Hot
Topic Archive
June
2006
Are
we evolving into a new look profession?
By
OzVPM Director Andy
Fryar
Having
recently had the privilege of returning from another
trip abroad, I am more convinced than ever that the
profession of volunteer management has turned (and
is continuing to turn) a significant corner.
My
thinking stems from my preliminary belief that volunteer
management is evolutionary. That is, as the requirements
of our jobs have changed over time, so too have the
roles and responsibilities we have had to complete
on a day-to-day basis.
Here's
a broad outline of this 'evolution' as I see it.
Evolution
number 1
At
the time volunteer coordination first began as a profession
or career path, the key requirements of the role were
primarily based around the need to support volunteers
in undertaking the work they were required to do.
Although a somewhat generalised view, the role at
that time tended to be very people focused and 'hands
on' in relation to ensuring volunteers felt appreciated,
knew what to do and knew when to do it.
I
remember distinctly the handover for my first volunteer
management position in the early 1990's, which consisted
primarily of learning the profiles and needs of individual
volunteers involved in the program rather than program
processes and procedures (eg. Ken will expect a coffee
with you once a week, Thelma will want to tell you
about her grand kids etc) .
While
the role did also demand the provision, creation and
maintenance of somewhat primitive job descriptions
and simplistic application forms (by today's standards),
these few requirements made up the entirety of the
volunteer management responsibilities of yesteryear.
That's
not to downgrade the profession as it was then, it's
just that is all that was required - and for the most
part everything worked very successfully. It is also
important to acknowledge that this early version of
volunteer management was itself an evolutionary progression
from a time when most volunteer groups operated in
more of an ad-hoc fashion without any formal volunteer
management processes in place at all.
Evolution
number 2 - the blended model
Clearly,
the greatest evolutionary change since then has been
the redefinition of our roles in regards to the amount
of paperwork (and as a result responsibility) now
associated with the involvement of volunteers. Criminal
record and other screening checks, insurance requirements
and record keeping of all shapes and sizes being just
a few of these.
This
has meant that today our jobs look significantly different
to the way they did in years gone by.
Because
of this evolution in our responsibilities, volunteer
management has already had to change to become a much
greater 'blended' model of operation - one where we
have had to balance the 'people contact' sphere of
our roles with the increased 'administrative' aspects
we now find ourselves dealing with.
Largely
this redefinition of volunteer management occurred
silently, day-by day and piece-by-piece, until one
day we found ourselves doing something different to
what we used to.
My
experience also suggests that trying to balance the
requirements of both arenas (often in time and resource
depleted circumstances) has seen the scales fall in
favour of volunteer managers becoming more 'administration
conscious', with the development of volunteer relationships
holding an often distant second place. This balancing
act has become more difficult as time has gone on.
So
what's the third evolution?
Here's
the point to this hot topic.
If
we accept the argument that we have already evolved
to become a different looking profession that we were
even a decade ago, then it is only fitting that we
begin to examine where we might be another ten years
down the track and ask questions of ourselves about
what we may need to do to prepare ourselves to successfully
reach that point.
My
observations over the past few years, has led me to
believe (and observe) that a new and powerful trend
is in action.
It
is the acknowledgment by many Volunteer Program Managers
(and more importantly volunteer involving organisations),
that it has now become impossible to continue to work
in the 'blended' model any longer. That continuing
to try and performing the dual roles (of people relationships
with administration), with any level of quality, is
fast becoming impossible.
As
a result, I believe we will continue to see volunteer
management practitioners the world over become more
analytical about the work that they are doing. With
this will come a realistic assessment of want they
want their programs to achieve and what is possible
to fulfil within the resources they are given.
Consider
the following:
. The
'hottest' topic of all doing the rounds at present
is the question of 'have we over regulated volunteer
management? ' I believe this is 'hot' because we have
reached a significant point in our professional evolution
where this question can no longer be ignored. . My
experience in speaking with volunteer managers the
world over, indicates that there is a significant
increase in the number of volunteer managers both
accepting the need for and actually creating, more
valuable roles for volunteers to take over the direct
responsibilities for the recruitment and support of
other volunteers. This directional move in delegation
is a really important mindset change to that of yesterday.
. Where
greater resources are available, there is evidence
of a growth in the number of 'strategic development'
roles being created for volunteer involvement in many
international, national and even regional agencies
- where the day-to-day responsibilities for recruiting
volunteers is emerging as a completely separate role
to the administration and development of the program's
objectives.
In
brief I believe that what we will continue to see
are two distinctly different volunteer management
roles emerge. That is, the 'blended model' will be
replaced by two specific roles; one looking at 'strategy,
development and administration' the other the 'hands
on support and recruitment' of our volunteers themselves.
Of
course, as with anything in our sector there will
be wide permeations of this trend, which will be dependant
upon many things, including resources and agency size,
however regardless of these factors I do believe this
will emerge as the new reality.
Now
of course, this is my own point of view and I am throwing
this theory out there to be debated and shared with
the wider profession - so please share your own ideas
about this topic.
- Is this something your agency
has already had to restructure to deal with in some
way, shape or form?
- Do you agree or disagree
with my observations?
- Are there aspects of this
hot topic I may have overlooked?
- Do you believe there are
alternative futures to the one I have written about
this month?
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hear from you
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