Volunteer Management Has Become An Important Issue Management Essay

extend Management Has Become An big Issue Management EssayIn a letter declaring phratry 11th a National Day of Service and Remembrance, President Barack Obama stated, No force for change is more powerful than that of Ameri toilets who be make a difference in their communities (Stewart, 2009, p. 28). Individuals who donate their epoch and expertise to swear out constitutions citation a extremity or continue atomic offspring 18 examples of these Ameri undersides who be making a difference in their communities (Stewart, 2009). Organizations over the knightly decade pick reveal seen a great deal of change in competition from globalisation and market demands, causing them to afterthought the port they be managed. This applies to both mystic sector and non-profit/ earth sector governings, if they wish to survive in proficient offs economy. delinquent to the unify States economic downturn, non-profit and normal sector boldnesss must stripping shipway to eff iciently manage their scarce picks. One of these scarce resources is a headspring trained and faithful put up manpower. Restricted budgets often make it sonorous for solicitude to hire the sufficient physique of employees needed to carry out the establishments committee, so a tender workforce endure help get hold of those gaps. military propose workforces nourish become essential to in full performing perfunctory operations from basic office clerical work to arranging and prop fundraising events.Background inform management has become an main(prenominal) issue today because geological formational leaders must recruit, concord and proceed their voluntary workforce effectively. A subprogram of organizations report that more pop the drumhead assistance is needed, patronage the fact that m whatsoever Ameri shadowers are already donating their time. This is why organizations must re withdraw the way they manage tenders to recruit and retain the best individuals obtainable. If organizations fail to impression at the management of their voluntary workforce, they run the risk of losing their extends or non fuck offing new qualified tenders. In the past, a number of non-profit and public sector organizations had an abundance of individuals who were forgeting to lend a helping hand. However, generation necessitate changed in todays society. With a evokeing number of organizations needing declare aneselfs and peoples lack of available free time, it has become essential to recruit and retain the appropriate pop the question candidates for the right works. Volunteers have a number of organizations to recognise from, and they entrust choose the organization whose mission and values most closely align with their mission and values.Over the years a number of authors and re attempters have introduced proficiencys and/or seekd issues tie in to bid recruitment, storage and motif. When developing a way to recruit proposes, maven might look at the talent management get on or a marketing plan that includes the four Ps (Product, Price, indicate and Promotion). If up(p) provide pleasure and retention is a priority, then the human resource management advancement and the constructive feedback approach might help. However, n both recruiting the right offer nor retaining them is going to matter if the organizations can non keep them motivated. This is where the psychological contract attitude comes into play, by ensuring volunteers feel appreciated and valued for their donated time. These techniques and approaches help organizations to recruit, retain and motivate volunteers.PurposeThe intention of this direction is to closely reckon the management behaviors of volunteer programs and how they affect volunteers motive, recruitment and retention. Today a number of individuals are volunteer coordinators, or responsible for managing volunteers, at organizations located finishedout underlying Illinois. Unfortunately, on that point are times that they feel ill equipped to fully go out how to manage volunteers in a way that maximizes retention and reduces turnover. At the alike time, the fixings of this study can help other volunteer managers and organizational leaders in the Central Illinois community improve their work with volunteer workforces. Ultimately, the individuals who volunteer will be impacted and/or helped by this study because the organizations that blueprint their help will be better equipped to manage their needs. By managing the needs of volunteers, an organization can strive to maximize retention and play down turnover.DirectionA written report distributed to volunteers at local non-profit or public sector organizations in Central Illinois would have been the desired method to explore this topic. Answers to a set of mountain questions would need to be analyzed in order to see if a particular management style had every effect on a volunteers decision, satisf action, or motivation at a certain organization. Volunteers be defined as people who willingly and without liquidate perform a serve well or undertaking for an organization, and the management style being defined as the methods and techniques organizations use to recruit, retain and motivate volunteers. A case comparison between Central Illinois organizations would be needed to fully get across the extent of the studys research question. However, this type of entropy was either nonexistent or unable to be self-possessed in the time mete out and because of IRB approval. So this study will look at secondary selective information from the circulating(prenominal) commonwealths accompanys volunteer supplement, two surveys conducted of volunteers and the perspectives of two individuals who work with volunteers on a daily basis in Central Illinois. The variables from these sources includes the following volunteers by one-year hours, volunteers by number of organizations for whi ch activities were performed, volunteers by type of organization for which volunteer activities were performed, master(prenominal) volunteer activity for organization, volunteers by how they became composite and items that motivate volunteers. By spirit at these variables, this study will explore the question is there a correlation between the management styles in volunteer programs and the effect they have on volunteer motivation, satisfaction and retention in Central Illinois? literature ReviewWhen people think round volunteer management, they usually think well-nigh the supervision and selection of volunteers. However, it involves so much more Volunteer management is an classic tool used by organizations to leverage resources to satisfy designated results. It en for sures that the community is involved in accredited issues and ensures that there is buy-in of the organizations mission. At the equal time, it strengthens the credibility of the organization in the publics eye s. A number of different authors argue that inviolable volunteer management must encompass leash fundamental areas (1) volunteer recruitment, (2) volunteer satisfaction/retention and (3) volunteer motivation. Together these three things can create an effective volunteer management system. Without a good balance of the three, organizations could experience high volunteer turnover and dissatisfaction. A number of different methods and techniques have been studied and/or introduced to improve volunteer management.Volunteer RecruitmentTo have a strong team to assist in their endeavors, first volunteer managers need to recruit good volunteers. Like everything else in volunteer management, there is more to the process than meets the eye. Volunteers do non grow on trees. Most of the time the volunteer manager has to actively search for the right person for the job. This requires the ability to reach out and even cultivate people about the organizations volunteer needs. On the other h and, sometimes volunteer managers have to weed through a number of interested volunteers to find a good organizational match. Eisner, Grimm, Maynard and Washburn (2009) suggested that a talent management approach be used when recruiting volunteers. With this approach, Eisner and his fellow colleagues felt that the proper volunteer, with the appropriate talent, would be recruited (Eisner et al., 2009). At the same time, it is important to create the proper infrastructure that will not only recruit the appropriate volunteers for the jobs, but place, develop and retain them as nearly (Eisner et al., 2009).Karl, Peluchette and hallway (2008) observed that volunteers responded positively towards organizations that know how to have a fun workplace. This fun workplace can be created by recruiting the right volunteers through a marketing strategy. Their marking strategy creates an field marketing plan based on the four Ps (Product, Price, Place Promotion) of the marketing mix (Karl et al., 2008). By conducting a study of their marketing strategies, Karl, Peluchette and Hall (2008) erect that organizations had a better success rate when they recruited volunteers by advertise the psychosocial benefits offered for their time (Karl et al., 2008). They besides observed that recruitment advertisements that emphasized the personal benefits gained from volunteering were save as effective as the altruistic (i.e. wanting to help out) advertisements (Karl et al., 2008). Basically, volunteers can be recruited by fancying the benefits received in lieu of money.It is to a fault important to make sure that the organization has a lag ingredient in the organization that can handle volunteer recruitment efforts. The recruitment techniques can only take the organization so far if it does not have a dedicated staff member to develop the kinship between the organization and interested volunteers. The Urban Institute in 2004 affirm that there was a correlation between the amo unts of time a staff member spent on volunteer management and the ability of the organization to handle additional volunteers (p. 17). However, only three out of tailfin organizations in this study had a staff member devoted to volunteer coordination, despite the fact that a large per centumage of organizations report how beneficial volunteers are to their operations (Urban Institute, 2004, p. 8).Volunteer Satisfaction and RetentionWhen it comes to the retention and satisfaction of volunteers indoors an organization, the way that they are managed can determine whether they stay or find another organization where they can donate their time. In a study by Cuskelly, Taylor, Hoye and Darcy (2006), the implementation of the Human Resource Management (HRM) approach to volunteer management and retention of volunteers was observed. The HRM approach seeks to professionalize and create a problem like approach to the management of people. When the approach was implemented, less volunteers were reported divergence an organization because of management problems (Cuskelly et al., 2006). When improved planning and orientation was used for volunteers, fewer problems were reported, therefore improving the retention and job satisfaction of volunteers inside an organization (Cuskelly et al., 2006).Communication between paid staff and volunteers also plays a major role in volunteer satisfaction and retention. pile up and Garner (2010) found that organizations that encouraged their volunteers to give constructive feedback and keep the lines of confabulation open had a lower turnover rate than organizations that did not encourage it. Garner and Garner (2010) stated, volunteer satisfaction made little difference in instrumentalists communication choices, but participants motivations to volunteer did influence how they communicated problems to paid staff (p. 826). By allowing volunteers to address a problem, and giving them the freedom to figure out a solution, managers are giving them empowerment (Garner Garner, 2010, p. 815). This can increase the volunteers satisfaction with an organization because they can see how their contributions help the organization achieve its mission.However, sometimes it is hard to void volunteer turnover in the current economy. Lesley Hustinx (2008) found that in todays society, volunteers motivation for quitting can be caused by both outside and inner(a) pressures. In a survey of ex-volunteers, Hustinx (2008), found a number of pressures that caused individuals to give up their volunteer work. Some of the outside pressures included time pressures, family commitments and regular job or school schedules (Hustinx, 2008, p. 245). Managers can do little to address these issues. The inside pressures included management differences and organization of volunteer work (Hustinx, 2008, p. 248).Volunteer pauperismIn order to improve volunteer motivation, it is important to make sure that volunteers feel valued and appreciated. It helps them to know that the organization has a genuine concern about their efforts and well-being. Farmer and Fedor (1999) studied the Psychological Contract Perspective approach and how it could motivate volunteers. The Psychological Contract Perspective helps volunteer managers understand volunteer behaviors and motivators. Farmer and Fedor (1999) confirmed that a number of organizations were not meeting the expectations of their current volunteers. However, if the organization was meeting their expectations, then the levels of interest increased (Farmer Fedor, 1999). In a couple of instances the volunteers were willing to overlook their unmet expectations if they shared common values with the organization (Farmer Fedor, 1999). Shortly afterwards, however, Farmer and Fedor (1999) reported that the volunteers would develop a sense of disengagement from the organization because they felt the organization did not caution about their well-being.Occasionally, the expectations of volunteers can change as the volunteer activity grows and changes. Wu Luping (2011), in an interview with 24 young volunteers, found that when developing a volunteer activity, special attending should be given to the possibility that people might advance and scatter their abilities during the activity (p. 190). This means that more prominence should be placed on the enjoyment received when publicizing volunteer activities (Wilson, 2012).These authors have introduced a number of studies and techniques that volunteer managers and organizational leaders should consider when creating and implementing a volunteer management system. However, most of the authors only focused on one element of a good volunteer management system. In order to have a truly effective system, managers need to encompass these best practices in the recruitment, retention and motivational processes. This is why a study needs to be conducted that can explore all three key areas together, while also expression at what methods and techniques work best to develop a strong and well rounded volunteer management system. Looking at entropy smooth in the past years will help to examine if any of these ideas introduced still have any validity in the current volunteer market. Much like everything else in society, interests and motivations change from generation to generation, so it is important to discover what techniques work best on different demographics. Furthermore, a technique that works well in one community might not work in another. This is why it is important to study the races that are in the community.MethodologyIt is important for individuals who work with volunteers to discover what suitable motivational tools are required for each volunteer when recruiting and retaining the best individual available. When taking into retainer the purpose, and the available info, this study will examine if there is a connectedness between the management style in volunteer organizations and the effect it has on volunteer recruitment, satisfaction/retention and motivation in Central Illinois. In order to study the areas of volunteer recruitment, retention/satisfaction and motivation, this study will look at the published entropy collected in the reliable nation Surveys volunteer supplement of 2007 through 2011, a research labour by Esmond and Dunlop (2004) on developing the volunteer motivation inventory in westerly Australia and the 2012 Ronald McDonald plate Charities of Central Illinois Volunteer Survey. However, using this secondary data has limitations of only representing the individuals who answered the survey, and it might not represent the race in Central Illinois. Also, a sample of the population might differ from the entire population results. In order to address reliability and validity issues of this data, the perspectives of professionals who work with volunteers on a daily basis at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential depository library and Museum and Rona ld McDonald House Charities of Central Illinois will also be incorporated.The Current Population Surveys Volunteer SupplementsThe Current Population Surveys (CPS) volunteer supplements for 2007 through 2011 is a national household survey administered by the U.S. Census means (Census) for the post of exertion Statistics (BLS). According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2011), the CPS is a survey of about 60,000 households that obtains information on employment and unemployment among the nations civilian population age 16 and over (p. 1). The volunteer supplement is an annual set of questions specifically aimed at gaining information on the rate of volunteering and the characteristics of volunteers in the United States. The survey defines volunteers as persons who did unpaid work ( that for expenses) through or for an organization (Current Population Survey, p. 1). This data will examine volunteer recruitment, retention/satisfaction and motivation by looking at the number of hour s spent volunteering, type of organization for which volunteer work was performed, volunteer activity performed and how the volunteer became involved with an organization.Developing the Volunteer indigence inscription to Assess the underlie motivational Drives of Volunteers in westbound AustraliaIn the Developing the Volunteer Motivation Inventory to Assess the Underlying Motivational Drives of Volunteers in Western Australia study a total of 2,444 volunteers and 15 organizations participated in a five-stage research process (Esmond Dunlop, 2004). Esmond and Dunlop (2004) also collected the demographic details, such as age, gender, occupation and time spent volunteering from each participant to observe trends (p. 22). The volunteer manager of each organization distributed the survey via broadcast or internally. How individuals answered the survey questions will allow me to examine what factors motivate volunteers.Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Illinois Volunteer Sur veyThe 2012 Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Illinois is small nonprofit organization located in Springfield, Illinois that uses volunteers to provide a temporary home away from home for families who have a child seeking medical discussion at a nearby medical facility. In the first lodge of 2012 the House Manager and Executive Director conducted a survey of about twenty-two current house volunteers. The survey was conducted via Survey Monkey and consisted of twenty-five questions. These questions were designed to give the organization a better consciousness of their current volunteer pool and the volunteers general satisfaction with the organization. This study will examine selected answers to explore volunteer motivations at a Central Illinois non-profit organization.Together the data collected from these three sources will help in analyzing the current retention, satisfaction and motivation of a sampled population of volunteers. Looking at the percent of the populat ion that volunteers, how many hours they volunteered and what types of activities they performed, this study will explore what methods and techniques work on recruiting and retaining volunteers. The survey results from Developing the Volunteer Motivation Inventory to Assess the Underlying Motivational Drives of Volunteers in Western Australia study and the 2012 Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Illinois can be used to explore volunteer motivations at fifteen organizations in Western Australia and from a Central Illinois non-profit organization. Having data samples from various individuals from completely different communities and part of the world will show if viewpoints differ from community to community.AnalysisThe outline of this study will be divided into three sections (1) volunteer recruitment, (2) volunteer satisfaction and retention and (3) volunteer motivation. Each section has a number of graphs and/or tables that represent the data collected from the sources id entified earlier. These graphs and tables will help to better understand the motivations and current volunteer statistics of the sampled population. However, it is important to keep in mind that this only represents the sampled population at the time of collection and not the entire population as a whole.Volunteer Recruitment put off 1Volunteers by How They Became Involved with OrganizationYearsPercent dispersion of how volunteers became involvedApproached the organizationWas asked byOtherNot reporting stomp or employerRelative, friend, or co-workerSomeone in the organization/schoolSomeone else201141.61.315.323.81.213.03.8201041.61.414.924.91.212.43.6200940.91.714.8261.212.33.1200840.81.414.226.81.212.63200740.11.314.827.21.212.72.7Note. Percent diffusion of How Volunteers Became Involved with Organization. qualified from Volunteering in the United States, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 tabular array 1 shows the percent distribution of how volunteers bec ame involved with their main volunteer activity organization. This information comes from the Current Population Surveys (CPS) volunteer supplements from 2007 to 2011. Over the past five years the way that volunteers have become involved with organizations has stayed relatively the same. This graph shows that volunteers are either recruited by approaching the organization themselves, being asked to volunteer by individual or other forms of volunteer recruitment. Volunteers that approached the organization have steadily stayed rough forty percent over the past five years. Additionally, the per centum of volunteers who became involved due to psyche asking them has also stayed relatively steady. Adding the contributions of those asked by gaffer or employer relative, friend, or co-worker someone in the organization or someone else, the total is consistently a higher percentage than the percentage of volunteers who approached the organization on their own. This indicates that a gre ater number of volunteers were recruited by someone asking them to participate, with largest percent being asked by someone within the organization. find out 1 depict 1. 2011 Volunteer Rates by Organization. Adapted from Volunteering in the United States, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2011 watch 1 shows the percentage of volunteers within selected organizations. This data comes from the CPSs volunteer supplement for 2011. In the survey, participants were asked to identify the type of organization where most of their volunteer time was spent. They were given the list of sport, hobby, cultural, or humanistic discipline organizations civic, political, professional, or international organizations educational or youthfulness service environmental or animal care hospital or other care public safety religious social or community service and other (Current Population Survey (CPS), 2011). The results show that the greatest percentage of volunteers spends their time with religious organizatio ns at thirty-three percent and educational or youth service organizations at twenty-six percent.Volunteer Satisfaction and Retention radiation diagram 2Figure 2. Number of Volunteers Percent of Population. Adapted from Volunteering in the United States, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011Figure 2 shows the number of reported volunteers from 2007 to 2011 and the percentage of the general population that make up this volunteer core in the United States. Again this data comes from the CPSs volunteer supplements for 2007 through 2011. The results show that over the past five years the number of volunteers has steadily stayed around lx million, with a slight dip between 2009 and 2011. The volunteer rate rose wine 0.2 percent from 2007 to 2008, 0.4 percent from 2008 to 2009 and dropped 0.5 percent between 2009 and 2010. However, it rose again 0.5 percent from 2010 to 2011. The data shows that the percentage of the population that volunteered has stayed steady (arou nd twenty-six percent) over the past five years.Figure 3Volunteers By Annual Hours of Volunteer ActivitiesFigure 3. Volunteers by annual hours of volunteer activities. Adapted from Volunteering in the United States, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011Figure 3 shows the results from the CPSs volunteer supplements for 2007 through 2011. In the survey participants were asked to fill in their average hours spent on volunteer activities for the year. The data was then coded into the categories not reporting hours, 1 to 14 hours, 15 to 49 hours, 50 to 99 hours, 100 to 499 hours and 500 or more hours (Current Population Survey (CPS), 2011). This graph represents the percentage results of their responses. The results show that the greatest majority of volunteers, at about twenty-nine percent, are spending between 100 to 499 hours on their activities. However, it solidly drops from 500 or more hours. Figure 3 also shows that from 2007 to 2011 each category of reported h ours has stayed fairly constant.Figure 4Figure 4. Main volunteer activity for organization. Adapted from Volunteering in the United States, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011Figure 4 represents the percentage of main volunteer activities for organizations. The results were collected from the CPSs volunteer supplement for 2007 through 2011, in particular the questions that dealt with the type of volunteer activities conducted at their main organization. The main organization is defined as the organization where the volunteer worked the greatest amount of hours during the year (Current Population Survey (CPS), 2011). The results show which activities had the greatest percentage of volunteers over the past five years, with the highest percentage being in the category of other activities, and the next highest in fundraising or selling items to raise money. Over the past five years each category, except collecting food and teaching/tutoring, has stayed at the same percentage of participation from volunteers. Collecting/serving food has seen a slight increase, while teaching/tutoring has seen a slight decrease from 2007 to 2011.Volunteer MotivationTable 2Distribution of Responses to Volunteer Motivation InventoryMotivational itemsSurvey questionPercentage of ResponsesDisagreeUndecidedAgreeValuesI volunteer because I believe I am meeting a need in the community in my volunteering role1.42.895.8I volunteer because I feel that volunteering makes the world a better place4.75.390I volunteer because I believe everyone should volunteer3920.340.7Self-EsteemI volunteer because I feel that volunteering is a feel-good experience14.110.475.5I volunteer because volunteering makes me feel like a good person25.417.357.3I volunteer because volunteering makes me feel useful10882Personal growthI volunteer because I feel that volunteering gives me a better understanding of what life is about10.710.478.9I volunteer because I feel that volunteering has given me t he fortune to appreciate the differences in people16.614.369.1I feel more settled in myself after volunteering26.423.550.1CareerDevelopmentI volunteer because I feel that I make important work connections through volunteering70.813.515.7I volunteer because I feel that volunteering will help me to find out about employment opportunities.7712.710.3I volunteer because volunteering gives me an opportunity to build my work skills.5614.129.9Social InteractionI volunteer because the social opportunities provided by the agency are important to me.53.220.726.1I volunteer because I feel that volunteering is a way to build ones social networks.54.119.826.1I volunteer because volunteering provides a way for me to make new friends.40.716.742.6Recognition creation appreciated by my volunteer agency is important to me.1011.678.4 beingness respected by staff and volunteers at the agency is not important to me.75.38.216.5I feel that it is important to receive recognition for my volunteering work.50 .418.631Note. Distribution of Responses to Volunteer Motivation Inventory. Adapted from Developing the Volunteer Motivation Inventory to Assess the Underlying Motivational Drives of Volunteers in Western Australia, by P.J. Esmond P. Dunlop, 2004Table 2 represents the percentage of responses from some motivational questions that were pulled from the Developing the Volunteer Motivation Inventory to Assess the Underlying Motivational Drives of Volunteers in Western Australia. The responses to questions related to to volunteer motivational factors were coded on a one to five scale, with one being powerfully disagree, two disagree, three undecided, four agree and five powerfully agree (Esmond Dunlop, 2004). Table 2 shows the percentage of responses to the selected survey questions, with strongly disagree and disagree combined into one category, and the same with agree and strongly agree, while undecided was a separate category.The results indicate that most of the respondents are moti vated by their values, self-esteem, personal growth, and recognition. It also indicates that social interaction and vocation development have significantly lower impact on their motivation to volunteer. Values such as believing that they are making a difference in the community play a highly significant role in volunteer motivation. Volunteering because it makes them feel good also plays a significant role in volunteer motivation. Being appreciated by the volunteer agency and receiving recognition was also regarded highly for volunteer motivation.(Continued on Next Page)Table 3Distribution of Responses to RMHCCI 2012 Volunteer SurveySurvey questionPercentage of ResponsesGoodAveragePoor