Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: A subjective account of what it's like to join an EA-aligned org without previous EA knowledge, published by lukasj10 on August 30, 2022 on The Effective Altruism Forum.
TL;DR
We (Healthier Hens (HH), a CE-incubated EA-aligned animal welfare charity) have hired a mid-career Country Manager for our operation in Kenya. He had no previous EA knowledge or experience. We asked him 15 questions about his experience entering the EA world, learning about the key concepts and the community in general. This post is an overview of his subjective experiences including overarching themes such as what seemed common and different. Some of the benefits felt upon entering EA and his perspective on EA awareness and community. Finally, we reflect on the above from the organisation's standpoint.
Introduction
After having chosen our pilot country of operations, we hired a Country Manager (CM) based in Kenya, to lead our efforts on the ground. Despite having previous experience working in the humanitarian and animal welfare sectors, he had no previous knowledge of Effective Altruism (EA). We thought that learning about his experience jumping into the EA world could be useful for other EA-aligned orgs hiring externally and upcoming ones, considering what challenges it could bring.
We carried out a semi-structured interview, asking 15 questions (plus follow-ups) to understand what his experience was like as an applicant and employee. This post is a summary of the responses that our questions elicited, presented under the umbrella of several overarching themes that had come up. Readers are advised that this is a highly subjective account of early professional engagement with EA concepts and working principles. We are, however, very keen on encouraging other orgs that have gone through similar hiring processes to engage their new employees with similar inquiries to better understand how we can transition more smoothly, since the focus on attracting talent is definitely here to stay.
Differences and similarities - the before and after
Among notable differences between regular non-profit programs and those stemming from EA, the focus on positive impact in the (at least relative) long-term stood out. Having seen several short-term interventions come and go in the region, our CM is inspired by the community's attempts to seek measurable and quantifiable ways to achieve change. In the case of Animal Welfare (AW), he was yearning for solutions going beyond one-dimensional, 5-year “band-aid solution” interventions. EA thinking of how to have a long-lasting, multigenerational effect with positive flow through effects made sense, even when considering the experiences and frustrations of conventional NGO stakeholders.
Using the ITN framework was also a fresh breath of air - our CM found regular interventions reliant on emotions and public opinion far too often. Data should permit arriving at better decisions. This was a major motivator when considering applying for the job. Despite counterfactuals being a new concept to the entire animal welfare community in Kenya, the more he had learnt about it, the more he wanted to help lead an organisation that could potentially have a positive impact on millions of hens worldwide. A surprising discovery for him was to find out that Open Wing Alliance (OWA) is part of the EA community. It then made great sense why the group advocates for the cage-free transition, and how impactful that can be.
Regarding the recruitment process, our CM found it surprisingly thought-provoking and useful - each part of it taught him even more about the organisational concept and ultimate final impact that we seek. In past recruitment experiences, there were practically no stages based on theoretical or project management skills, with most focus on face-to-face discussions. He experie...
