How to have nonprofit corrective conversations without them feeling icky

6 min readMay 3, 2024

As a nonprofit leader, nurturing your team’s development is critical. However, it’s not just about occasional chats or random feedback. Nor is it about only talking to them when they’ve done something wrong. Instead, it’s about having purposeful discussions that empower your staff to grow.

First, let’s explore three types of growth conversations for nonprofit leaders: teaching, coaching, and corrective talks. Each serves a distinct purpose, but all can foster a culture of growth and improvement. Then, we will dive deeper into a three-step framework for having those disciplinary conversations in a way that doesn’t feel so icky for you or your employees. Because let’s be honest: You’ve probably not been taught how to do that.

3 Types of growth conversations to have with your nonprofit employees

Your job as a leader is to grow your staff and help them reach their full potential. They have so much more in them. They just might need you to help them see that and pull it out. To help you do that, you need to have the following three kinds of conversations to help your nonprofit staff grow and reach their full potential.

Teaching Conversations

You’ll need to teach your employees when they need to l earn something they don’t already know.

Taking time to teach your team members isn’t reserved for new hires. Sometimes, we must re-teach or update systems or procedures for more seasoned staff. It may also be something they missed when they were hired or had way too much thrown at them, in the beginning, to be able to retain it all.

Coaching Conversations

They may not know it exactly, but you’re helping them learn to learn, figure out how to figure it out and find out who can help them.

We often use the term coaching when we are correcting them

Coaching is a more comprehensive and ongoing process that helps staff reach their potential. It involves connecting your staff to their goals, strengths, and areas for growth and supporting them in creating and implementing action plans to achieve those goals. Coaching feels empowering to your team members.

Coaching is probably not a skill you’ve been taught but a skill you can learn. You may find the Comfortable Coaching Conversations training helpful to develop your coaching skills. You’ll find it in The Training Library.

Corrective Conversations

Corrective conversations are more focused and immediate discussions addressing specific issues or behaviours hindering individual or team performance. They involve providing feedback, addressing concerns, and discussing strategies for improvement in response to identified problems or shortcomings.

Corrective conversations are often initiated in response to observed or reported incidents, with the primary goal of resolving the issue and preventing recurrence.

I encourage you to reserve these for serious mistakes, offences or infractions.

Ok, now let’s learn the framework

The 3-step Framework for NON-ICKY Corrective Conversations

1 — Plan with Purpose

Before the conversation, be intentional.

Review this person’s strengths, story and style. Everyone is unique; you want to connect with that uniqueness in your head and heart.

Plan the outcome you want and start with the emotions
How do you want that person to feel after the conversation?

Beaten down? Probably not. Shameful? That’s probably not it, either.
What if they left feeling respected, supported, empowered, motivated, and engaged in their work?

Identify strengths you will use to create that outcome.

Where might you get hung up, triggered or struggle to maintain confidence or composure? How will you handle that? The more prepared you are, the more confident you’ll feel about handling the conversation.

Take time to write your script beforehand to address the issue clearly, concisely and confidently when it’s time.

I want to address [specific behaviour or issue] I’ve observed recently. For example, [provide specific examples]. We need to address this because [explain impact or consequences].
I need to address [specific behaviour] because it’s impacting [team dynamics/project outcomes/etc.]. When this happens, it can lead to [negative consequences], which we want to avoid.

2 — Connect and Then Correct

Do not jump into the correction as soon as you sit down. Connect first. This is a human with human feelings. They want to be seen and respected. You also want to build trust. Connecting before correcting is essential as it lays the foundation for a constructive dialogue between you and your employee.

👋🏻 Build rapport. Acknowledge that this is awkward for both of you.

Hey, how’s it going? Well, that’s a silly question to ask when we both know these aren’t the funnest conversations for either of us to have . I remember being on the receiving end once, and my stomach was in knots. I was so glad when it was over.
Hey there, thanks for taking the time to chat. I know these conversations aren’t always easy, but I’m here to support you. I’ve been in your shoes before, and I get how nerve-wracking it can be.
Hey, I hope you’re doing well. I understand that these conversations might not be the highlight of your day, but I’m here to make it as painless as possible. I’ve been in your position, and I know how important it is to feel heard and supported during these discussions.

When delivering the correction part of the conversation, get straight to the point by clearly and concisely stating the issue or behaviour that needs addressing. Avoid beating around the bush or sugarcoating the feedback. You’ve already scripted this sentence if you’ve done your planning part above.

Provide feedback based on observable actions or outcomes rather than making assumptions or judgments about the individual’s intentions or character. Always add context by explaining why it’s important and how it impacts the individual, the team, or the organization. Help the individual understand the consequences of the behaviour and the need for change.

3 — Nurture and Nudge

After the conversation, continuously support and guide the individual by providing gentle encouragement and direction to ensure sustained progress and development.

Ensure that in your following one-on-one meetings and whenever your paths cross, you provide regular feedback on their progress, acknowledging improvements and offering guidance on areas that still need attention.

People want to know that you care about them and their growth ⭐️

They need to feel that after corrective conversations. This ongoing commitment to them is part of the trust-building process.

Once you see the growth, you can shift into coaching conversations and help them reach the next steps as you help them grow, advance, and reach their full potential.

Final thoughts on nonprofit staff growth conversations

Corrective conversations don’t have to feel so icky. When you plan with purpose, connect before you correct, and then continue to nurture and nudge your employees, you’ll build trust, develop your team and feel much more confident having these conversations. Just remember to keep them limited. Spend more time coaching your employees than correcting them! And if you still need to learn how to coach, perhaps that’s your next growth path!