July 24, 2008 | Read Time: 6 minutes
In the world of retail department stores, where I worked before retiring, one thing is for certain, and that is change. In fact, the president of the former Federated Department Stores, my final employer, frequently said, “If you don’t like change, get off the bus.” I loved it and rode the bus for more than 24 years.
As a human-resources executive, I was involved in all aspects of the business. To be an effective selector of talent, I needed to understand how the retail industry worked. As a director of training, I was responsible for executive development and spent time with the top-rated executives and learned how they became so successful. I was involved in three mergers and learned the critical importance of organizational culture to the success of such unions.
But in 2002, when my corporate division reorganized its senior staff, I re-evaluated my career and decided it was finally time to get off the bus. I left the retail world and decided to do something I had not had much time to do while working long hours — offer my services to nonprofit groups.
Today, at 52, I work as a volunteer consultant for the Nonprofit Resource Center, operated by the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, in Florida. Over the past two years, I have helped charities by redesigning an employee-compensation program, developing new performance-appraisal processes, and organizing a board strategic-planning session.
I miss some parts of the corporate world — including the paycheck — but I love being able to work on projects I care about, decline those I am not interested in, and take time to travel leisurely with my husband.
My journey here began when I was senior vice president of human resources in the Rich’s/Lazarus/Goldsmith’s division of Federated, in Atlanta, a position I held for the last 11 years of my career. Shortly after my arrival there, I met Carol Reiser, divisional vice president of community affairs — a relationship that led me to the nonprofit world.
Carol and a few other visionary executives had recently created Partners in Time, an employee volunteer program, which taught me and colleagues about the important role that nonprofit groups play within our community. The projects were well organized, materials were provided by the company, and employees and their families were asked only to give their time.
My nonprofit education continued as Carol and I discussed the idea of getting executives to join nonprofit boards. I loved the idea. This would give us a chance to further develop the skills of our executives while supporting Atlanta’s nonprofit community. I joined the board of the Partnership against Domestic Violence, a nonprofit organization that ran two local shelters for abused women and their children.
My world changed in more ways than one in 2002. Carol was also planning to retire, and we were excited about our lives outside of “the job.” But within six months of our departure, I received a call telling me that Carol had suddenly passed away from a virus at the age of 50. That was change that I could not even imagine.
After so many years of work in the retail business, the thought of leaving it was a bit scary. But my husband and I decided to take the plunge and relocate to Sarasota. After getting settled, I could feel Carol sitting on my shoulder as I began to re-evaluate what I wanted to do with my time and skills.
When I first arrived in town, I got involved with a nonprofit group and spent a year working with its auxiliary group and related events. But something was missing. The work was mundane — stuffing envelopes or organizing tables for events. I was not using the skills I had developed in my professional career. I wanted to do more. I am sure leaving the business world before I was even 50 contributed to that feeling.
I explored doing paid human-resources consulting but found getting started somewhat difficult. I did not want to travel, and I wanted to work on assignments that were meaningful. I really missed the feeling of making a positive impact in the life of a person or organization.
I responded to a local newspaper ad for volunteer consultants by the Executive Service Corps of Manasota (serving Manatee and Sarasota counties). I was immediately contacted and took on a couple of projects for the group. I did not know much about the nonprofit world in Sarasota, but getting involved seemed like a good way to learn more about my new community.
In 2005, that Executive Service Corps chapter merged with the Community Foundation of Sarasota County’s Nonprofit Resource Center to create new volunteer consulting services to help strengthen local nonprofit groups. I had found a new home.
I love being able to use my skills to help hard-strapped charities become more professional. A colleague and I recently chaired the development of the first Nonprofit Compensation and Benefits Survey within Sarasota and Manatee counties. We presented the major findings of the survey at a community forum. We received enormous positive feedback for giving nonprofit groups a local resource that they could trust. We know several executive directors used the information to get their staff members well-deserved pay raises.
I’ve learned that sometimes a volunteer consultant can help charities simply by being an objective listener. Offering another way to look at a situation or opportunity can be enormously helpful to an executive director or board chair.
Thinking back to the ever-changing retail world, I miss staying current with new business trends and how they affect human resources. Working for a major company, I was exposed to highly talented people who challenged me to develop my own professional skills — and I was able to attend seminars, hear nationally recognized speakers, and participate in professional conferences.
But I don’t miss the travel, attending more meetings than were really necessary, and having my time controlled by others.
And now I am learning new skills and following new trends — thanks to workshops and training sessions offered by the Nonprofit Resource Center in areas like governance, marketing, fund raising, and volunteer management. To offer high-quality services, we consultants need to stay on top of our game.
I also value the camaraderie that has developed among the volunteer consultants, who work on projects and committees together. I have made many friends.
I recommend finding a similar program, one that offers guidance and support, to others who are looking for a bridge as they move from the corporate world into a meaningful retirement.
One message for organizations: Today’s volunteers are seeking substantive work. Professionals have spent considerable time and money to develop their talent. Many skills, such as marketing, financial management, human resources, and information management, are easily transferred to the nonprofit world.
I like working with multiple groups because it offers variety. I can be working on a compensation project for a month or so and then be asked to conduct an organizational assessment the following month. I prefer that to serving on an individual nonprofit board because I value new challenges and change.
And of course, change is still a fact of life in retail. Federated Department Stores is now called Macy’s.
Kathie McManus Roberts volunteers as a consultant to the Nonprofit Resource Center of the Community Foundation of Sarasota, in Florida. She can be reached at kroberts@cfsarasota.org.
