Responses
to July 2006 Hot Topic
An
Interview with Linda Graff
Response
posted by Sabina Nowak, Volunteer Coordinator, Protect
All Children Today (PACT), Queensland, Australia
I
think having careful recruitment and selection, good
training, policies and procedures in place early can
assist with preventing the need for and minimising
the problems with "Corrective Action". If everyone
know what the "rules"/expectations are early, have
good training, reinforcement with Newsletters and
meetings, consistent feedback etc, it makes it harder
for Volunteers not to understand what is expected
of them.
A
position description, Code of Ethics or similar that
is signed at the beginning along with a user-friendly
policy manual should be considered essential for any
Volunteers dealing with "responsible" areas, such
as in our work, working with children in the legal
system.
Regular
reviews and facilitating client feedback are also
useful to identify training needs.
With
all the background information and policy in place,
including a complaints policy, when a Volunteer is
behaving in a potentially detrimental manner, the
Volunteer Manager has the mechanisms in place to gather
appropriate feedback, discuss the issues concerned,
and take clear action - whether that be offering more
supervision/training or discussing about whether this
sort of Volunteer work is suited to them given their
preferred style of working etc.
By
removing the more subjective aspects of the Volunteer
Manager's decision making process, it can help reduce
the personalised nature of the criticism, and focus
more on the behaviour - ie systems are in place to
assist in the organisation to dismiss inappropriate
Volunteers which are transparent from the beginning.
Involving
the Volunteers where possible in the making of the
rules in the first place also strengthens the VPM's
position when disciplining a Volunteer.
When
done well, training/disciplining a Volunteer becomes
a responsibility to the organisation and other Volunteers
who are working hard to maintain the professional
image of the organisation, and reduces the ambiguity
that can cause a destructive conflict in the organisation.
Let's
hear what you think!
Its
not too late...
Let's
hear what you think!
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