Hot
Topic Archive
May
2006
Beware
the complacent VPM!
By
OzVPM Director Andy
Fryar
I
recently spent a few nights in the pearling community
of Broome, which for those of you unfamiliar with
Australian geography, is located in the remote far
north of Western Australia .
I
was staying at a well known holiday resort in a poolside
room surrounded by tropical palms bathed by the warm
humid environment provided by the wonderful northern
Australian sun.
When
you lead a very busy lifestyle like I do, it's easy
in those types of situations to simply fade into your
new surroundings and relax for all you are worth,
which is exactly what I did. The only problem however,
was that on day two of my trip, comforted by the serenity
of my new surroundings, I inadvertently failed to
properly check that the screen door leading to the
pool was locked and as a result, in the still of the
night, an intruder managed to open the door, walk
past the bed where I was sleeping and steal my wallet!
In
reporting the incident to Broome police I was told
that it was a very common method of intrusion in the
Broome area, as tourists enter the region and let
their guard down. The police woman's words to me were
"people get complacent and then they get robbed"
Ahhhh
complacency! .what a costly lesson.
The
whole incident got me thinking about how complacency
can be such a dangerous thing to have emerge in a
volunteer management setting. While we talk and hear
a lot about the importance of and need for good policies
and risk management practices in volunteer involving
agencies, they soon come to nought if we are not vigilant
in applying them in a structured and careful manner.
That is, if we decide something is worth developing
a policy around, then we need to actually find ways
to implement that policy consistently.
Now
before I move on, let me say that I am the first one
to put my hand up to say that I think some agencies
'over structure' their programs. They'll develop policies
to cover everything from screening new volunteers
right down to how the kitchen area needs to be cleaned!
It's no wonder staff and volunteers of those organisations
have difficulty keeping up with all the requirements
and ultimately feel overwhelmed by the level of bureaucracy
- so let's firstly gauge if a situation really does
need a policy before we develop one - but if we do,
then let's stick to it - as complacent practices can
lead to a myriad of problems.
Let's
examine just a few.
Complacency
in recruitment
When
we recruit volunteers we need to be mindful that we
have a successful match between a person and a position.
It's no use trying to fit round pegs into square holes,
and being complacent in who we recruit can easily
have a flow on effect throughout other parts of our
programs - with other team members, with job satisfaction
and with retention rates amongst our team.
Where
it becomes difficult are those times when a long standing
volunteer recommends someone to the program, or in
struggling programs where you'll take just about anyone
who is standing in an upright position with a pulse.
Setting standards and having a clear idea about the
kinds of volunteers you want to recruit and then sticking
to that is imperative for the ongoing development
of your program.
Complacency
in screening
It's
also easy to get complacent in the screening process
- especially if you are working in a program which
is struggling to attract volunteers. Sadly in these
situations the temptation exists to view even the
devil as having a halo and wings - and complacent
practices can easily have dire consequences.
I'm
reminded of a situation I found myself in several
years ago, where I had interviewed a young 19 year
old woman who had just arrived from interstate for
a volunteer position in a playgroup. Our organisational
policies dictated that referees be checked prior to
a new volunteer starting in the area, something we
did almost religiously. However on this occasion complacency
set in and I was going to defer referee checks until
a date after the new person had begun. After all,
I had interviewed thousands of volunteers, I was busy,
I knew people and I trusted my gut instinct. What
could possibly go wrong?
Well
luckily for me and our organisation nothing did go
wrong because one of the referees the young woman
had listed called me! She explained that she understood
she had been listed as a referee but was concerned
about the character of the potential volunteer as
the young woman had confided in her that she had moved
from interstate because the police were after her
on kidnapping charges!
She
never did start with our organisation and on that
day I learnt a very valuable lesson about complacency
in the selection and screening process.
Complacency
in retention and support
There
is a temptation in the management of volunteer programs
to devote the majority of our available time and attention
to the recruitment of new volunteers - and less to
the activities associated with retaining and supporting
those volunteers already a vital part of our program
success.
Focusing
too much on only the recruitment elements of our program
and becoming complacent in the need for ongoing support
of
exiting
team members can lead to higher rates of turn over
and even dissent amongst existing volunteers.
Complacency
in maintaining boundaries
The
final complacent temptation is to try and meet the
individual requests of volunteers, and in the process
begin to transcend boundaries - or at the very least
overstep policy guidelines.
I
am reminded of a particular and recent situation where
a long standing volunteer had been receiving a ride
into her volunteer workplace for a number of years
- courtesy of the agency's transport department. This
arrangement had begun some years earlier as the result
of a simple request made by the volunteer to the volunteer
manager. The only problem was that this 'once off'
request was repeated over and over until it was not
questioned anymore and the weekly ride became the
norm, much to the chagrin of other volunteers who
felt aggrieved by the fact that they too were not
offered a lift each week! While the results in this
case were minimal, complacency in these types of situations
can be catastrophic when the boundaries being crossed
come with legal implications attached.
Summary
So
let me encourage you to give some consideration to
the ways you might be becoming complacent in areas
of your program's management.
- Is there an area of policy
development you have been putting off?
- Is there a situation going
on in your agency that you just know is going to
come back and bite you at some time?
- Are you feeling stale or
overworked? If so are there areas of your work that
might be open to complacent practices as a result?
Let's
hear your thoughts and experiences on this important
subject.
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