Giving Compass' Take:

• Writing for India Development Review, Quest Alliance's Sylvia Priyanthi lists ways to give people more of a voice within a philanthropic organization, stressing the importance of co-creation and career support.

• How many of these practices do the orgs you work with implement? What can be improved upon? It's incumbent upon each institution to craft its own cultural norms, but basic steps — such as creating opportunities for feedback and goal-setting programs — should be easy to execute.

• When it comes to engaging with entrepreneurs, here are some next-level questions you can use.

The development sector in general believes that people are our biggest asset and that protecting and developing the team is a major challenge when scaling up. There is, however, one question that we still need to crack satisfactorily: How do we — and can we, indeed — maintain an organization’s culture while growing sustainably?

The ethos of a nonprofit is often driven by the value and vision of its founding members, who have to lead by example and allow that culture to cascade from the top. Allowing that culture to permeate through geographies and personalities requires a multifaceted approach that goes beyond a simple "strategy."

As we at Quest Alliance continue to develop ways to nurture our staff, here are some learnings from our journey so far.

1. Recruit for people, not roles
2. Make co-creation the norm
3. Develop multiple ways to articulate and share the organization’s culture
4. Create plenty of opportunities for honest feedback
5. Set clear expectations
6. Support individual career paths
7. Recognize great work
8. Understand staff needs
9. Walk the talk

Read the full article how to become a more people-centric organization by Sylvia Priyanthi at India Development Review.