Recruitment
What is recruitment?
Recruitment is an ongoing process to get people involved in all aspects of running your club and delivering both 'on and off the water' activities. This process can be approached in many different ways, but should include
- knowing what tasks/jobs need doing,
- what roles need filling,
- what skills, experience, qualifications are essential / desirable
- where to look for volunteers
If volunteer recruitment is to be successful, it needs to be a priority on the club agenda. Ineffective recruitment means that clubs have to rely on the goodwill of the few, to support the pleasure of many.
Why is it difficult to get members involved as volunteers ?
Many clubs report that they have difficulty with recruiting new members to their clubs and also getting members to help with the running of the club. There are many reasons why members don t volunteer. These include:
- Not being aware of what opportunities are available
- Not feeling confident enough to undertake volunteer roles
- Not knowing how to get involved
- Not coping with the demands of a role they have been `jobbed` to do
All of these reasons create anxiety. Understanding what your club needs, in terms of volunteer input, is an important step towards reducing the anxiety and uncertainty associated with taking on volunteer roles and responsibilities.
Who looks after club volunteers?
Most clubs have a Commodore, Secretary, and Treasurer. A range of committees will look after events, junior development programmes, social events, finance and general management. All of these jobs are taken on by volunteers, so who looks after these volunteers? It may be part of the Commodore s job, or something that the Secretary does when he or she isn t doing anything else, but in many clubs volunteers look after themselves. Volunteering just happens!
Good practice would be to encourage clubs to plan to meet their volunteer workforce needs. Appointing a Volunteer Manager or Coordinator can play a vital role in putting volunteering onto the management agenda and implementing a volunteering plan.
Why have a Volunteer Co-coordinator?
Volunteers are, probably, a club s most valuable asset. The time, effort and expertise that they have to offer to the club deserve effective management and support. It is unlikely, unless the role is specifically introduced to the club, that anyone will dedicate time specifically to volunteer planning and management. It is common for clubs to have elements of volunteer management taking place. This is commonly reported to happen as part of another role. However, many clubs are now reporting the benefits of appointing someone who is dedicated to volunteer management i.e. a Volunteer Coordinator.
Are Volunteer Coordinators paid employees?
Not usually. The role itself is most often performed by volunteers and is therefore subject to the same concerns as other roles i.e. the time commitment involved. To get around this, some clubs have successfully managed to spread the load by assigning the role to two people. This is a particularly useful tactic where club membership is large or perhaps where a club has specific aspirations for development in a particular area.
What does a Club Volunteer Coordinator do?
The key purpose of the Club Volunteer Co-ordinator role is to act as a focal point for volunteers within the club, raising the profile of volunteers by providing support and advice, and generally raising the profile of volunteer management within the clubs plans.
But every club is different!
Contact the Volunteer Development Officer
Designing and defining volunteer jobs
Designing volunteer jobs is not just a sophisticated way of saying writing job descriptions . By definition, designing means to plan and fashion artistically and skillfully.
The reality is that clubs offering interesting, meaningful and relevant volunteer jobs, that are well suited to the kinds of people that want to volunteer, are the clubs that have people lining up to get involved.
The attractiveness of a job is in the eye of the beholder
Below is a range of possible attractions or obstacles to volunteering. It is important to make sure that the elements of attraction are considered at the job design stage.
| High Profile |
Behind the scenes |
| Short-term |
Long-term |
| Day-Time |
Over-time |
| Regular hours |
On call |
| On site |
Off site |
| Highly suprvised |
Independant |
| Jump right on |
Ease in training |
| On your own |
Shared responsibility |
| Heavy demands |
Light demands |
| Challenging |
Routine |
Volunteer Role Descriptions
Contact UsArticle Published: August 07, 2009 12:27