Rewarding Volunteers - Essay Example

Rewarding Volunteers Rewarding Volunteers Introduction Volunteers are a crucial part of the organization since they offer their services for free or for a small fee in return for training and job experience at the firm since they will be inducted to conduct routine jobs just like the other employees. In order to attract and motivate volunteers, organizations need to come up with effective volunteer management programs that will ensure those individuals are always motivated and at the same time they gain some skills while offering their services to the organization. A comprehensive training program need to be established to ensure the quality of services that they offer is acceptable and at the same time add value to the volunteers to make them more knowledgeable in their line of specialization thus ensuring they become more attractive to employment in the job market (McCurley and Lynch, 2011). Causes of Understaffing At the Online University Understaffing at the online university can be traced to some reasons but the primary factor is the lack of strategic planning. The management of the university failed to implement sound strategies while planning for the establishment of the school. It is prudent that prior to the implementation of the program it ought to have conducted a feasibility study to ascertain that it will meet all the requirements that will see the program running smoothly. Ideally, personnel is the most valuable resource in any organization thus firms have to give it the priority during planning since without the workers who will be implementing the organizational objectives nothing meaningful will be accomplished. Thus, it is evident that poor strategic planning was the key issue that culminated to understaffing at the online university since it is prudent that if the organization did not have sufficient funds to implement the entire program it had to wait until the moment it had acquired all the necessary resources before deploying the program (Day, 2013). Additionally, after opting to utilize volunteers due to budgetary constraints the program director lacked relevant leadership skills to motivate the volunteers to continue offering services to the organization a reason the he had to quit before accomplishing the goal of the program. Ideally, the successor also lacked management skills that would motivate and develop the employees to ensure they continue working with the organization while it was sourcing funds to acquire its own employees. Conversely, if the program managers had demonstrated desirable leadership styles the volunteers would have been more willing to continue offering their services since they would be undergoing relevant training programs that would boost their career prospective hence desire to stay longer at the university. Despite the fact that the organization faced budgetary constraints its management failed to properly prioritize their options since personnel is a crucial element that ought to have been given the first priorities to ensure operations goes on even without other lesser structures (Connors, 2012). Importance of a Compatible Leadership Style to Motivate and Manage a Volunteer Staff The kind of leadership style that is implemented in managing employee should be consistent with their needs to drive them and ensure they continue working with the organization. To begin with the managers of volunteers ought to be mindful of the risk of volunteers being seen as employees of the firm (Connors, 2012). There should be an elaborate boundary that stipulates the fights that each group enjoys avoiding any form of conflict that may jeopardize the relationship among those individuals that, in the long run, might hinder effective service delivery. However, a compatible leadership style is required since it will have provisions that will ensure the volunteers are treated fairly and consistently to ensure they develop a sense of belonging to the organization (McCurley and Lynch, 2011). Ideally, the volunteer relationship should be premised on expectations rather than obligation. In that light, the volunteers are mainly learning while they are offering services to the company; thus, compatible leadership ensures they are not coerced to perform certain duties but are encouraged to demonstrate a number of skills and competencies at work after the training sessions (McCurley and Lynch, 2011). It will encourage them to do more to show their skills at work to enable them obtain more roles during the program. To further boost the relationship with the volunteers the leadership style that is implemented should seek feedback from the volunteers to assess their level of satisfaction with their roles. It will help the program director to change strategy in instances where the volunteers are not contented. Conversely, the compatible leadership should create new opportunities and roles for the volunteers to motivate them to put more effort in their duties so as to garner those privileges. For instance, the manager of volunteers should be a fellow volunteer since he/she will be better placed to coordinate and support fellow individuals in their duties to ensure they benefit something from the program in the end (Day, 2013). A Reward System That Would Adequately Maintain Volunteer Enthusiasm for Their Tasks Volunteer work program involves individuals offering to give services to the organization while undergoing training in their relevant career fields. In that light, it is not a form of employment, and thus it is not subject to remuneration. However, given the fact that these individuals contribute to the performance of the firm they will be recognized in a number of ways, not as a sign of paying for their services but to appreciate their efforts and motivate them to perform even better. Ideally, money is not the motivation for volunteer work. The individuals involved in the program have that knowledge beforehand that their services are not exchangeable for any monetary value but will be in a bid to enhance their skills while being exposed to a real life job setting (Connors, 2012). Thus, to avoid any form of conflict that may accompany the issue of volunteer remuneration and reward systems the organization should focus on establishing a vibrant communication system with the volunteers to identify inherent issues and offer solutions to ensure they feel part of the organization. Ideally, the management should seek the opinion of the volunteers periodically through questionnaires and other forms of data gathering techniques to have a clear picture of what they think of the organization’s systems and which particular areas they require adjustments to be done. In that way, they will feel more valued, and that sense of belonging to the group will increase thus boosting their enthusiasm to their roles (Fader, 2010). It is prudent that volunteer work does not guarantee the individuals involved employment after the contract expires but it seeks to equip them with the relevant skills thus increasing their chances of securing employment in future. The language that is utilized during the recruitment process should be precise to spell out the different of volunteer work from job to avoid unnecessary expectations from the volunteers once they commence their roles. The terms of volunteer ship between the parties are primarily a volunteer agreement that does not involve any monetary benefit and the persons involved are assigned with roles and not job descriptions. With that the volunteers will get to understand the scope of their responsibility and hence whatever reward system the organization might adapt will not cause any form of conflict among them (Wittich, 2000). Ideally, the ideal reward systems that will ensure volunteers maintain enthusiasm in their roles is conducting periodic volunteer events whereby individuals and groups are recognized for their distinguished service to the organization. In such incidents, volunteers will be awarded certificates of merit to recognize their efforts as well as asset them to acquire other external accreditations that will enable them to get employment opportunities in future. Conversely, organizations should implement a system that reimburses the expenses that the volunteers accrue while in the course of their program (Fader, 2010). The reimbursement system can be fashioned in a design that does not involve a fixed amount that is paid out periodically since it might give the impression of a salary or something of the sort. Rather, volunteers will be encouraged to surrender receipts of all expenses for transport and lunch which will then be reimbursed to them maybe weekly or biweekly to help them to continue working with the firm and diffuse the notion that the company just wants to benefit from them without giving out anything in return (Wittich, 2000). A Communication or Training Program That Could Have Alleviated Part of This Problem Lack of an elaborate communication structure was the primary cause of the collapse of the volunteer program at the online university. The program director did not engage the volunteers on a one-on-one basis to determine the problems they are facing and try to come up with possible solutions. Thus, it’s prudent that a structured communication system should be developed in managing the volunteer program to enable the program director to get periodically feedback from the volunteers through questionnaires and one on one session on issues that are facing them. With that the volunteers will feel part of the organization since they will notice that their concerns are a priority to the firm thus encourages them to perform their roles even better (Lipp, 2009). That notwithstanding, an elaborate training program ought to have been implemented that would enable the volunteers increase their skills and knowledge in their particular fields to ensure they equally benefit from the program. The primary reason that made the volunteers leave the online university is because the management wanted to leverage from their services but not offer any tangible benefits to the volunteers in return. On top of a training program, a program should be initiated that assist the volunteers to acquire external accreditations to help them gain a competitive edge in the job market. Such initiatives serve to boost the morale of the volunteers since they will feel the firm caters for their needs thus be more dedicated to their roles (McCurley and Lynch, 2011). Conclusion Ultimately, organizations ought to implement relevant volunteer management programs to ensure they cater for the needs of those individuals adequately to encourage them to extend their relationship with the firm. The problems that were witnessed at the Online University were primarily due to leadership inequities whereby the project directors who were tasked with managing the volunteers failed to come up with the right styles of management that would engage the volunteers and make them feel part of the organization. Additionally, volunteers need to be rewarded for their outstanding services to instigate them to perform even better thus leading to an overall increase in organizational performance. References Connors, T. D. (2012). The volunteer management handbook: Leadership strategies for success. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Day, N. (2013). Managing volunteers: How to maximize your most valuable resource. Fader, S. (2010). 365 ideas for recruiting, retaining, motivating, and rewarding your volunteers: A complete guide for non-profit organizations. Ocala, Fla: Atlantic Pub. Group. Lipp, J. L. (2009). The complete idiots guide to recruiting and managing volunteers. New York: Alpha. McCurley, S., & Lynch, R. (2011). Volunteer Management: Mobilizing all the resources of the community. Plattsburgh, NY: Interpub Group Corp. Wittich, B. (2000). The care & feeding of volunteers: Recruiting, retaining & rewarding volunteers. Fullerton, CA: Knowledge Transfer Pub. Read More