Competency 3: Communication Reflection

I have the ability to communicate and interact productively with a diverse and changing workforce and citizenry.

Competency 3 Reflection: Communicating and Interacting with a Diverse and Changing Workforce

The nonprofit sector is defined by its diversity—diverse missions, diverse communities, and increasingly diverse workforces. Effective nonprofit leadership depends on the ability to communicate across differences, build trust, manage conflict, and cultivate environments where employees, volunteers, and stakeholders feel valued and heard. Competency 3 captures this essential component of nonprofit administration, emphasizing productive communication and interaction within diverse and evolving organizational contexts. My work in PAD 6417 (Human Resource Management) and PAD 6335 (Stakeholder Analysis) strengthened my understanding of how communication, culture, and stakeholder engagement directly influence organizational performance, staff well-being, and mission success.

Human Resource Management: Communication, Autonomy, and Inclusive Culture

The PAD 6417 Human Resource Management case study required analyzing organizational behavior concepts through the lens of George Orwell’s 1984 and Pearce and Sowa’s (2019) research on public and nonprofit personnel systems (Serrano-O'Neil, 2025). While the assignment used fictional dystopia as the point of entry, it revealed very real challenges that nonprofit leaders face when communication breaks down, autonomy is suppressed, or diversity of thought is discouraged. This assignment helped me reflect deeply on how communication, power, and culture shape the workforce experience.

A central theme from the assignment was the relationship between communication and autonomy. In 1984, Winston Smith’s loss of autonomy mirrors what can occur in nonprofit workplaces when leaders over-manage or fail to trust their teams. Pearce and Sowa (2019) emphasize that autonomy, psychological safety, and meaningful communication are essential for motivation, performance, and employee satisfaction. In my reflection paper, I analyzed moments in my career where I unintentionally created overly centralized processes, especially during my work in youth programming at UFCF. As I described in the case study, micromanaging curriculum, schedules, and volunteer workflows reduced creativity and led to burnout. Once I shifted toward student-led committees and peer accountability systems, communication opened up and participants flourished.

This experience strengthened my understanding of how inclusive leadership empowers a diverse workforce. Rather than relying on top-down directives, communication must be shared, participatory, and relational. Pearce and Sowa (2019) argue that emotionally intelligent leaders actively listen, share power, and align communication with organizational values. These insights helped me refine my leadership style to better support team autonomy, particularly in environments where staff bring diverse lived experiences, cultural backgrounds, and motivations.

The Human Resource Management assignment also underscored the importance of transparency. In the paper, I reflected on a time when UFCF entered a major partnership initiative with local governments. Leadership initially communicated only high-level information, resulting in confusion and hesitation among staff. After implementing communication audits, staff forums, and anonymous feedback mechanisms, alignment and trust improved significantly. This experience highlighted what HR literature consistently notes: that communication is central to equity, inclusion, and effectiveness in complex or diverse organizations (Pearce & Sowa, 2019).

Finally, the assignment highlighted the ethical dangers of excessive oversight and surveillance. Comparing modern monitoring systems to Orwell’s “Big Brother,” I discussed how overly intrusive systems—such as the initial tracking used in our mentoring program—made students feel scrutinized rather than supported. Modifying the system to emphasize dialogue, reflection, and coaching improved engagement. This reinforced the idea that communication practices must affirm dignity, particularly when working with diverse groups whose experiences with institutions may vary greatly.

Stakeholder Analysis: Understanding and Communicating Across Difference

The PAD 6335 Stakeholder Analysis provided a practical, organizationally grounded complement to the HRM concepts. This assignment required mapping UFCF’s stakeholders—board members, donors, collaborative partners, volunteers, local government, staff, and community members—and analyzing their mandates, interests, motivations, and influence on organizational decision-making (pp. 6–9; ). Conducting this analysis deepened my ability to communicate effectively and interact productively across multiple layers of diversity, including cultural diversity, generational diversity, socioeconomic difference, and role-based diversity.

One important lesson was understanding how communication must be tailored depending on the stakeholder. For example, the stakeholder analysis chart shows how donors such as Dr. Trisha Bailey and Zorida Pritipal-Manoo have financial, political, and emotional investment in the organization (p. 7). Their expectations require clear communication about impact, stewardship, and program outcomes. By contrast, partners such as Orange County Public Schools or the Children’s Home Society require communication grounded in policy compliance, collaborative planning, and service alignment.

The analysis also emphasized the importance of interdepartmental communication within a diverse workforce. The organizational chart and mandates section identify formal and informal expectations for staff—including cross-functional collaboration, cultural responsiveness, and role clarity (pp. 4–6). Conducting this analysis helped me see how communication systems can either support or hinder collaboration. If staff access information unevenly or if communication flows are unclear, frustration and inefficiency increase. This reinforces what Worth (2023) notes about nonprofit workforces: diverse teams thrive when roles, expectations, and communication channels are transparent and intentionally structured.

The environmental review section (pp. 1–3) also illuminated how diversity extends beyond internal stakeholders. UFCF operates in a multicultural region with shifting demographics, evolving donor preferences, growing technological needs, and socioeconomic disparities. Communicating effectively within such a context requires cultural competence—understanding how community identity, histories, and values influence engagement. The assignment helped me develop a more strategic lens for analyzing how external trends should shape internal communication practices.

Ultimately, conducting a stakeholder analysis strengthened my ability to diagnose communication gaps, anticipate stakeholder needs, and adapt my communication style across contexts. It also reinforced that stakeholder engagement is a form of inclusive communication: listening, understanding mandates, and aligning organizational decisions with stakeholder values.

Integrating Communication Skills Across Assignments and Practice

Together, the HRM case study and stakeholder analysis helped me master the ability to communicate and interact productively with a diverse and changing workforce. The HRM assignment emphasized internal communication—trust, autonomy, emotional intelligence, transparency, and ethical leadership. The stakeholder analysis emphasized external communication—identifying diverse audiences, interpreting their interests, and engaging them strategically.

These assignments also directly align with my professional experience. In my leadership roles at the United Foundation of Central Florida, I regularly interact with stakeholders whose backgrounds, expectations, and communication needs differ significantly. Staff come from varied cultural, professional, and generational backgrounds. Donors and partners range from grassroots community activists to government agencies and corporate leaders. Youth participants and families bring lived experiences shaped by socioeconomic challenges, cultural identity, and differing levels of trust in institutions. The ability to communicate effectively across these differences is essential to program success and organizational credibility.

Through these assignments, I developed a clearer understanding of how communication either strengthens or undermines mission-driven work. Effective nonprofit leaders communicate with cultural competence, humility, consistency, and intentionality. These skills are not just interpersonal—they are strategic tools that shape culture, influence decision-making, and determine organizational impact.

References

Orwell, G. (1949). 1984. Secker & Warburg.

Pearce, J. L., & Sowa, J. E. (2019). Organizational behavior: Real research for public and nonprofit managers. Melvin & Leigh.

Worth, M. J. (2023). Nonprofit management: Principles and practice (6th ed.). SAGE Publications.

Evidence Documents (Unpublished)

Serrano-O’Neil, J. (2025). Human Resource Management Orwell final paper [Unpublished manuscript].

Serrano-O’Neil, J., Jones, D., & Kamose, S. (2024). Stakeholder analysis: United Foundation of Central Florida [Unpublished manuscript].

PAD 6417 Human Resource Management 

Evidence: PAD 6417 Orwell Final Paper

PAD 6335 Strategic Planning and Management 

Evidence: PAD 6335 Stakeholder Analysis

I do not current possess the unannoted version of this assignment at this time which has resulted in the annotated version being uploaded here