Board wants to survey staff? It never ends well

• Date: 01 January 2015
• Published date: 01 January 2015
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/ban.30012

Editor: Jeff Stratton

Supplement

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Board wants to survey staff? It never ends well

Nonprot consultant Terrie Temkin (CoreStrat-

egies for Nonprots, Inc.) thinks the board is on

the verge of a big mistake when it wants to survey

nonprot staff about the CEO’s performance.

“It happens all the time, and usually when it

happens, the executive is terminated,” she said.

When the board surveys staff about the admin-

istrator, it is often looking for excuses to terminate

the executive director, Temkin said.

What ensues is a “perfect storm.” “The survey

gives any staff with a bone to pick the perfect op-

portunity,” she said.

This type of staff survey should not be confused

with a 360-degree review of the administrator, Tem-

kin said. This performance evaluation tool can work

ne when the board and staff understand that the

360-degree review is not a witch hunt, but designed

to improve everything the organization does, she said.

When the board surveys staff behind the admin-

istrator’s back, staff hear the board’s subtle mes-

sage and the result is “I can now vent on everything

I have ever been angry about,” Temkin said. ■

Exec’s benets have IRS Form 990 implications

Most boards provide the executive director with

benets. Certain benets trigger Form 990 report-

ing issues that must be handled properly to avoid

IRS scrutiny.

“Decipher the Form 990 Sections on Compen-

sation Reporting,” a Consultancellc.com article,

denes a working condition fringe as “any property

or service provided to an employee to the extent

that if the employee paid for it, the payment would

be a deductible business expense.”

Examples of a working condition fringe include

the value of an employee’s business use of an

employer-provided automobile and business use

of a cell phone provided to an employee, Consul-

tancellc.com said.

“Directors and trustees are treated as employees

for purposes of the working condition fringe provi-

sions,” said Consultancellc.com.

For more information, go to http://goo.gl/

hraUUB. ■

January 2015 Vol. 31, No. 5

Sound relationships take trust, time

Rachel Hutchisson, writing in “The Keys to a

Great Nonprot CEO/Board Relationship,” makes

the case that trust and time are integral to making

the relationship work.

“At the core of any good relationship is the ability

for the parties involved to trust each other,” Hutchis-

son writes. “Trust is built from mutual respect, com-

mitment and an understanding of each other’s roles.”

It also takes time for relationships to work,

Hutchisson writes: “You can’t expect the CEO and

the board to get along and know each other well if

they don’t spend time together, working and also

simply kicking back and getting a sense of each

other as people.”

For more information, go to http://goo.gl/

iCC6vE. ■