Year: 2018

Volunteer Management in Extreme Weather Conditions

Posted on by Volunteer Ireland

snowy weather

In extreme weather conditions we are reliant not just on local authorities and emergency services; but also on volunteer bodies such as Mountain Rescue, Irish Coast Guard, Royal National Lifeboat Institution, Civil Defence, First Responders, 4×4 Response Groups and many others that support our local communities in times of need.

There are many volunteer-led groups around the country that do great work to help those in need at these challenging times. As Volunteer Managers we need to ensure that we are looking after volunteers’ health, safety and welfare. This checklist will help you reflect on things you might consider when working with volunteers in extreme weather situations:

The right person for the right role – People often offer their services in times of needs like this, but we must ensure that we have the right person for the role. Volunteers need to be competent, as well as physically and mentally fit to carry out the task required of them. Quite often people think they can do more than they are actually able to do. Ensure that you have clear role descriptions to define the role of your volunteers.

Insurance – Does your insurance policy cover your volunteers when they are engaged in a hazardous area or programme?  There may be additional risks not present normally. If the current volunteer role differs from what your organisation has been set up to do as outlined in your Memorandum and Articles of Association, you should check with your insurance company to ensure that volunteers are covered and that they will pay out in the event of an accident.

Rest and Recuperation – Volunteers can sometimes be over enthusiastic with their energy to support others at times of need.  You might need to reconsider the length of volunteers’ shifts, reducing their length and ensuring volunteers do not push themselves too hard.

Expectations – Volunteers might want to solve all the problems caused by the extreme weather conditions and stay out in all weather conditions to do so, putting themselves at risk.  Manage the expectations of volunteers in line with the policies and procedures of your organisation.  Be realistic and ensure that your volunteers aren’t pushing themselves too hard.

Preparation, preparation, preparation – You can never have enough of it, that’s why good volunteer programmes carry out drills and practices year round to ensure that volunteers are trained and aware of what is expected of them when a severe weather condition comes along.

Welfare – Your concern might be about helping those who are most at need in our communities, but you can’t do that without volunteers. Your primary concern should be the welfare of your volunteers. Ensure they get hot refreshments and food. Be aware of those who insist they don’t need anything and want to battle on without refreshments or a break.

Mental Health – Lots of issues can present themselves at a time like this, all of which can take a toll on a volunteer’s mental health. You might be fine, but what about your volunteers?  People experience things in different ways and it is often the quieter volunteer who needs the most attention.

PPE / Equipment – The onus is on you to ensure that your volunteers have all the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) they need. That might include thermal hats, gloves, jackets and boots.  You can’t expect people to have that equipment lying around at home. Maybe set up a pool of equipment to have for such situations. A Hi-Viz Jacket, for example, only serves one purpose and will not keep you warm. Do your volunteers need mobile phones? Do they have spare batteries? Do you use two-way radios? How long is their range? Is that range shortened by weather conditions?

Transport – Are volunteers using their own vehicles as part of their volunteering? Are they insured and roadworthy to do this?  Remember even if you own a 4-Wheel Drive vehicle it doesn’t mean you can drive anywhere. You need to be experienced at driving safely, and your responsibility as a Volunteer Manager may be to ensure that your volunteers are trained to do so.

Sign in and Sign out – Before any volunteers go out on shift ensure that you have their emergency contact details, as well as details of any medical conditions you should be aware of. Do you have a process in place for them to sign out at the end of the shift if they are not returning to the base?

Volunteer Management – Are we just paying it lip service?

Posted on by Volunteer Ireland

Discover + Connect + Take Action = Leadership

Stuart Garland is Volunteer Ireland’s Training and Programmes Manager. Having worked as a Volunteer Manager for a number of years, managed a Volunteer Centre and been a volunteer himself he has a unique insight into the current volunteering landscape.

Back in September 2008 when the recession hit Ireland’s economy CEOs of NGOs were left with difficult decisions to make about staffing levels in their organisations.  Many had to reluctantly let staff go. In a number of cases the first person to be let go was the Volunteer Manager. One would almost expect the next step was to fire all the volunteers, but that didn’t happen.

Fast forward 10 years – has the landscape changed? Have we learnt anything? Are we valuing our volunteer programmes?

Problems in volunteer programmes often relate to unrealistic assumptions of what the organisation thinks the volunteers want to do and how much time they have to commit, without ever asking the volunteer for their input. Unclear or no role descriptions as well as volunteer policies which read like rule books written in 1863 do nothing to speak to today’s volunteer.

Excellence in volunteer leadership is about understanding the motivations of volunteers and using active listening, mentoring, evaluation and reflection to develop and support the volunteers.

The days of volunteers committing to volunteering for the rest of their life are over, and we need to start changing our programmes to adapt. Informal volunteering is starting to surpass formal volunteering in some countries around the world.

Here’s some reflective questions to ask yourself, which might help point you in a new direction

  • Do your organisation’s mission and values actually speak to the volunteers about the value they bring to the organisation? Does it talk about the impact they can make to your organisation? Does your mission speak volumes about the value you place on volunteers or are volunteers just an afterthought?
  • Does your Volunteer Policy speak to volunteers or does it read like a rule book?
  • How reflective of society is your volunteer programme – how diverse is your volunteer pool? (There are over 535,000 non-Irish Nationals living in Ireland representing over 200 different nationalities)
  • Do you offer flexibility in your roles? 58% of volunteers are looking for short term, episodic roles.
  • Volunteer motivations are very different to those of employees, however there must be clarity between all roles.
  • Feedback is key to the success of your volunteer programme – not just asking for it, but acting on it and sharing those experiences.
  • Are you struggling to recruit new volunteers? Remember that successful programmes don’t struggle with recruitment as their volunteers speak positively about their experiences to potential new volunteers.
  • Do you support and encourage CPD for your Volunteer Managers?

Providing leadership for volunteers can be exhilarating, challenging, exciting, tedious, rewarding and demanding, all at the same time. Volunteer leadership is about recruiting the right people for the right roles, engaging them in the organisation and then most importantly empowering them to be ambassadors for your organisation.

Investing in your volunteer programme is not just about supporting and resourcing your volunteer programme, it’s about investing in a future for your organisation.

If you’re unsure of how well your programme is doing why not check out Volunteer Ireland’s Volunteer Health Check or Volunteer Impact Assessment? You can contact Stuart about these tools on [email protected].

 

e-VOC (Validation of Competencies) Project Update

Posted on by Volunteer Ireland

The e-VOC Team in Rome at a Partners Meeting

The e-VOC project aims at improving the offer, accessibility and quality of training for the professionals of the European voluntary sector on the validation of competences. To do so, four organisations from four European countries have joined forces to develop the first open and multilingual online training course for the professionals of the European voluntary sector on the validation of competences. During the first day of the meeting, the partners from Italy and Spain presented the results from the testing carried out with professionals of the voluntary sector from Italy and Spain. During the second day, the delegates from the four partner organisations evaluated the results from the testing and defined the improvements to be implemented on the online training course. These improvements will be presented during the next project meeting, in Galway (Ireland), planned for June 2018. This project, co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union, is a joint initiative of: the Spanish Volunteering Platform (Spain), CSVnet (Italy), EDOS Foundation (Netherlands), and National University of Ireland, Galway (Ireland) along with Volunteer Ireland.

Erasmus+ Programme

Volunteering: Myths and Facts

Posted on by Volunteer Ireland

Ireland has a fantastic culture of volunteering and it’s always heartening to see that no matter what’s going on in the country, that culture remains strong. Over 1 million people in Ireland volunteer each year but there are still a lot of misconceptions about volunteering. In this blog, we’ll tackle the common myths about volunteering.

Myth #1: Volunteering is free

Although volunteering is free in the sense that volunteers contribute their time without payment, it takes time and resources for an organisation to involve volunteers. To engage volunteers effectively, organisations must have someone in place to support and manage volunteers, must develop policies and procedures, go through a recruitment process and provide training and ongoing supervision. So while it may not cost money – bar covering expenses – it takes time and resources for an organisation to provide a meaningful volunteering experience.

Myth #2: Garda vetting is a major barrier to volunteering

Garda vetting is often held up as a reason that people don’t volunteer with people believing that it takes too long and is a lot of work. In reality, now that Garda vetting is processed online, the turnaround time is around 2 weeks and often takes even less time. People also often assume that all volunteers must be vetted when in fact it’s only those volunteering with children or vulnerable persons that need to be vetted.

Myth #3: You have to commit to volunteering at the same time every week for a certain amount of time

It is true that many charities ask for volunteers to commit to giving a certain amount of time. The reason that they do this is because they invest time and resources into training volunteers so they need to ensure a minimum time commitment. They also need to ensure they have the right amount of volunteers in place to deliver the best possible service to their clients. However, there are also many charities that offer flexible opportunities like once off volunteering at events and festivals or online volunteering that can be done in your own time. The important thing is to make sure you choose a role that suits you and the time you have available.

Myth #4: You can start volunteering as soon as you find a suitable role

We often get calls from people who want to start volunteering the very same day. Unfortunately, that’s usually not possible. When organisations involve volunteers they usually go through a recruitment process which can involve an application and an interview stage. Organisations do this to make sure that the volunteer is a good fit for them and matches the requirements of the role but also to give the volunteer more information about the organisation and make sure the volunteer feels it’s a good fit too. There is also often a period of training before volunteers can start their role fully. Generally, organisations try to make sure that the whole process doesn’t take too long. The good news is that if an organisation implements these processes they are much more likely to provide a better volunteering experience in the long run. There are always some volunteering roles that can begin quickly, particularly once off and online opportunities, but they are the exception rather than the norm.

Do you have any myths you’d like us to tackle? Let us know @voluntireland.