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3D Making the Most of Your Volunteers
- 1. making the most of your volunteers
- 2. Volunteering…………………. • encourages civic participation and demonstrates active citizenship • is an expression of the individual's freedom to choose • is unwaged and benefits from being a reciprocal gift relationship that meets the needs of organisations and volunteers • promotes inclusion and should be open to all • enables people and communities to influence and contribute to social change • works best when it is guided by good practice
- 3. key principle number one: the nature of volunteering • Volunteering involves an active commitment • Whatever the volunteer’s original motivation, the benefits of their voluntary activity are felt beyond the volunteer and his/her immediate family • There can be no element of compulsion or coercion in volunteering • Volunteering is essentially unpaid. While reimbursing out-of-pocket expenses is good practice, giving or receiving payment for work creates a different kind of relationship
- 4. key principle number two: volunteering is a two way relationship: Resources, training, welcome, insurance, support, expertise... Flexibility, skills, community involvement, ideas, diversity... Ideas, contacts, enthusiasm, time, skills, experience... Recognition, friendship, fun, skills, experience...
- 5. key principle number three: volunteers have a unique contribution to make
- 6. • Recruiting volunteers is a chance to refresh and reinvigorate your organisation • remember, most people who don't currently volunteer say that they would……if they were asked
- 7. questions to ask beforehand: • (why) does the organisation want to involve volunteers? • what does the organisation want volunteers to do? • what qualities/skills does the organisation want the volunteer to have? • how will the organisation find volunteers? • how will the organisation select which volunteers they want? • how will the organisation manage volunteers after selection?
- 8. what makes a good work experience? • Working conditions - a safe, clean physical environment; good facilities (kitchen, crèche etc.) for staff; a pension scheme; opportunities for relevant training. • The work itself - work that is interesting and meaningful; a clearly defined area of responsibility; work which matches your abilities; being involved in planning and organising your own work. • Management procedures - a manager who takes time to discuss your work with you; a process for airing grievances; a clear contract and terms and conditions. • Relationships with colleagues - a spirit of co-operation among staff; opportunities to socialise with colleagues; outside pressures and circumstances being acknowledged.
- 9. why do volunteers leave?
- 10. the key headings of good volunteer management • induction • ‘settling in period’ and review • training • code of practice/guidelines • support and supervision • procedures for dealing with difficult situations
- 11. Their niceness will let you recruit a volunteer for the first time, but only your competence will let you keep them. McCurley & Lynch
- 12. supervise the task………support the person • monitoring work and work performance • evaluating work and work performance • clarifying priorities • identifying training needs • discussing the volunteering task and responsibilities • providing a framework for agreement on change • improving confidence and competence in doing the work • sharing perceptions on how the work is progressing • recognising and dealing with problems • focus on the person • set up an environment where volunteers can express themselves • combat isolation which sometimes accompanies some volunteer roles • help resolve problems, usually of a personal nature • help a volunteer feel good about what they are doing and show that they are valued
- 13. what can support look like? • Offering advice - Sharing your ideas on what would be the best course of action for them to take, based on your own experience • Giving information - Providing volunteers with the information they need in a particular situation (e.g. role description, relevant contacts etc.) • Direct action - Doing something on behalf of the volunteer and relieving pressure; • Training - Helping someone to acquire knowledge and skills • Changing systems - Working to influence and improve systems which cause difficulty for volunteers - working on organisational development rather than with individuals • Personal support - Helping volunteers to explore problems and alternative ways of dealing with them • Facilitating mutual support - Enabling volunteers to support each other (e.g. group support, buddying) • Supervisory support - Giving feedback on volunteer performance
- 14. Volunteer Centre Liverpool, 151 Dale Street, Liverpool L2 2AH 0151-237 3975 training@volunteercentreliverpool.org.uk www.volunteercentreliverpool.org.uk
Editor's Notes
- The first key value is about the nature of volunteering. While it is often useful to think about volunteering in the broadest sense - as any community activity or as active citizenship - there are times when we need a clearer definition of volunteering. For instance, when we are undertaking practical tasks, such as formulating policy and procedures for volunteer involvement within our organisation or group, it is important to be able to state clearly to whom such policy and procedures apply.
- Volunteering has been defined as... “the commitment of time and energy for the benefit of society and the community, the environment or individuals outside (or in addition to) one’s immediate family. It is unpaid and undertaken freely and by choice.”
- The traditional view is that volunteers make a gift of their time, without any desire or expectation of getting anything out of the process. Although the element of altruism is felt by many to be an essential ingredient in volunteering, this ‘one-way’ relationship is no longer seen as either realistic or useful by many of those with a direct involvement in volunteering. Instead, volunteering is understood as a relationship that, like most relationships, requires both parties to put something into the process in order to receive mutual benefits. On this basis, the organisation has a clear responsibility to plan and manage the way in which it involves volunteers in order to maximise the potential benefits to all concerned - the organisation itself, its clients and the volunteers.
- If we think about... • the sorts of roles or functions that volunteers fulfil in your organisation. • how volunteers contribute to the achievement of the organisation’s objectives. • the relationship of volunteers to paid staff, and to your service-users. • what, if anything, your mission statement or constitution says about volunteers. Look at the reasons you have listed and consider if they pass the following ‘ideal world’ test: In this particular ‘ideal world’, the needs your organisation deals with still exist, but there is limitless money to spend on meeting those needs. Do the reasons you have listed mean that there would still be a place for volunteers within your organisation?
- So, in order to maximise the opportunity to make the most out of the volunteering experience for organisation, volunteers and beneficiaries alike, it is vital that we ask ourselves some key questions in advance of going out to recruit. The answers to these questions will help you formulate a volunteer recruitment plan, and a framework by which you can judge success (or otherwise), and tweak things either as you go along, or for subsequent rounds of recruitment. (See separate notes handout……………….)
- So, let’s think about what we look for in our ideal job, given that the work itself may still be difficult or pressured. Let’s think about what makes a good work experience - what we value and what makes us feel valued. (bullet points) Now let’s flip it round, thinking of the things that you find unacceptable in paid work. How many of them do volunteers experience on a regular basis? Are these things any more acceptable for unpaid workers than for paid workers? (I don’t think that needs an answer…….)
- It can be useful when thinking about how best to support our volunteers effectively, to consider some of the common reasons why volunteers leave, and volunteer turnover becomes comparatively high. Remember, there are solutions to each of these, and if the solution is in place before the problem, then the problem can be managed effectively and minimised
- So, these are the basic procedures that every volunteer-involving organisation needs to address. Ideally you should decide how you will approach each of these areas before you start to involve volunteers and have them written into a clear volunteer policy - that way everyone knows what to expect from the start. It can also be helpful to provide each new volunteer with a written Volunteer Agreement, summarising some basic information on these procedures. However, it is never too late to improve your practice and procedures. Just remember that some volunteers and staff may need more help and encouragement to adapt to change than others!
- Supervision is described as, “A way of monitoring a volunteer’s performance to help them benefit from their placement, to make sure they are carrying out tasks appropriately, encourage problem solving and provide guidance.” . The main functions of supervision are: (see list on slide) Support has been defined as, “The interest, understanding and care which is provided for volunteers, which keeps them going all the time and additionally in times of crisis and enables them to satisfy their needs and those of the organisation.” You will probably find that you are already fulfilling many of the functions of support and supervision, although it may be in an unstructured and informal rather than a systematic way. Aim to develop a systematic approach to volunteer support and supervision, combining a variety of activities and options which are suitable to the needs of your particular organisation and volunteers. The overall system needs to be capable of fulfilling all the functions listed above
- Support for volunteers can be offered in both formal/structured ways (e.g. induction, training, one to one meetings and/or group support meetings) and informal/unstructured ways (e.g. by listening and communicating with your volunteers on a daily basis). We can distinguish between eight broad types of support that may be offered through these and other activities. These can be: (see list)