Involving volunteers only to get work done or to save money are ideas
that have long ago jumped
the shark. The modern volunteer manager involves volunteers for
much better reasons:
- Involving volunteers gives people without a financial interest in
the organization a firsthand look at how things work. Involving
volunteers -- representatives of the community -- helps educate the
community about what the organization does.
- Community engagement is community ownership. Volunteer involvement
demonstrates that the community is invested in the organization and
its goals.
- Volunteer involvement can help to reach
constituencies/demographics not represented among staff, board
leadership or clients.
- Volunteers may be the most appropriate people for certain tasks,
rather than paid staff; your clients may prefer to be counseled by
volunteers with certain backgrounds rather than paid employees, for
instance.
- Volunteer involvement may create other support for an
organization: volunteers may become financial donors, they may speak
at local government meetings or write letters to the editor of your
local newspaper on your organization's behalf, or they may tell
their friends and colleagues about your organization in
conversations or via their blogs and online status updates.
The reality is that the modern organization involves volunteers
because the organization is trying to build relationships,
not just to get work done.
When an organization involves volunteers in high-responsibility,
long-term roles, volunteer turnover can be a program killer. It's
vital that organizations continually look for ways to ensure that
volunteers are well-supported, that volunteers feel their concerns are
heard and addressed promptly, that volunteers feel respected and
valued, etc., but screening is also vital to help screen in the
right people for high-responsibility, long-term volunteer roles,
particularly those where the volunteer will work with clients and the
general public, and to screen out people who may be better in
shorter-term assignments or assignments where they would not work with
clients or the general public, or who would not be appropriate in any
role at the organization.
While volunteer
managers are much more than HR managers, there are
resources from the HR management world that can be helpful in the new
paradigm of volunteer involvement / community engagement. For
instance, this article from workforce.com
on screening
and hiring employees with an eye to their attitude can help
volunteer managers seeking to create a screening process that
will keep turnover low for high-responsibility, long-term volunteer
roles.
(note that you will have to register to read articles on workforce.com,
but registration is free)
The article
notes that the idea of hiring for attitude has been made
famous by such companies as Southwest Airlines and Nordstrom.
One CEO of a real estate services company in New Jersey, which
traditionally has a high-turnover rate, used various books about this
model to develop his own test to measure five qualities among
potential candidates. Such an assessment tool could
easily be adapted at nonprofit organizations looking to reduce
turnover and create a particular type of culture among long-term,
high-commitment volunteers.
The recruiter or hiring manager administers the test verbally,
face-to-face or by phone. One of the qualities sought is demonstrated
integrity, measured through a series of questions about ethical
behavior. Another quality sought is passion, which
candidates can demonstrate through a hobby or a personal project where
the candidate succeeded (not just through a paid or volunteer role).
The third quality test—longevity—determines whether the
candidate is looking for a job or a career. Adapted for a volunteer
model, the goal could be to see if the volunteer is looking for a
long-term relationship with an organization or cause through
volunteering.
The fourth step measures positive attitude and asks
candidates to describe a positive customer service experience. It also
asks how the candidate’s friends would describe the candidate’s
personal characteristics. The final element of the test measures the
candidate’s knowledge of tasks that are relevant to the job
and the company’s mission and role.
What could the assessment questions actually look like that test for
these qualities? Some very general ideas:
- Why do you want to volunteer with us?
- What do you hope to accomplish or gain through volunteering?
- Why do you think our organization involves volunteers?
- Tell me about a time when you have felt passionate or excitement
about a project; this can be at work, through volunteering, or just
through a hobby -- skate boarding, singing, helping a family member,
whatever.
- What is your greatest personal or professional accomplishment?
- What makes you excited or motivated to get a task done?
- How can you tell when a supervisor is satisfied with your work?
- How can you tell when a customer or client is satisfied?
- Tell me a time when you went above and beyond for a customer, a
client, a co-worker, or someone else, to make sure they got what
they needed or were satisfied with an experience?
- How would you define "great team work"?
- Tell me about an experience in which you demonstrated commitment.
- Tell me about an experience in which you demonstrated resilience.
- What would you do if you saw a good friend and fellow volunteer
doing something inappropriate at the organization?
- Tell me about a time when you have had to deal with a difficult
personality (for instance, an angry customer), and how you addressed
the situation.
- Tell me an example in which you successfully persuade someone to
do something.
- What would your friends or co-workers say about how you work under
pressure (having to get something done sooner than expected, or to
get something done that's come up unexpectantly and, therefore, you
hadn't planned for, etc.)
- How do you define diversity?
- Tell me about a time when you have worked with people who are
different from you, in terms of age, economic background, ethnicity,
etc. (what you liked about the experience, what might have made you
uncomfortable, what you learned from such an experience, etc.).
- Tell me about a time when you had a negative impression of
someone, but later, it changed to a positive impression, and why
that change happened.
- How comfortable are you with name of an activity that a
volunteer would undertake (such as asking friends and
associates for donations, dealing with angry people, etc.)
As creating an accommodating, welcoming
and diverse volunteering program is also a vital role for
the volunteer manager, I do not recommend this
entire test be used for all volunteer role screening. You do
not want to create an assessment that excludes people:
- who have a different work style than the rest of your organization
but that would be, nonetheless, quite capable of volunteering and
working with others
- who don't have an excellent command of English (if such isn't
required for all volunteer roles)
- who don't interview well (if such a characteristic isn't required
for all volunteer roles)
- who are shy
- who don't verbalize their feelings well
- who aren't ready yet to make a long-term commitment but may be
ready to do so in the future
- who could use certain volunteering activities to build their
professional and personal skills such that they could take on
higher-responsibility roles later
- etc.
Different volunteer roles require different screening.
Yet another reason why volunteer
managers aren't exactly the same as HR managers...
One last caution: the page you are reading now doesn't talk about
screening for safety, to ensure volunteers are appropriate to be around
children; this
is covered at length in the resources noted on this blog. In
addition to screening for safety, you also need to employ screening
techniques to better ensure that applicants don't have a motivation to
volunteer that, while it might be legal, would not be appropriate. For
instant, an applicant may have a motivation to volunteer primarily to
attract customers for his or her multi-level marketing business, or may
be volunteering primarily to recruit people for his or her church,
temple or other community of faith. One of your methods to screen out
these people is to review your written policies and procedures with all
applicants, and after particularly important sections, such as those
detailing prohibitions regarding sexual harassment,
proselytizing, etc., and your guidelines on sales pitches and
solicitations by volunteers to other staff, you ask applicants, "Would
you have any issues adhering to this particular policy?" Some may be
upfront about disagreeing with certain policies, others may not express
disagreement - but you might not see them again.
Also see:
- volunteer
managers: you are NOT psychic!
A manager of volunteers should NEVER let his or her gut be the guide
to decision-making! Thank it for its input, but look at the facts.
Your gut may, in fact, be encouraging a prejudice you didn't know
you had - or encourage you to overlook a warning sign about a
volunteer.
- The Information About &
For Volunteers You Should Have on Your Web Site
If your organization or department involves volunteers, or wants to,
there are certain things your organization or department must
have on its web site - not by law, of course, but from a point of
view of ethics and credibility. To not have this basic information
about volunteer engagement on your web site says that your
organization or department takes volunteers for granted, does not
value volunteers beyond money saved in salaries, or is not
really ready to involve volunteers.
- Diagnosing
the causes of volunteer recruitment problems
Before you hire a consultant, even me,
to see what the problem is regarding why you don’t have enough
volunteers, or the kinds of volunteers you want most, you might be
able to diagnosis the problem yourself - this blog is meant to help
you do that. The only catch is that you MUST be honest as you answer
the questions listed here. Also, answering these questions is rarely
a one-person exercise; you may think you know the answer, but you
need to ask other staff members, including volunteers themselves,
what their answers are to these assessment questions. This is one of
the most popular blogs I've ever written.
- Letting
Fear Prevent Volunteer Involvement is Too Risky
About how choosing NOT to involve volunteers is often, in fact, a greater
risk than choosing to involve volunteers. To say, "We can't involve
volunteers - it's too risky!" puts your organization at a profound
disadvantage. This is a blog I wrote for Susan Ellis and Energize,
Inc. - you leave my web site if you click on that link.
- Recruiting Volunteers: A
Step-by-Step Guide to QUICKLY Getting the Volunteers You Want
These are simple, immediate things you can do to get
volunteers.
- Recruiting Mentors
(or any high-responsibility volunteers that will work with clients)
Recruitment is a mentality. Successful recruitment of volunteer
mentors comes from a mentality that permeates the organization, one
that prompts employees and volunteers to always be looking for
opportunities for outreach and partnership, and where all employees
and volunteers are advocates for the program, regardless of the
tasks they undertake. This web page has specific recommendations to
recruit mentors for youth, but these recommendations could be used
for most any high-responsibility, high-commitment volunteer role
working with clients, such as counselors or tutors.
- Recruiting Local
Volunteers To Increase Diversity Among the Ranks
Having plenty of volunteers to undertake all the roles at your
organization usually isn't enough to say a volunteering program is
successful. Another indicator of success is if your volunteers
represent a variety of ages, education-levels, economic levels and
other demographics, or are a reflection of your local community.
Most organizations don't want volunteers to be a homogeneous group;
they want to reach a variety of people as volunteers (and donors and
other supporters, for that matter). This resource will help you
think about how to recruit for diversity, or to reach a specific
demographic.
- Research
and case studies regarding recruitment and retainment of
volunteer firefighters & justifications for involving
volunteer firefighters that do NOT relate to "money saved"
A little bit of commentary and a long list of resources, compiled
from various sources. Updates welcomed!
- Virtual Volunteering Myths
Common misconceptions about virtual volunteering versus the reality
of the practice.
- Research on online volunteering
All of the academic research and journal articles about online
volunteering and online community engagement.
- Online culture
Return to my volunteer-related
resources
Discuss
this
web page, or comment on it, here.
Quick Links
my home
page
my
consulting services & my workshops
& presentations
my
credentials & expertise
My book: The
Last Virtual
Volunteering Guidebook
contact me
or see my
schedule
Free Resources: Community Outreach, With & Without Tech
Free Resources: On
Community Engagement, Volunteering & Volunteerism
Free Resources: Technology
Tips for Non-Techies
Free Resources:
Nonprofit, NGO & other mission-based management resources
Free Resources: Web
Development, Maintenance, Marketing for non-Web designers
Free Resources: Corporate
philanthropy / social responsibility programs
Free Resources: For people
& groups that want to volunteer
linking to
or from my web site
The
Coyote Helps Foundation
me on
social media (follow me, like me, put me in a circle,
subscribe to my newsletter)
how to
support my work
To know when I have developed a new
resource related to the above subjects, found a great
resource by someone else, published
a
new blog or a new Tech4Impact email newsletter,
uploaded a new
video,
or to when & where I'm training or presenting, use any
of the following social media apps to follow me on any of
these social media platforms:
Disclaimer: No guarantee of accuracy or suitability is made by
the poster/distributor of the materials on this web site.
This material is provided as is, with no expressed or implied
warranty or liability.
See my web site's privacy
policy.
Permission is granted to copy, present and/or distribute a limited
amount of material from my web site without charge if
the information is kept intact and without alteration, and is
credited to:
Otherwise, please contact me
for permission to reprint, present or distribute these materials
(for instance, in a class or book or online event for which you
intend to charge).
The art work and material on
this site was created and is copyrighted 1996-2023
by Jayne Cravens, all rights reserved
(unless noted otherwise, or the art comes from a link to
another web site).