with a higher level. The strategic goals of NPOs are revealed through their missions and values. Strategic HRM is based on improving those goals, which might, however, have a negative influence on the employees. Value‐driven HRM focuses on both strategic orientation and on human resource base at an equally high level. Value‐driven HRM invests in the advancing of the skills of the employees and it uses the power of its mission to impress and motivate the employees.

It is a common and a usually verified thought that NPOs do not have a professional approach to HRM. Nonetheless, some NPOs possess the understanding of management that a large‐scale profit organization would have. Although they are not at the financial level of competing with for‐profit organizations, their viewpoint toward management is quite professional and institutional. When culture and art foundations are studied in terms of NPOs, their activity fields can easily be notified. The usual NPOs generally have one type of activity. On the other hand, culture and art foundations carry out several projects throughout a year and these projects include activities such as film festivals, music festivals, award ceremonies, biennials, theater festivals, and so on. In addition to art projects, culture and art foundations do researches and make publications to raise awareness within the society. Hence, it could be suggested that culture and art foundations should be evaluated separately from NPOs. Accordingly, this chapter chooses a culture and art foundation as its case study.

Advertisement

4. A case study: Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts

The case study, which intends to identify on what scale the HRM functions, was carried out at Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV). In addition to being the strongest culture and art foundation of Turkey, IKSV contributes to the economy of Turkey at a great deal by means of international projects. As one of the prominent foundations in the world, IKSV is explored according to human resources procedures, principles, and rules of this procedure through the investigation of regulations, forms, and an in‐depth interview conducted with the human resources director and human resources specialist. The interview was semistructured and exploratory. A core of semistructured questions was used to explore specific topics in detail. Interviewees were free to express their own ideas. The interview lasted around one and a half hours and was taped, transcribed for qualitative analysis, and written up as a case study.

4.1. Foundation profile

IKSV was founded in 1973 with the goal of offering the Turkish public opportunities to experience the finest examples of cultural and artistic production from around the world and learn about new initiatives and movements. Further objectives included introducing the world to Turkey’s cultural and artistic assets and transforming Istanbul into a major international center for culture and arts. The general objectives of the foundation are: to make Istanbul one of the world’s foremost capitals of culture and the arts; to create continuous interaction between national and universal values and traditional and contemporary values via culture and the arts; and to contribute actively to the development of cultural policies. In addition to organizing festivals, biennials, and events in Turkey and abroad, IKSV is involved in conserving traditional arts and cultural heritage, encouraging and facilitating artistic production in diverse disciplines, and contributing to the development of cultural policies [7]. IKSV offers a variety of activities such as regular music, film, theater and jazz festivals, the Istanbul Biennial and the Istanbul Design Biennial, singing contests, grants, and translation awards, as well as taking part in culture and art activities abroad. According to the activity report 2015, 835,000 people participated in IKSV activities [8]. Projects of IKSV are not limited to the abovementioned activities. IKSV carries out cultural politics studies and each year it publishes a report on different subjects in addition to arranging workshops, conferences, and symposiums in cooperation with other organizations.

4.2. Human resources policies

IKSV carries on the aforesaid activities with its full‐time staff comprised of 80 employees. This number is increased together with seasonal recruitment up to 35 people according to the annual activity calendar. Field personnel are also employed during the activities, which mean the total number increases up to 800. It is the department of Human Resources and Administration that establishes the personnel cadre and takes on the roles of HRM. Apart from the department director responsible for HRM, there are two other people working at the department. Human resources management at IKSV had been executed by functional groups until it became a department in 2009 as a necessity due to the extension of the foundation and to the increase in the needs of employees and in the importance given to career management [9]. IKSV’s human resources policy is developed in line with the essential goals of the foundation. The foundation declares that it chooses its employees from people who are open to the world and to improvements. Parallel to its values, IKSV sees providing a participatory and transparent working environment as an indispensable part of its human resources policy and thus gives its employees career and development opportunities [10].

4.3. The role of human resource management in IKSV

The strengths and weaknesses of the foundation are examined in terms of HRM and its 14 functions:

  • Job analysis: Job analysis is the systematic gathering and evaluation of trustable information on the features of the job [11]. Instead of placing the employee in accordance with the job, HRM is interested in positioning the right employee to the right job. Job analysis is the whole of operations aimed at determining: each positional work, duty, and responsibilities; methods and techniques used in practices, tools and equipment, knowledge, skills, and abilities required by the job, the products, services, and working conditions. While job analysis stands for an abstract process that gathers the information on jobs, job description is the concrete outcome of this information. Human resources departments turn the job analysis into job description after completing it. IKSV makes the job analysis of each position and puts the analysis into writing as outputs. The job description forms are uploaded on the Internet during the recruitment process. The job description forms are presented to the employee once they are recruited. Job descriptions may vary according to the extension of duties and annual goals. Each change is declared to the employees in writing.

  • Human resources planning: Planning constitutes the foundation of administrative functions of organizations. Planning is the assignment of resources necessitated after the determination of the vision and the mission that is followed by figuring out the functional goals and related strategies following. Likewise, human resources planning is a process in which the employees, being appropriately qualified and sufficient in number, are: benefited at available timing and in accordance with their abilities; trained and developed in compliance with the needs of the organization; and evaluated, awarded, and given the conditions to carry out productive work. If a failure occurs in the human resources planning, the turnover scale in work force might increase or there might be an overbalance in the number of employees. IKSV pays high attention to planning. It retains the cadre of 80 people and does not extend this number unless it is necessary. The turnover scale in NPOs of today varies from 15 to 30%. For example, European Cultural Foundation (ECF), which operates cultural projects since 1954, declared its turnover scale as 15.8% [12]. When IKSV is concerned, it is around 5%, which shows how IKSV is successful in human resources planning.

  • Strengthen the organizational culture: Organizational culture is an assembly of thoughts that a group discovers, establishes, or improves to solve the problems that it faces during the adaptation to the external environment and union with the internal environment [13]. Each group has its own values, norms, beliefs, and goals. The fact that the employees are attached to the organizational norms and that they have common values which constitute the organizational culture. The managers undertake the most significant role in the employees’ readiness to embrace organizational culture. Arranging orientation programs for newcomers and socialization events for the staff are one of HRM operations and it is the human resources director who makes the employees adjusts themselves to the organization. The human resources department at IKSV was established in 2009. However, there has not been a quantitative survey conducted to evaluate the level at which the employees adjust themselves to the organizational culture since 2009. The qualitative evaluations revealed that each employee is attached to the institutional values. This result could be interpreted as a deficiency in terms of HRM. During the interview, however, the human resources director indicated that they had realized it and that they are planning to carry out a survey which would evaluate the characteristics of IKSV personnel at the second half of 2017 [9]. The survey is aimed at finding out the level at which employees are adapted to the organizational culture and to what degree they embrace it in quantitative terms.

  • Interpersonal relations: Interpersonal relation is an important outcome organizational communication. Organizational communication is established in order to achieve organizational goals and to accomplish objectives. There are two ways to generate international relations. The first one is the formal communication that is defined through the hierarchical structure within the organization. The second one is not formal and it occurs among the employees free from their positions [14]. The most important tool of organizational culture is to regulate relations and make the organizational goals meet the individual goal on common grounds. HRM builds up the formal communication through job analysis in order to improve interpersonal relations. The communication that is not formal can also be controlled by HRM. Events that are arranged within the organization, educational programs, which are open to all employees and similar HRM activities are supposed to contribute to the development of interpersonal relations. To illustrate, IKSV carries out educational programs with the participation of whole staff in order to advance interpersonal relations.

  • Goal setting: Goal setting theory was introduced by Edwin Locke in 1968 and it approaches toward the reason of behavior as the individual’s conscious aims and intentions. Aims have three features: clarity, difficulty, and commitment degree. Some research show that goals liberate individuals and lead them to success while some reveal that difficult goals cause stress and prevent the individual from concentrating on things other than the goal. Instead of such contradictions, goal setting theory is supported by many researches [15]. IKSV designates job targets to its employees in accordance with the strategic plan. It tests to what degree these targets are achieved through performance analysis. Clear goals are better than unclear and general ones. Thanks to clear goals, the employees can be evaluated objectively.

  • Recruitment and selection: It can be observed that organizations follow different procedures during recruitment and selection processes. Therefore, it is difficult to define an ideal and one type of recruitment process. Each organization manages the process in accordance with its set of regulations. As indicated in its human resources policies, IKSV defines its general expectations from the candidates as follows: “In line with the importance given to the dissemination of arts and culture on the local and international level, the Foundation expects its employees to be interested in issues of arts and culture, have a good command of foreign languages (primarily English) and good communication skills” [10]. The foundation first tries to supply the vacant positions with internal resources, and if it fails external ones are consulted. When successful applicants are invented for an interview, they take the personality inventory test. The first interview is conducted by the human resources director and the features that are examined are: personality traits and competences, professional sufficiency, sectorial knowledge, organizational compatibility, physical well‐being required by the position, and foreign language levels. Candidates who receive positive feedback have the second interview with the departmental executives. They are examined for a second time in terms of personality and professional traits. Candidates who are deemed to be successful at the end of both interviews are recruited. The fact that the foundation applies personality inventory tests during the process is important as it shows how the aspect of organizational behavior is taken into consideration.

  • Orientation: The orientation programs to which the newcomers participate are crucial in terms of organizational communication and adaptation process. IKSV leads the orientation programs in two different sections: the ones designed for the field personnel and others for the permanent personnel. The former lasts for 2 days, during which job descriptions are reviewed and the participants are introduced with the general structure of the foundation and the managers whom they are going to work with. What is more, the field personnel are trained about how the work operates by the human resources department. On the other hand, the permanent personnel members are introduced with the organization and details about their own departments during the orientation process. They start working officially after meeting their colleagues and they spend 2 hours working with each department head at IKSV within the first week.

  • Performance appraisal: Performance appraisal is one of the important elements of a successfully organized HRM system. Performance appraisals of today are based on competence. The traditional evaluation tests used to be short‐termed. They predicated on results and rewarding system. Competence‐based performance appraisal, however, is related to the future of the organization. It is long‐termed and oriented toward development. It is an incontrovertible fact that the organizational success comes forth provided that each employee, from senior executives to the workers at lowest rank, performs above a certain level. IKSV has developed a combined performance appraisal system using both traditional and modern approaches. That system evaluates two basic categories: job objectives and competences. Therefore, they can identify the strengths and weaknesses of the employees. The performance evaluation forms consist of three main parts: job profile, job objectives, and competences. The job profile part should find out whether the employee takes the responsibilities required by the job. The part on job objective is divided into two: the objective determined in accordance with the strategic planning and the individual’s objective within his own routine. That second part designates to what level the objectives are fulfilled. The third and the last part is also divided as general competences and managerial competences. Each article of the test is scored between 1 and 7. First, the employees evaluate themselves and later they are evaluated by their managers. The fact that the evaluation is not handled solely by a top executive prevents subjectivity from getting involved into the process. IKSV thinks that objectivity in performance appraisal plays an important role in organizational success.

  • Motivation: Motivation is defined as employees’ behaving according to their desires and wishes in order to achieve their goals [16]. It plays a significant role in leading the behavior in a specific situation to fulfill needs and reach goals. Motivation needs to be considered as a continuous process rather than a mission to be completed. The motivation resources of employees working at NPOs are different from those at for‐profit organizations. Although financial rewarding motivates the individuals, the employees at NPOs are not in need of such rewarding as their senses of social responsibility are predominating. IKSV generates motivation by means of career development, educational opportunities, promotions, participation to culture and art affairs, and seminars abroad in addition to financial rewards.

  • Training and development: Organizations need to make constant effort to improve themselves so that they can benefit from their employees effectively. That becomes possible when educational programs to advance the abilities of the staff are arranged and when they are evaluated and provided with counseling in terms of their performances when needed. It is possible to consider training as individual, organizational, and managerial advancement. Individual trainings aim to increase the possibility of reaching goals and it is the process during which the behavior, knowledge, skills, and motivations of employees are changed and improved. Organizational trainings constitute the whole of managerial tools whose purpose is to contribute to the activities, effectiveness, and productivity of the organization. If management is development, then managerial training is the course in which managers acquire experience, skills, and achievement to stay as successful leaders of the organization [15]. IKSV arranges its training programs by approaching it from three different angles. In addition, IKSV offers trainings that are open to everyone and it aims to give voice to different views by inviting experts from different disciplines as speakers (journalists, economists, etc.). Individual trainings are organized more often according to the results of performance appraisal. Likewise, organizational trainings are related to the outcomes of performance analysis and they are operated with the full participation of the staff. If there is any weakness in the managerial and organizational outcomes that are detected among most of the employees, trainings are initiated about the subject. To illustrate, in case there occurs a problem about time management, trainings are formed according to that. The foundation does not direct the trainings to employees with weak performance only but it counts everyone in to reinforce their improvement. The managerial development trainings for senior executives are in form of coaching practices. IKSV runs training programs for the personnel from the field as well. The trainings provided should not be seen as limited to job descriptions or occupational safety. The foundation gives importance to the fact that trainings contribute to field personnel’s career and future occupations. For instance, in 2016, they were offered a training program in which they learned how to treat people who are visually impaired.

  • Career management: Career management is a form of planning for career development practices, for helping employees analyze their competences and interests. Starting a career is one of the important needs of the employees and it can be used as a tool in the realization of organizational objectives and goals. In organizations where career management is not used effectively employees do not see a future for themselves and they tend to leave the organizations, which also has an influence on organizational efficiency, productivity, and performance [2]. A lot of organizations today run their career management plans by using different methods. IKSV actively operates its career management practices. Training is also a part of career management but apart from that, IKSV offers mentoring, coaching, and job rotation within the scope of career management. Mentoring practices are operated as a project with the support of European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) Turkey and cross mentoring is applied to five culture and art organizations located in Istanbul. The project, as a new experience both for the mentee and the mentor, contributes to career development. The other career management practice is coaching, which is still being planned by the foundation and will be carried out with the support of professionals from different sectors. It is thought that coaching will bring be beneficial for establishing different disciplines and standpoints. Job rotation is, however, frequently applied within the foundation. IKSV is going to consult job rotation method during the activities run within the year. Personnel mobility comes up depending on the intensity of the activities. For example, a staff member working in Istanbul Design Biennale team might take place Istanbul Film Festival if there is no workload for the former or when if it is still being planned. Another example is the mobility among administration and activity departments. Someone in charge of recruitment and training operations at human resources department might be given the responsibility to coordinate artists’ assistants throughout a month at Istanbul Biennale.

  • Wage management: Wage management is a process that involves establishing a payment system which is rightful and accepted by the employees, which motivates the employees and attracts efficient ones and which strengthens their organizational commitment while keeping the expenses at an optimum level. Wage management at organizations includes seniority subsidy, efficiency‐based payment, performance‐based payment, profit share model, premium and bonus model, etc. Since IKSV is a nonprofit organization, its financial sources are limited, and therefore, it does not have an operating wage management.

  • Occupational health and safety: Occupational health and safety are two different concepts but they constitute a whole which aims to protect the health and lives of the employees by avoiding professional dangers like occupational illnesses and accidents. Occupational health stands for rules needed to maintain a healthy environment while occupational safety means abolishing every threat against the employee’s well‐being and physical integrity with the help of required technical rules [17]. IKSV regularly carries out that operation of HRM. It was observed that all precautions are taken and that units and practices for occupational health and safety exist. Both the permanent personnel and the field personnel are trained about security by experts. They learn how to behave and what to do in cases of emergency like natural disasters, terror attacks, accidents, and other possible risks by experts of occupational health and safety.

  • Industrial relations: As the foundation does not take place in a union, a related observation could not be made on that article.

Advertisement

5. Conclusion

HRM supports basic elements helping organizations reaching their goals. The main resource of organizations is human beings and organizations cannot exist without them. They are needed by each unit at the organizational schemes of organizations and HRM meets the need for human factor. To what extent HRM fulfills its duties and responsibilities affects the success of units and accordingly of the organization directly. HRM needs to observe the organizational behavior outcomes closely. Internal environment factors are as important as external ones in providing organizations with sustainability. Once human resources planning is established through a correct analysis of organizational behavior outcomes, the internal environment is kept at balance and that contributes to organizations’ sustainability. While for‐profit organizations consider employees as the physical capital, they are the most important parts of an organization and the most critical stakeholders to NPOs. It is a contradictory situation to observe that organizations giving high importance to human factor are weak in terms of HRM. The NPOs that are effectively practicing the aforementioned 14 articles of HRM prioritize the outcomes of organizational behavior. However, studies that are completed so far are based on qualitative observations. The quantitative studies of HRM practices are limited to the tests that candidates take during the recruitment process. Even though performance appraisals are considered to be quantitative, they are often shaped subjectively mainly with the evaluations of executives at a lot of organizations. It has been observed that the aspect of behavior is prioritized at the foundation whose HRM roles are examined. The plan to evaluate the outcomes of organizational culture, organizational commitment, leadership, and motivation outcomes quantitatively has been completed and it is going to be implemented. What is more, career management is effectively executed at the foundation which gives importance to both organizational and individual values. When employees are supported by trainings, mentorship, and coaching programs, a quantitative increase in motivation, emotional attachment, and adaptation to the organizational culture are observed.

When the organization is examined according to the HRM types indicated by Ridder and McCandless [6], its way of operating corresponds to value‐driven HRM and motivational HRM. They both exhibit low focus on the strategic orientation and a high emphasis on the human resource base. In addition, administrative HRM, just like strategic HRM, exhibits high focus on the strategic orientation IKSV, and they both exhibit a low focus on human resource base.

The evaluations made about the foundation could not be tested empirically. The fact that human resources practices cannot be related to quantifiable values such as growth, productivity, and efficiency and that there are not explanatory models in that context are deficiencies within the fields of organizational culture and HRM. Regardless of those limitations, it was observed that IKSV carries out the basic HRM roles professionally when it is investigated as an NPO and in terms of variety in culture and art activities and NPO. It was detected that the missing parts were being substituted within the scope of human resources planning. The HRM practices of the foundation are exemplary for other NPOs.

References

  1. 1. Panzaru S. The role of human resource management in integration of staff in organizations. Review of General Management. 2016;23(1):58–64
  2. 2. Tunçer P. Career management in the understanding of changing human resources management. Ondokuz Mayis Universitesi Egitim Fakultesi Dergisi. 2012;31(1):203–233
  3. 3. Liao K, Huang I. Impact of vision, strategy, and human resource on nonprofit organization service performance. Procedia‐Social and Behavioral Sciences. 2016;224:20–27. DOI: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.05.395
  4. 4. Akingbola K. Strategy and HRM in nonprofit organizations: Evidence from Canada. The International Journal of Human Resource Management. 2006;17(10):1707–1725. DOI: 10.1080/09585190600964350
  5. 5. Brandel GA. The truth about working in not‐for‐profit. CPA Journal. 2001;71(10): 13
  6. 6. Ridder H, McCandless A. Influences on the architecture of human resource management in nonprofit organizations: An analytical framework. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. 2010;39(1):124–141. DOI: 10.1177/0899764008328182
  7. 7. IKSV. Main Objectives [Internet]. Available from: http://www.iksv.org/en/aboutus/mainobjectives [Accessed: 27 February 2017]
  8. 8. IKSV. Annual report [Internet]. Istanbul; 2015. Available from: http://www.iksftp.com/report/iksvfaaliyetraporu2015.pdf [Accessed: 27 February 2017]
  9. 9. Interview with human resources and administration department director Semin Aksoy and human resources specialist Eren Ertekin. IKSV Headquarter; 2017
  10. 10. IKSV. Human Resources Policies [Internet]. Available from: http://www.iksv.org/en/humanresources/hrrules [Accessed: 27 February 2017]
  11. 11. Glueck WF. Personnel: A Diagnostic Approach. Revised ed. Texas: Business Publications; 1978. 833 p
  12. 12. ECF. Annual Report 2015 [Internet]. Amsterdam; 2016. Available from: http://www.ecf-annual.org/2015/#full-annual-report [Accessed: 3 January 2017]
  13. 13. Shein EH. The role of the founder in creating organizational culture. Organizational Dynamics. 1983;12(1):13–28. DOI: 10.1016/0090‐2616(83)90023‐2
  14. 14. Muscalu E, Todericiu R, Fraticiu L. Efficient organizational communication – A key to success. Studies in Business and Economics. 2013;8(2):74–78
  15. 15. Yuksel O. Insan Kaynaklari Yonetimi [Human Resources Management]. 6th ed. Ankara: Gazi Kitabevi; 2007. 286 p
  16. 16. Kocel T. Isletme Yoneticiligi [Business Administration]. 16th ed. Istanbul: Beta Yayinlari; 2015. 855 p
  17. 17. Balkır ZG. The protection of right of occupational health and safety: Occupational health and safety organisation of the employer. Sosyal Guvenlik Dergisi. 2012;2(1):56–91

Written By

Beste Gökçe Parsehyan

Submitted: 23 November 2016 Reviewed: 27 March 2017 Published: 07 June 2017