Hot
Topic Archive
September
2008
New
incentives for new volunteers?
By
OzVPM Director Andy
Fryar
Not
so long ago* I was reading an article in the Weekend
Australian all about how, in an effort to retain staff
members and be more receptive to the lifestyle needs
of working mothers, babies are now sharing the office
space in some of our major corporations.
In
the US, this is already becoming a wide spread practice
with some 100 major companies already employing this
form of support for its workers, with many tipping
that this type of program will continue to take hold
here in Australia.
With
the contents of this article fresh in my mind, I also
recently attended a meeting with a representative
of a major Australia coffee retail company. The specialty
of this company is to provide small, modern coffee
making units which at the push of a button dispense
high quality fresh coffee products such as cappuccinos,
lattes and hot chocolate along with more standard
coffee products.
The
most interesting part of our conversation (for me
at least) centred on the fact that while in the past
these type of ‘luxury’ coffee products may have been
confined to a local café at lunch time, many Australian
companies are now installing these coffee dispensing
units throughout their operations for staff to access
(free of charge) right throughout the work day. In
fact, I was told that many major corporations now
have at least one of these units on every floor!
Why?
Well because workers today are demanding this - not
as a luxury but as an expectation in their workplace.
For employees, having access to these small luxuries
can often make all the difference between them staying
with the company or moving elsewhere. For employers,
the expense of providing coffee and retaining employees
for longer is far more cost effective than having
to continually recruit and induct new staff.
In
both cases, the equation is a simple one.
Happy
staff equals a happy workplace which in turn equals
greater company retention. As the availability of
workers continues to become even scarcer, this equation
will continue to become an even more critical one.
So
where does that leave the volunteering world?
For
many years, the ‘traditional’ way of providing support
and recognition to our volunteers has been simple.
Badges acknowledging years of service, the odd Christmas
party, certificates of appreciation.
But
the question must be asked of whether or not these
forms of retention and acknowledgement still ‘cut
it’?
Volunteers,
like paid staff have busy lives to juggle
Consider:
• Part
time workers
• Grandparents
with responsibilities for caring for grand kids
• Young
mothers with pre-school age children to care for
• The
unemployed with little or no disposable income
• Students
with busy study schedules and limited income
• Parents
who only have weekends free for both family and social
responsibilities
Is
it time the voluntary sector took a leaf from the
book of human resource management and found new ways
to support volunteers in undertaking their involvement
within the community?
• How
many volunteer programs provide access to free child
care?
• Are
parking spaces made freely available to your volunteer
workforce?
• Are
volunteers provided with meal vouchers or fuel reimbursement
• Are
there ways volunteers can access technology through
your organisation that they cannot gain privately?
• Are
volunteers able to access cheaper memberships or products
as a result of their contribution with your agency?
• Can you utilise the expertise of others in your
agency or corporate partners to provide additional
training opportunities for your team?
There
are two key points here:
There
is little doubt that those volunteer organisations
who find ways to make volunteering more attractive
will both attract – and more importantly retain more
volunteers
The
ways we have traditionally achieved this are becoming
less effective, and we need to find new ways to address
these issues as we move into the future
So
my questions to you all this month are:
• Do
you already offer ‘out of the box’ incentives to your
volunteer team? If so what are they?
• What
are the limitations to your agency being able to offer
more of this type of opportunity?
• What
other thoughts would you like to share on this topic?
*July
26, 2008 'Weekend Australian'
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