I design volunteer and member lifecycle systems for decentralised, multi-chapter organisations, so onboarding, recognition and handover stop depending on one overworked person.
38,000+ members · 31+ countries · 3 years building people systems inside a pan-European movement
Most of the organisations I work with are far smaller than that: a handful of chapters, a few dozen to a few hundred people.
🤎 What I Do
Organisations usually come to me with one of three problems. The work is always the same shape: find where people are falling through, design the process that catches them, then hand it over so it runs without me. It covers volunteers, interns and paid staff, because in these organisations the same people processes carry all three.
“People join, then quietly check out.”
What I build: join flows, onboarding paths, check-in and coaching loops, and training for the people who supervise volunteers, interns and staff.
What changes: a new person knows what they are doing in their first week. Someone notices when they go quiet, contract or no contract.
What I build: join flows, onboarding paths, check-in and coaching loops, and training for the people who supervise volunteers, interns and staff.
What changes: a new person knows what they are doing in their first week. Someone notices when they go quiet, contract or no contract.
“Someone steps down and the knowledge leaves with them.”
What I build: handover briefs, low-effort exit and transition forms, automated alerts, and follow-up routes that keep boards and incoming leads aligned.
What changes: a leadership change stops resetting the team, and what people learned stays in the organisation.
What I build: handover briefs, low-effort exit and transition forms, automated alerts, and follow-up routes that keep boards and incoming leads aligned.
What changes: a leadership change stops resetting the team, and what people learned stays in the organisation.
“Everything depends on one exhausted person.”
What I build: mapped people workflows, recognition rituals that run without chasing, and the light Notion, CRM and automation layer underneath them.
What changes: the process belongs to the organisation rather than to whoever happened to build it.
What I build: mapped people workflows, recognition rituals that run without chasing, and the light Notion, CRM and automation layer underneath them.
What changes: the process belongs to the organisation rather than to whoever happened to build it.
🤎 Cool Projects I’ve Worked on
Interns arrive to a named manager, not a blank page
Interns were leaving early because nobody owned them. I built a shared onboarding process with named managers and named HR contacts that keeps interns to the end of their engagement.
Works with one intern and one manager, and with 20 interns across several countries.
One member journey across 31 countries
Every chapter onboarded members its own way. I designed one member lifecycle framework, from first contact to exit, for 38,000+ members in 31+ countries, plus the governance and CRM requirements to run it.
Designed at 38,000+ members in 31+ countries. Can be scaled down for fewer national chapters.
Training leads who suddenly manage volunteers
Team leads were handed volunteers to manage with no training. I built a manual, templates and one to one training that gave them a repeatable volunteer management process.
From a lead with three volunteers to a movement across 30 countries. The manual gets shorter, the method does not.
Chapters apply for EU grants without waiting for headquarters
There was no shared system for grant applications. I built templates, a self-documenting tracker and coaching, so chapters apply for EU funding without waiting for headquarters.
From one chapter chasing its first small grant to dozens applying in parallel.
From nothing to a registered NGO with a working back office
They had no internal structure, no legal registration and no digital foundation. I built a ready-to-use operating model, supported the legal registration, and set up the digital workspaces. Result: a registered NGO with its structure written down and its back office running from day one.
Built for a brand new NGO. The same setup carries you to roughly 50 staff.
There was no shared volunteer management system and no team to run one. I built a distributed HR team of 30 volunteers across five sub-teams, so people work stopped sitting with one person and became a function with named owners.
From a first two person team up to 30 volunteers across five sub teams.
Not sure which one you need? That's what the call is for, bring one specific problem and we'll work out what's actually causing it, and whether you need outside help at all. Book a call
🤎 What Past Colleagues Say
“Ermal supported staff and volunteers through practical questions, sensitive situations and moments of transition, always with the aim of creating a more stable, fair and human working environment.”
- Francesca Romana D’Antuono, former Co-President @ Volt Europa
“Unstoppable is the word I'd use. Ermal has an entrepreneurial, go-getter attitude, and he turned it into an HR function that outlasted him.”
- Reinier van Lanschot, Member of the European Parliament, former Co-President @ Volt Europa
“Ermal is known for his genuine people-first approach and skill in guiding leaders through challenges. He has been key in supporting managers with daily leadership, driving change management, and fostering an inclusive, engaging workplace.”
- Tetske Welling, former General Secretary @ Volt Europa
🤎 Next Steps
If you have any questions, comments or concerns: hello@ermalasllani.eu
If you want to tell me about your team & see if it’d be a fit to work together: book.ermalasllani.eu
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