Supporting volunteers
Throughout their time at an organisation, volunteers need to be supported to ensure their experience is a positive one and to give them confidence to perform in their role.
You should take an individual approach when supporting volunteers and tailor it to their needs, motivations, skillset, and availability. The best way to do this is ask the volunteer how they would like to be supported rather than assuming. Be open minded and listen to what they say. Be flexible with your approach and prepared to adjust the role as your volunteer grows in their role.
This applies to both day-to-day supervision of volunteers and how they are performance managed.
People often underestimate how much time it takes to supervise volunteers and their requirements can vary depending on the tasks being performed, the size of the organisation, or their skillset. Try to plan your supervision in a way that suits both your organisation’s resources and your volunteers’ needs. Volunteering ACT have developed a Guide to Supervision which has detailed information on this topic.
When undertaking performance management be mindful of how it is communicated as volunteers will prefer different approaches. It might be a formal process with regular appraisals or something more informal, like a chat over a coffee. No matter what option you take, be clear and concise so everyone present understands what is expected of them.
Remember every volunteer is different so ensure your performance management aligns with their motivations for being in the role. For example:
Volunteers wanting to gain experience to help with future employment might like to learn about different vacancies in your organisation or like help building their CV.
Volunteers wanting to learn a new skills might enjoy one-on-one coaching sessions.
Volunteers wanting to use their expertise might want to connect with the communities they are helping and talk to them about the work they do.
Whatever the case try to put in place some realistic goals for volunteers to work to and support them in their efforts. It will make their experience a meaningful one.
Refer to the Communication & Collaboration section to help you maintain cultural sensitivity throughout this process
Establishing buddy systems is an excellent way to support volunteers. Pair them based on their motivations for being in the role. For example, if a volunteer has joined your organisation to improve their English speaking skills, match them with a multicultural volunteer or staff member who has good conversational English. If a volunteer wants to learn more about non-profit organisations, connect them to a board member. There are many ways you can approach this, discuss it with your volunteer to see what they would like to do.
Be mindful of cultural practices when doing so to ensure you are Creating Inclusive Environments.
Provide volunteers with the resources they need to do the job. If this starts to become difficult reassess the role together to make it simpler. Talk to your volunteer about the situation. They may have suggestions on how to change or improve things.