Engaging & Motivating your Volunteers

1. Engaging & Motivating your Volunteers Kristina Ricketts, Ph.D. University of Kentucky

2. Today’s Objectives • To look at three different elements that affect volunteers and leadership: • Motivation • Situational Leadership • Empowerment

3. The Difference of Volunteers – A Quick Review • Working with volunteers is different • Not paid, compensated • Use different motivation strategies • More internal motivation, doing things for the “greater good” • Still, volunteers aren’t second best • Organizations, groups need volunteers • Identify suitable roles

4. People & Motivation • People seek security • Certain needs fundamental to existence • Once these are met, focus on duties • People seek social systems • Relatedness, affiliation, interpersonal relations, belongingness, etc. • People seek personal growth • Advancement, need for achievement • “What’s in it for me?”

5. Defining Motivation • An inner force that drives individuals to accomplish personal and organizational goals • To be moved to do something “…the inspiration to act” • Two factors • The level of motivation – how motivated someone is • The orientation of motivation – what type of motivation inspires the individual • Underlying attitudes and goals

6. Basic Types of Motivation • Intrinsic: doing something because it is innately interesting • For the enjoyment of the activity • Internal • Extrinsic: doing something because it leads to a specific outcome • External, Reward, Instrumental • i.e. money, awards, acceptance, etc. • Amotivation: lacking intention to act

7. Let’s Think About… How are we defining leadership within our organization?

8. Situational Leadership • Originally developed in 1977 by Hersey & Blanchard, began as the Life Cycle Theory • Definition • Appropriate leadership style depends upon the readiness level of the followers/volunteers • Model is broken down into leadership style and follower readiness • Leadership style – behavior by the leader as perceived by the followers • Readiness – follower competence and commitment

9. Leadership Style • Broken down into two behaviors • Task behavior – the extent to which the leader engages in spelling out the duties/responsibilities of the group • Directive behaviors • Relationship behavior – the extentto which the leader engages in a multiway communication • Listening, facilitating,supportive behaviors

10. People-Centered Behavior Supportive Behavior Directive Behavior Task-Centered Behavior

11. Follower Readiness • Which leadership style do you use? • Follower development level (readiness) determines leadership style • Competence – the knowledge, experience and skill an individual brings to a task • Commitment – the extent to which an individual has the confidence, willingness, and motivation to accomplish a task

12. Supportive Behavior Directive Behavior D4 D3 D2 D1

13. D1 = Enthusiastic Beginner • Low Competence & High Commitment Supportive Behavior Directive Behavior D4 D3 D2 D1

14. D2 = Disillusioned Learner • Low/Some Competence & High Commitment Supportive Behavior Directive Behavior D4 D3 D2 D1

15. D3 = Capable, Cautious Performer • Moderate/High Competence & Variable Commitment Supportive Behavior Directive Behavior D4 D3 D2 D1

16. D4 = Self-Reliant Achiever • High Competence & High Commitment Supportive Behavior Directive Behavior D4 D3 D2 D1

17. Situational Leadership Skills • The three skills of an effective team leader: • Diagnosis – assessing individual/team needs • Flexibility – the ability to use a variety of leadership behaviors • Matching – the ability to use leadership behaviors that meet the individual's or team’s readiness/needs

18. Situational Leadership • A leader must be able to judge both the task (whether he/she needs to be task or relationship focused) and follower readiness appropriately • While the leader probably has a preferred style, needs to be able to change according to the situation Bottom Line: It is the follower who determines the appropriate leader behavior

19. Let’s Think About… What are you currently doing to empower your members or volunteers?

20. Empowerment Defined • Empowerment: to enable or permit, to give power to • Sharing power with others • Passing decision-making authority & responsibility from managers to group members • Demonstrated through participative management, shared decision making, delegation • Increases leaders power & influence • Higher productivity, trust, self-efficacy

21. Components of Empowerment • Five components • Meaning • Value of a work goal • Work has meaning when it aligns with a person’s beliefs, values & behaviors • Competence (self-efficacy) • A person’s belief in their capability at success • Self-determination • Having a choice in initiating & regulating actions • High-level – when they can choose the best method to solve a problem, choosing the worksite

22. Components of Empowerment • Five components • Impact • The degree to which the employee can influence strategic, administrative or operating outcomes • Instead of “no choice” – having a say in the company’s future • Internal Commitment • Towards work goals • Committed for individual motives – “buy in”

23. Using Empowerment within Teams • Empowering teams allows them to control decisions that impact their success • Leaders should help the group in any way possible – particularly with unclear/complex tasks • Delegation is necessary for true empowerment • Working through issues/problems allows team to develop an identity and build needed structures

24. Using Empowerment within Teams • Advantages of team empowerment • Helps to create group “buy-in” • Defines individual roles • Allows for individuals to speak out when making important decisions • Sharing in the group’s “power” • Generally, encourages personal success

25. Empowering Practices • So how do I empower my volunteers? • Foster initiative and responsibility • Specialized titles, individualized control, more responsibility • Link work activities to organizational goals • Aligned with strategic goals of organization • Encourages identification with the group • Being a “partner” in the organization • Provide ample information

26. Empowering Practices • So how do I empower my volunteers? • Allow group members to choose methods • Explain what needs to be done – the group decides how to get there • Encourage self-leadership • Establish limits to empowerment • More authority than before, but some issues are still off-limits

27. Taking this Further… So if we are successful at motivating, empowering and leading volunteers, what are the issues? Where do they come from?

28. Volunteers’ Perception of Barriers • Volunteer target group may have different perceptions • Image/culture of volunteering; • Need to persuade volunteers that volunteering is worthwhile and has demonstrable values to individuals in the target group; • Remove the barriers to information about volunteering and help people get started; • Remove the barriers to the lack of awareness of voluntary opportunities.

29. Overcoming the Barriers • In addressing the barriers, you should consider highlighting: • Personal benefits of volunteering; • Demonstrate a commitment to equal opportunities; • Ensure retention of volunteers by ensuring the tasks match the individual volunteer, they pay out of pocket expenses and provide necessary training and support.

30. How do we retain & maintain good volunteers?

31. Top 10 of Good Volunteer Maintenance • Be prepared • Before anything gets underway, be organized • Clear chain of command • Who do I answer to? • One person, not committee • Answer calls/emails promptly • Get to know each volunteer • Especially important to learn motivation, interests

32. Top 10 of Good Volunteer Maintenance • Try and include volunteer somewhere they feel they are making an impact • Appreciation!!! • Can’t say thank you enough • Try different ways • Maintain ongoing communication • Touch base often • Don’t leave volunteers to do same job indefinitely – remember, motivation

33. Top 10 of Good Volunteer Maintenance • Ask for ideas and feedback • Provide opportunities to makes changes, “opt out” • Don’t forget verbal “Thanks for all you do” from different people • Can’t stress appreciation enough • Make each individual feel like a valued and cherished part of the team • Welcome, necessary, appreciated

34. Discussion Questions • What is the current state of volunteerism within your organization? • How are volunteers currently utilized within your organization? • Have you tapped/recruited potential leaders? • Have you thought about leadership training? Specific skills needed?

35. References • Cookman, N. (2001). Volunteers – a way of encouraging active community participation? Library and Information Research News , 25(81), 8-11. For more information, please contact: Kristina G. Ricketts, Ph.D. 713 Garrigus Building University of Kentucky Lexington, KY 40546-0215 k.ricketts@uky.edu PH: 859.257.3767

36. Questions?