Working with volunteers The importance of communication for group cohesion and resilience. B. Juen University of Innsbruck Austrian Red Cross

Transcription

1 Working with volunteers The importance of communication for group cohesion and resilience B. Juen University of Innsbruck Austrian Red Cross

2 Communication Sender-receiver model: oneway process Communication: two way process (both sender and receiver take an active part in the process, while receiving we interpret, while sending we receive signals from receiver )

3 Communication as a two way process Sender/ Receiver Message Receiver/ Sender Feedback 3

4 About myself Communication Aspects Schultz von Thun Sender: verbal nonverbal Content: what I say Message How I say it What I want from you My relationship to you Receiver: nonverbal 4

5 Does org give volunteers positive feedback and support? Communication Aspects We appreciate your work Organisation Message How I say it and what I do Does org give volunteers good framework and training? Volunteer Does the org listen to volunteers and give them a chance to participate? 5

6 Resilience In order to be resilient the organisation must provide resources and the volunteers must be able to use resources to positively cope with critical events (Paton, 2002) This highly depends on the volunteers the team (cohesion) the team leader the organisation Therefore we have to look at each subsystem accordingly as well as the communication between subsystems

7 Relevant Sub Systems Volunteers Team Team leaders Organisation

8 What is a volunteer? The four relevant dimensions according to Cnaan et al. (1996) are (1) free will (2) no monetary gain (3) structured context and (4) beneficiary is a stranger (not always the case: see peers) In their study they gave a questionnaire to 514 respondents and found the following results. The item that had the most acceptance was: a volunteer is an adult who offers his or her time to be a Big Brother or Sister. The authors stated that this was because it was purest in all four dimensions of the definition. The authors suggest to define pure versus broad volunteering along the four postulated dimensions.

9 Economic value of volunteers The value of volunteers Academic Network, January 2011 Two in every thousand people around the world volunteer for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Active Red Cross Red Crescent volunteers donated nearly 6 billion US dollars worth of volunteer services in 2009 worldwide, or nearly 90 US cents for every person on earth.

10 Social value of volunteers The value of volunteers Academic Network, January 2011 The social value generated by the Red Cross Red Crescent volunteer workforce is arguably even greater than its economic value. Our volunteer workforce reaches 30 million people each year in disasters alone and even more through community development initiatives that provide vulnerable people with access to humanitarian services each day.

11 Value for the community The value of volunteers Academic Network, January 2011 Voluntary service is at the heart of community-building. It encourages people to be responsible citizens and provides them with an environment where they can be engaged and make a difference. It enhances social solidarity, social capital and quality of life in a society. It can serve as a means of social inclusion and integration.

12 Value for the volunteer The value of volunteers Academic Network, January 2011 Volunteers confirm that they are pleased to be able to do something to help and are proud to have something to offer society. They value the acknowledgement they get from people in their community, the new skills they learn, and have a strong sense of belonging to a caring organization

13 Social inclusion via volunteering Through voluntary service, excluded people are increasingly forging their own futures, and those of their societies at large Through service, the excluded individuals achieve a clear degree of empowerment: from being passive members of society they at least started becoming actors Taking People out of Boxes and Categories Voluntary service and social cohesion, ARTHUR GILLETTE, Service Enquiry 2003

14 Changes regarding volunteerism Higher stakeholder expectations: Governments, companies and the general public giving money and other resources to our Movement now require higher quality and accountability standards from volunteer services Increased competition: The number of non-profit organisations seeking to attract qualified volunteers is growing fast all over the world. Volunteering is changing: Because of demographic changes, increased education, changes in the labour market and so on, today's volunteers have very different backgrounds, expectations and needs from those twenty years ago. This translates into higher demands on the tasks, the leadership, the support and the recognition they get. (Federation report: 28th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent 2-6 December 2003)

15 Volunteer Motivation Self oriented motivation is typical for the beginning It was demonstrated that individuals who think volunteerism to be an opportunity to learn capacities and competencies useful to themselves, are involved in the service for a shorter time (Capanna et al., 2002) In order to stay within the organisation new less self motivated motivations have to grow In the view of Marta and Pozzi (2008) self-oriented motivations seem to favour the choice to become a volunteer, but not the choice to maintain the commitment Only if volunteerism becomes part of their identity volunteers stay committed

16 Volunteer Motivation Volunteer motivation changes over time According to Haski-Leventhal and Bargal (2008) the elements of volunteer motivation may change significantly during the period of volunteering People may start to volunteer for certain reasons, such as a desire to help others, and continue to do so for different reasons, such as a strong affiliation with a volunteer peer group Costs and benefits, perceptions and attitudes, as well as relations with others, may all alter over time If we now look at the features of volunteering we should not use them according to categorize the different kinds of people who volunteer but also according to the different stages they are in regarding their careers as volunteers

17 How tolerant are they towards demands? Volunteer attitude Hustinx and Lammertyn (2004) How do they perceive the organisation? Organisation`s Expectations and contributions Volunteer s Attitude How commited are they? Volunteer s attitude What is their motivation? 17

18 Volunteer types Hustinx and Lammertyn (2004) The collective volunteers are very loyal and devoted and willing to accept a demanding commitment, they often volunteer because of a volunteering tradition in their local culture and family The reflexive volunteers are more focused on personal gain via volunteering, they are willing to give their time and competences and may be very loyal but they want to get something back from the organisation like a good training, experiences etc.

19 4 Clusters found by study Hustinx and Lammertyn (2004) The 4 clusters were named as follows Collectiive clusters Unconditional (Cluster 1) committed and most active in organising activities and in administrative tasks Reliable (Cluster 3), committed and most active in volunteer activities but not in decision making and admin Reflexive clusters Critical (Cluster 2) committed and most active in decision making and trainings Distant (Cluster 4) volunteer type, less committed and less active in volunteer activities but active in meetings and trainings

20 Aspects of Team Cohesion Common goal (Loyalty, Understanding.how good are information, training, authenticity?) Group identity (name, uniform, emblem how is the organisation perceived in the public?) Shared positive and negative emotions during missions (what we have been through together) Mutual dependency: every one needs the other in order to reach the common goal (how we can rely upon each other)

21 Team Leadership The good teamleader can switch between two styles Task-oriented leadership, organises more, controls more, is more active: good in situations of low and high demand Relationship-oriented leadership, less demanding, more tolerant, listens more and is open for wishes and problems of teams, is better in situations of middle demand

22 Traits of the teamleader (Indonesian volunteers) Perceived Traits of team leader Good team leader Bad team leader He recognize difficulties of team member (1) He has no sense of responsibility and cannot keep the team together (1) He must have a lot of experience (1) He let the team down (1) He promotes the cohesion of team (2) He never works with the team, but gave only commands (3) Makes every day a team check, after work (1) Talks only about money (1) He actually works with and he not only gives instructions (2) He is unable to do planning (2) He must have knowledge (4) Understanding of his team (7) He is able to do good planning and coordinate (5) Team leader looks for good conditions for the team (1) Gives feedback to his team (1) He rrecognizes affected volunteers (1)

23 The Organisation s Responsibilities towards Volunteers To ensure that an appropriate insurance policy is in place for volunteers, covering eventual risks of accident or illness directly related to the volunteer activity; To reimburse any expenses incurred by volunteers in fulfilling their volunteer tasks, up to the reasonable limits previously agreed with the volunteer; To provide volunteers with appropriate infrastructure for the discharge of their duties; To provide appropriate information to their volunteers on the nature and condition of their voluntary assignment; (Inter-Parliamentary Union, IFRC & UN Volunteers, 2004, p. 21)

24 The Organisation s Responsibilities towards Volunteers To provide volunteers with appropriate training; To ensure safe, secure and healthy conditions at work, in accordance with the nature of the volunteer activity; To provide their volunteers with accreditation and issue a certificate acknowledging their contribution at the end of their service; and To assume third-party liability for any damages or injuries their volunteers may cause by any action or omission in the course their voluntary work, provided that the volunteers act with due diligence and in good faith. (Inter-Parliamentary Union, IFRC & UN Volunteers, 2004, p. 21)

25 Sense of Coherence as a framework for volunteer resilience Understandability (of tasks and organisational goals/mission) Manageability (of tasks and organisational participation) Meaningfulness (of tasks and organisational principles/mission/feedback/prestige)

26 Understandability Volunteers must be able to understand The why and how of the given task The framework and mission of the organisation with regard to their own contribution

27 Manageability Volunteers must be able to manage the given tasks via A good and transparent selection process Good training A good and supportive framework Career chances within the organisation Possibilities for participation and ownership

28 Meaningfulness Volunteers must be able to Understand the meaningfulness of their work Experience the principles/mission of the organisation also applied to themselves Identify with the organisation and it s goals Be proud of the organisation

29 Thank you for your attention