Answers to Poor Volunteer/Staff Relations
- Establish official policy on supplementing not supplanting job with volunteers
- Involve staff in provision of orientation and training; set up volunteer evaluation system under staff control.
- Emphasize staff as ‘managers’, volunteers as their ‘consultants’.
- Involve them in job development; use “wish list” and “hate list’
- Involve them; have staff given final acceptance right.
- Involve in planning and recognition of program success.
- Orient staff as to mission of volunteer program, use of limitations of volunteers, staff roles, and volunteer ‘do’s’ and ‘don’t's’.
- Clarify staff roles: who accepts volunteers, who gives orders, who evaluates, who corrects bad behavior, who can reward, who can fire.
- Give brief personnel orientation: check back on a monthly basis
- Give them a copy of the book “Effective Management of Volunteer Programs”, by Marlene Wilson.
- Work with staff constantly. Start by referring your best volunteers to them. (Those experienced in “Followership.”)
- Re-assure on rights of replacement, termination of volunteers.
- Educate. Ask them why they volunteer.
- Show “what’s in it for them.” Minimize their paperwork. Explain ability to quality work, not quantity.
- Recognize staff informally. Throw surprise party by the volunteers for the staff.
- Apologize to staff and volunteer and re-assign the volunteer.
- Involve planning, ask advice, and consult with before making changes.
- Stop assigning them volunteers.
- Show advantages of using volunteers to market to the community.
- Give them a feel of control over the process. Let them slow to their pace.
- Demonstrate the effectiveness of volunteers. Show them your successes.
- Just because volunteers can’t solve all of the problems is no reason for not using them to solve come of them
