Recruiting Great Volunteers

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Recruiting Great Volunteers
Paula Watkins, SPHR Shelly Trent, SPHR -
September 18, 2008
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Who will your future volunteers be?
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Who will your future volunteers be?

• What would life be like without volunteers?
• Volunteers are the key to the success and
  survival of your chapter or state council!

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Why Did YOU Volunteer?

• Contribute to the HR profession and your
  colleagues
• Share expertise
• Gain experience and develop valuable skills
• Meet people/network
• Enhance professional reputation
• Sense of achievement

Do your volunteers get this?
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What Skills Are You Developing?

• Change Agent
• Leadership
• Financial Expertise
• Bottom-line Sensitivity
• Project Management
• Influencing
• Platform Speaking
• Delivering Presentations
• Organizational Skills
• Conflict Resolution
• Managing People
• Adding Value
• Negotiation
• Compromise

What Else?
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What Does An Employer Gain from Supporting
Volunteerism?

• Relevant Skill Development
• Increased Loyalty
• Increased Confidence Level
• Expanded Professional Network
• Exposure to Successful Practices from Other
  Companies--Benchmarking

Do employers get it?
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Look at Your Board (and Membership)

• Range of Diversity
• Generational
• Multicultural
• ExperienceHR and Board (any new members on the
  board?) The longer on the board the less
  engaged (need to let go)
• Skills are you searching out people for needed
  skills?
• Incentive or Whats In It for Me?
• Meaningful projects?
• Results? New ideas?
• Do new leaders feel needed/valued for their
  efforts?
• Do ideas/opinions really have any impact?
• Are new ideas welcomed?
• Is there continual recognition of board member
  efforts?

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Do we market the board for new talent?

• Does the chapter/council have a strategic
  succession plan?
• Do our members really know what the board is
  about? Do they understand SHRM?
• Do we constantly publicize board identity and
  volunteerism to members?
• Do we solicit members ideas? Do we ever use
  any? Do we then give them recognition for it?
• Do we invite interested parties to board
  meetings?
• Do we communicate enough about our successes?
  Lessons learned?
• Do we appear to be a closed group?
• Do we directly ASK people in a personal way to
  join the board? Does the board have a volunteer
  who is a TALENT SCOUT?

Do we have fun??
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Communicate the Benefits of Volunteering

• New ideas can have an immediate impact make a
  difference
• You dont have to have all the answers!
• You will get something out of it
• Skills
• Learn new ideas
• Sense of belonging and contribution
• New friends and colleagues

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Avoid these Leadership Derailers

• Do not select anyone for the board who shows
  these
• traits
• Lazy unable/unwilling to complete tasks
• Overly concrete
• Impulsive
• Arrogant
• Micromanagers
• Self-promoters
• Volatile
• Risk averse
• Defensive
• Imperceptive (failure to read others behaviors,
  intentions or motivation)
• Approval dependent

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Tips for Recruiting the Right Volunteer
ASAE Magazine, Jan 02

• Offer Episodic Volunteering
• Defined duration
• Impact in the short term
• Make Sure Volunteers time is well spent
• Clear set of objectives and plans
• If I give you these talents, we will make a
  difference.
• Empower them
• Provide mentors
• Offer Rewards
• Leadership Libraries cutting-edge books and
  articles for growth in all aspects of lives
• Make use of SHRM Leadership Conference
• Show that they will help shape, educate,
  transform, and improve the HR profession through
  their activities and advocacy issues.

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Get Member and Employer Support for each Volunteer

• Send letters of recognition to employer for
  support of volunteer leader
• Constant mention of volunteer and employer as
  supporters of the organization
• Newsletter features on volunteers
• Newsletter/e-Tips to capture boss interest
• Constant mention of the volunteers contribution
  to your organization
• Put pictures of your volunteers in action in your
  newslettergreat recognition

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Do Something For the Team

• Leadership Training
• Strategic Planning
• Personality Typing
• Team Building
• Community Adventure
• Financial Education
• Social Activity

People want to belong to a vibrant culture
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Get their talent committed not just their time

• Emphasize with volunteers what they can expect to
  accomplish (not just time involvement)
• Concentrate on the positive outcomes of their
  task (networking, skills, etc.)
• Wherever possible, break down the larger jobs
  into smaller, less time-consuming jobs
• Believe that they can get the job done, and tell
  them that they are not in this alone
• Keep in touch with them

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Dont Be Fooled!
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Getting Volunteers Off on the Right Foot

• Start with a board orientation that clearly
  outlines each board members responsibilities and
  the expectations that the chapter has for the
  board.
• Include an overview of the chapters history, its
  relationship with SHRM, and the resources
  available to volunteers.
• Be sure to educate the board on the chapters
  mission and goals and show how each persons role
  relates to the accomplishment of those goals.
• Consider implementing a rule that board members
  must attend a minimum number of meetings during
  their terms.

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Getting Volunteers Off on the Right Foot

• Review the chapters goals at each board meeting,
  along with a list of tasks that volunteers are to
  complete in order to reach the goals.
• Consider deterring members from having a seat on
  the board until they have been volunteers in some
  other capacity, such as a committee member or
  committee chair.
• Once you see that a person is able to follow
  through, you can ask him or her to consider
  becoming a board member.
• Do not nominate those who have not paid their
  dues through volunteering before coming onto the
  board. After all, you would never hire someone
  to be a leader who had no work experience!
• Hold elections in October so that volunteers can
  attend the SHRM Leadership Conference in November.

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Questions to Ask

• When putting together your board, ask the
  following questions
• Does your board have the knowledge and
  competencies needed?
• Does your board measure up to your future
  strategy?
• Is the board setting goals that meet the needs of
  the members?
• Is each board member contributing his/her best?
• Does your board represent all types of
  organizations and levels of professionals?
• Do your board members understand their roles and
  responsibilities?
• Do they have the appropriate training,
  information, and orientation?
• Do you work well together as a team?
• How often can you afford to be away from your
  real job?
• Be sure to address recruitment, development, and
  evaluation. It is much easier to recruit a good
  volunteer in the first place than it is to make a
  strong board member from a weak candidate.

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Selecting Good Volunteers

• When selecting potential board members, be sure
  to consider what type of interest they have in
  the organization.
• Do they want to serve because they believe in the
  organization or because they have a personal need
  to have authority? Or do they want to add to
  their resumes?
• Choose board members who want to serve for the
  good of the organization, not for their own
  personal gain.
• Be sure that potential board members are aware of
  the time commitment (for board meetings,
  membership meetings, and the tasks of the role)
  before nominating them for a board position.

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Selecting Good Volunteers

• Be sure to give each potential board member a
  detailed job description and list of expectations
  BEFORE they are nominated.
• Educate board members on service delivery,
  funding and liability issues, and accountability
  requirements. These issues should be covered in
  a formal orientation session at the beginning of
  the term.
• Also be sure to address the interpersonal
  relationship skills necessary for the board to be
  a cohesive work team.

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• Questions?