This document discusses the skills, responsibilities, and impact of high performing volunteer leaders in hospice agencies. It outlines that volunteer leaders require skills in human resource management, customer service, training, commitment to quality, fiscal management, and community outreach. When volunteer leaders have these skills, they can impact agency operations, census growth, cost savings, innovative programs, community collaboration, and media/marketing. The document provides examples of performance measures and ways to document the value volunteer leaders provide through monthly reports and surveys. The overall message is that high performing volunteer leaders are essential to the success and sustainability of hospice agencies.

1. High Performing Volunteer
Leaders Get Results that
Impact the Entire Agency
NHPCO Management
Leadership Conference
2016

2. NCHPP Volunteer Management
Steering Committee Members
• Stacy Groff, MNM- Director of Volunteer Services, Tidewell
Hospice, Sarasota, FL, NCHPP Section Member,
sgroff@tidewell.org
• Sandi Huster, BA - Director, Volunteer Services and
Community Relations, Covenant Care, Pensacola, FL, NCHPP
Section Leader, sandi.huster@choosecovenant.org
• Arlene Stepputat, MA- Manager of Volunteer Services, Visiting
Nurse and Hospice Care, Santa Barbara, CA, NCHPP Section
Member, arlene.stepputat@vnhcsb.org

3. Show of hands…

4. Learning Objectives
• List knowledge, skills and expertise required of
a high performing volunteer leader.
• Identify results expected from a high
performing volunteer leader that will impact
your entire agency.
• Discuss measures for documenting and
reporting the value of a high performing
volunteer leader.

5. What’s the #1 Reason that
Volunteers Leave an Organization?
The Volunteer Leader Did
Not Know How to Lead!

6. What does it take to be a high
performing volunteer leader?

7. It’s not enough to look for a Volunteer
Leader who is outgoing and loves people…

8. Hospice Volunteer Program
Resource Manual
Members - $74.99 Non-Members - $89.99

9. Responsibilities of a High Performing
Volunteer Leader
Hospice Volunteer Program Resource Manual
Table of Contents
1. Standards and Regulations
2. Position Descriptions
3. Training
4. Competencies and Evaluations
5. Policies and Procedures
6. Forms
7. Program Development
8. Recruitment and Retention
9. Expanding the Hospice Volunteer Program – Growing Beyond the
5% Requirement
10. Resources

10. Skills Needed
1. Human Resource Management
2. Customer Service Representative
3. Trainer, Coach, Mentor
4. Commitment to Excellence – QAPI
5. Fiscal Management
6. Community Outreach Professional
7. Accountability

11. Human Resource Management
• May manage the largest number of staff
members in your organization
• Recruiters, trainers and supervisors
• Regulatory compliance, policies, procedures,
background checks, health screenings, training
requirements, competencies, evaluations, risk
management, safety and infection control

12. Customer Service Representative

13. Trainer, Coach and Mentor
• How comfortable are you on a scale of 1-10
with standing up in front of people and
educating/training them?
• Tell me about your experience with this in the
past.
• What’s the difference between a coach and a
mentor?
• Share a story about a time that you coached
or mentored someone.

14. Commitment to Excellence
• QAPI has been identified as a gap in
knowledge for volunteer leaders
• Requires real integration and removal of silos
• Volunteer leaders as professionals and
advocates for the discipline
• It’s much more than meeting the 5%
requirement

15. Fiscal Management
• Is your volunteer manger included in the
budgeting process?
• Does he/she manage the volunteer budget?
• Can he/she read a financial report?
• Does he/she have a finance goal? Or, is he/she
held accountable for the organization’s goal
for operating margin?
• Do you believe that the volunteer department
contributes to reaching financial goals? How?

16. Job Characteristics of High Performing
Volunteer Leaders
• Fast-paced environment, urgency to reach goals,
multi-tasking, variety
• Relationship focus, team building, inspire,
motivate and engage commitment
• Cooperative/collaborative decision making, risk
taker
• Extrovert, warm, enthusiastic, empathetic,
persuasive, stimulating communication
• Delegates authority, strong commitment to
results, leadership based on motivating others

17. High Performing Volunteer Leaders
Will Help Transform Your Agency

19. Results That Impact the Entire Agency
• Operations
• Census growth
• Cost savings
• Innovative programs and services
• Community collaboration
• Media and marketing

20. High Performing Volunteer Leaders Impact
Operations
• Must be seen as part of operations team
• Must be held responsible for the success of
operations
• Must share goals with operations team
• Must be fully integrated into the IDG and into your
leadership team
• Must serve on key committees such as PI, policies
and procedures, health, safety and infection
control

21. High Performing Volunteer Leaders Impact
Census Growth
• Community Relations Professional
• Collaborate with Marketing Staff
• Represent Organization to Community Referral
Sources
• Engage Ambassador Volunteers as Marketing
Team Members
• Every contact offers information for
volunteers, donors and patients

22. CO$T $AVING$
• National average value of volunteer hours -
$23.07/hour
• Value varies state to state
CA = $26.87/hr. vs. FL = $21.61/hr.
• May be calculated by volunteer service provided
• Divide volunteer hours by 2080 to find FTE equivalent

23. Innovative Programs and Services:
At Low or No Cost to Your Agency

24. With the Right Volunteer Leader You Can
Do More!
• Volunteers can bridge gaps in service that are
required but do not generate reimbursement and
provide services that enhance the patient and family
experience of quality care
• Some examples include:
– Bereavement support - Tuck-in and Check-in Calls
– Spiritual care - New Admission Calls
– Integrated therapies
– Life reviews and legacy programs

25. Volunteer Leader Needs Staff Buy-in for
New Innovative Programs
• To identify unmet needs
• To develop volunteer role in meeting need
• To design training, oversight and ownership of
the program and “our” volunteers
• To celebrate success of collaborations
• To minimize concerns for job security
• Senior leaders’ “stamp of approval”

26. Community Collaborations
• Volunteer leader is key representative of your
hospice in community
• Builds collaborations with community groups
who can benefit existing and new programs
• Always makes the ask – volunteers, donations,
patients

27. Volunteer Leaders Seek Professional
Volunteers in the Community
• Human Resources
• Information Technology and Graphic Design
• Development and Grant Writing
• Public Relations and Marketing
• Training and Staff Development
• Medical/Licensed Professionals

28. – Volunteer Leader as WHV Champion
– Increases care for more Veterans
– Attracts Veteran groups in the community as
volunteers and donors
– Increases expertise of staff to work with unique
needs of veterans on all levels
– Positive recognition from all members of the
community

29. Media and Marketing
Sew For Veterans Quilter’s Guild

30. Example

31. Benefits of High Performing
Volunteer Leader
• Improved quality of care and patient/family
satisfaction
• Increased patient and facility contacts
• New innovative services at low or no cost
• Increased census
• Improved operating margin
• Increased visibility and media attention
• Increased community collaborations

32. Performance Measures

33. Who Supervises the Volunteer
Manager?

34. Performance Appraisals
What can be measured in terms of Volunteer
Manager Performance?
How can we evaluate success in this role?
Ideas??

35. Key Performance Measures
• Job duties based on position description
• Job performance based on individual goals
• Job performance based on shared goals
• Job performance compared to internal or
external benchmarks
• Professionalism, standards of excellence
• Potential

36. Incentives
• Bonuses for achieving
individual/department/organizational goals
• Treats volunteer leader as key to the growth
and sustainability of the hospice
• Incentivizes increased productivity

37. Sample Volunteer Manager Eval
Competency and Documentation 1. Consistently demonstrates the ability
to identify and anticipate
patient/family need, consider
alternative solutions, and collaborate
with IDT to promote quality and
continuity of patient/family care.
Measurable: QAPI data. Fill Rate of
95%
2. Documentation is in accordance and
compliance with the patient’s Care
Plan and Tidewell's policies
Measurables: Chart Audits. Note in
patient chart within 48 hours of task
receipt. Appropriate
Careplan/interventions and
frequencies. Recerts are timely.
Frequencies match volunteer visit
notes.

38. Sample Volunteer Manager Eval
Compliance & Audit 1. Exhibits 100% compliance with CHAP,
CMS, and Florida volunteer standards.
Measurables: Audits, database reports,
and management review. (TB
compliance, personnel file compliance,
competency fair execution)

39. Sample Volunteer Manager Eval
Communication 1. Utilizes Volgistics for accurate and
timely communication to Volunteers.
Measurable: Review of database.
Auditing electronic volunteer files.
2. Demonstrates competent presentation
skills during Volunteer Orientation
classes. Measurable: Manager
observes presentation annually or
more frequently if needed.
3. Communicates in writing in a clear,
efficient manner. Measurable: review of
newsletter submissions and volunteer
contacts.

40. Sample Volunteer Manager Eval
Growth 1. Increases volunteer activities by 5%.
Measurable: service hour report
from database.
2. Have positive net volunteers (more
incoming than outgoing).
Measurable: volunteer database
review.

41. IDG Involvement
• Prompt/Accurate care planning and charting
– Re-certifications
– Scope and frequencies of visits
– Volunteer Interventions
– Volunteer compliance with visits
– Ability to fill requests
– Collaboration with team charting

42. Presentation Skills
• Volunteer leaders are educators and
marketers for not just the volunteer program,
but the entire agency!

43. Compliance Items
• Accrediting Body Standards
• Volunteer compliance with
state and COP regulatory
requirements
• How does the volunteer
manager effectively cope with
noncompliant volunteers?
Independently? Or do they
need assistance?

44. Measures for Documenting and Reporting
• New volunteer programs and services
• Volunteer hours
• Volunteer growth/attrition
• Requests filled
• Cost Savings
• Number of recruitment events/outreach
• Response time for applicant contacts
• Volunteer surveys
• Other ideas?

45. Internal Performance Measures
• Individual goal Setting
• Volunteer Retention Rates
• Volunteer Attrition Reasons
• Performance Improvement Plans
• Volunteer Engagement Measures

46. Satisfaction Surveys
• Send to Volunteers
– Determine how well the VC communicates with
volunteers
– Identifies program needs
• Send to Staff
– Identifies how well VC works with departments
and teams
– Helps identify new volunteer roles/needs to
expand services

47. Sample Monthly Report

48. Currently Available Data
• Why reinvent the wheel?
– Several resources already available as standard
measures for hospice volunteer programs.

49. National Summary of Hospice Care

50. National Summary of Hospice Care

51. National Summary of Hospice Care
2014 Agency
Mean 25th % median 75th%
Distribution of Total FTEs
Volunteer Coordinators 3.30%
Patient Caseload
Volunteer Coordinators 37.3 10 25 57.5
ADC Per FTE
Volunteer Coordinators 62.1 20.1 55.4 95.8
Staffing

52. Optional Survey Questions
• Check with your vendors as there are available
supplemental questions to measure aspects of
volunteer services

53. Questions??