Expectations and Experiences of Young Nonprofit Employees: Toward a Typology

Abstract

Nonprofit organizational performance depends heavily on the work experiences and job satisfaction of the employees. Pressures to be more competitive in a diverse market of social services and health care providers, however, often drift the organizational attention away from the workforce. This exploratory analysis focuses on employees who have been recruited to entry-­‐level positions (jobs for university graduate students that require no or only little prior experience) in German Free Welfare Associations (FWAs). Through qualitative interviews with 28 employees, aged 23 to 35, their expectations, work experiences and consequent levels of job satisfaction have been studied and analyzed. Findings show that their initial expectations of working in FWAs often do not match the reality of the workplace. A typology of young employees is advanced that will enable FWAs to achieve a better fit between the employees’ personal needs and the organizational setting.