South Shore Habitat for Humanity

 

The economic climate of 2008 had a dramatic impact on South Shore Habitat for Humanity (SSHH). The organization had experienced an increase in the number of families looking for assistance and a decrease in the amount of donations received.  In tough times, SSHH’s mission could not be more critical.  With more need and less resources, complicated by a previous year’s higher than average employee turnover, a focus on understanding the current situation was needed to allow the organization to make informed and effective decisions for the growth and survival of SSHH.  

Manifest Consulting was hired to create a strategic plan for the organization by first assessing the organization’s current state.  The methodology used in this strategic plan was based on the principals of Six Sigma and Lean.

The deliverables for this extensive project included:

  1. Survey Results Gathered from Board members, Staff and Key Volunteers within the Organization including a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) Analysis

  2. Define Characterizations of Top Six SSHH processes

  3. Identify Key Metrics for the Top Six Processes

  4. Create Action Plan to Fix Prioritized Issues

Completing this project and achieving its deliverables allowed SSHH to be much more effective and efficient in pursuit of its mission.  Some of the benefits SSHH gained by using Manifest Consulted included:

  1. Identification and correction of inefficiencies resulted in financial savings for the organization.

  2. A better understanding of the organization by staff and volunteers was achieved. Because each person understood their role and the role of others more clearly, the organization functioned more efficiently as a whole.

  3. SSHH experienced reduction in turnover of staff and volunteers because of new efficiency and employee buy-in.

  4. Concise list of roles and responsibilities facilitated bringing new employees up to speed quickly.

  5. Improved structure and a clear strategy provided clear path for SSHH to follow to effectively pursue its mission. Clear metrics were identified so that the organization can continue to measure its progress.

“I was very impressed with Jen’s high level of expertise, leadership, professionalism, and organization. She was great to work with.  Without her, I know that South Shore Habitat would not be as effective as we are today.   We certainly would not have the level of understanding of our organization or have a realistic and achievable strategy. “

- Jerry McDermott, then Executive Director, South Shore Habitat for Humanity