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Building a volunteer-friendly culture
Chapter 1:
Getting your organisation volunteer ready
The need for a volunteer-friendly culture
It is important to support the people who work with you and to ensure that the environment is conducive for them. When your volunteers feel that they are supported, they will work more efficiently and want to do their best, allowing them to have a better volunteering experience.
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While it is important that the top leadership communicates the volunteer vision and purpose, all staff are essential in playing a part to create a volunteer-friendly culture and environment for volunteers.
3 critical success factors to building a volunteer-friendly culture
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Strong and visible leadership commitment
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Ongoing engagement with staff and stakeholders
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Dedicated resources to ensure adequate support to volunteer management
Demonstrate commitment and accountability
By assigning resources to run and support your volunteer programmes, it demonstrates the leadership’s commitment to ensure its success. Performance metrics and recognition programmes should also be set in place to promote accountability and reward amongst those involved
Communication
Communicate the importance of volunteerism and the organisation’s take on this. This can be articulated during board meetings, management meetings, organisation events, or informal sessions with employees. You can also broadcast the volunteer vision and share tips on how to work effectively with volunteers conspicuously (e.g. through posters, and videos)
Be a role model
The leadership should aim to participate actively in initiatives to promote the volunteer programme (e.g. training, workplace activities, etc.) and demonstrate and apply firsthand the vision and goals set for the volunteer programme.
Appoint a ‘spokesperson’
The organisation can appoint a member of the board and / or senior management to nurture an organisational culture that embraces volunteers as valuable assets to your organisation. Instead of an individual, you can also form a committee that is responsible for volunteer management and planning and the committee can report directly to the board for better checks and balances.
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The purpose of this spokesperson or committee is to provide updates to the board at regular intervals. Updates should include areas such as the value which volunteers have brought to your organisation and service users, potential volunteer management improvements and upcoming recognition activities for volunteers.