Creating leadership pipeline for NGOs difficult

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Exceptional non-governmental organisations (NGOs) rely on exceptional leaders. In the Indian social sector, a senior team’s competence is often the make-or-break factor in an organisation’s ability to make strides toward such ambitious goals as providing equitable healthcare, ensuring high quality education for children, or providing access to safe water and basic sanitation. Yet widespread doubts persist about whether there is sufficient investment in NGO leadership teams to achieve these important outcomes.

Against this backdrop, The Bridgespan Group, with support from Omidyar Network, undertook what we believe is the first data-driven study of NGO leadership development in India: “Building the Bench at India NGOs: Investing to Fill the Leadership Development Gap.”

Surveying approximately 250 leaders from Indian NGOs and the Indian offices of international NGOs, the study looked into NGOs’ efforts to strengthen their leaders’ skill sets and build their leadership bench. This is the fourth in a series of key findings:

Confidence in leadership’s capabilities dips then rises with growth
As NGOs reach more than 50 full-time employees, the need to build a leadership pipeline becomes critical

“Growing pains” occur when expanding Indian NGOs can no longer rely on one leader and must therefore create a stronger senior team. This inflection point typically shows up at 50 or more full-time employees, where confidence in all leadership pipeline activities wanes.

Yet as NGOs push beyond 100 full-time employees, many acquire the confidence and skills to build their leadership development capacity. That encompasses the ability to develop, retain, recruit, and transition leaders.

This is the fourth chart of a 10-part series from The Bridgespan Group. Read the introductory post here. Watch this space for a new chart of their survey findings every Friday. Click here to view the first, second and third chart of the series

Pritha Venkatachalam is a partner with The Bridgespan Group in Mumbai and co-author of the report, 'Building the Bench at Indian NGOs'. Danielle Berfond is a Bridgespan Group manager and co-author of the same report.