Date of Graduation

5-2012

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education in Workforce Development Education (EdD)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Rehabilitation, Human Resources and Communication Disorders

Advisor/Mentor

Hughes, Claretha

Committee Member

Stauss, Kimberly

Second Committee Member

Thompson, Dale R.

Keywords

Social science; Education; Executive leaders; Human resource capacity; Nonprofit human resources

Abstract

Researchers have predicted that within the next 5 to 15 years the nonprofit sector will undergo a dramatic loss in leadership due to baby boomers entering retirement, job transitions, and underdeveloped talent within nonprofit organizations. Effective leaders are critical in keeping these organizations running so that they can serve and provide much needed services, thus investing in their organizations is the key to keeping NPOs relevant in the future. Investing in training and development, intellectual capital, and succession planning are just a few of the human resource capacity building efforts that have been credited for helping to alleviate some of the pressures that are going to arise as a result of the increased growth of the nonprofit sector. The benefit of this study resides in its research potential to look further into predictive leadership characteristics that would assist nonprofit organizations in their selection of leaders. The following research questions were developed for further study of this issue:

1. To what extent is human resource capacity present in capacity building initiatives of nonprofit organizations and their community partners?

2. To what extent is training and development results actually used or desired by nonprofit organizations and their community partners?

3. What is the perception of the importance of human resource development based on the organizational strategies of nonprofit organizations and their community partners?

Answering these questions provides a starting point for human resource development professionals, NPO leaders, and researchers to enhance opportunities for addressing potential leadership shortages in the nonprofit sector.

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