Great Place to Volunteer
I recently spoke at a conference specifically targeted to HR execs/staff in the video game industry My bit was more on macro-level game industry structure/economics, but ahead of me was a rep from the Great Place to Work Institute.
The game development industry is notorious for having an especially bad reputation when it comes to working conditions and work/life balance. So, the HR folks wanted to hear from an expert on making your company a great place to work. Some details on their framework are at their site...
At one point, the rep had audience members huddle into small groups for various exercises. Being a non-HR person who just so happened to be in the crowd, I huddled up with the group next to me to observe. Then they turned to me and asked, How does that work in your association?
Caught off guard, I said in half jest that we outsource all our operations and so we don't actually have staff and hence don't have to worry about being a great place to work. Hmm, but wait, our volunteer base could certainly be viewed as workers. And, using the various frameworks, how do we stack up as a great place to volunteer, or even just a great place to join? Through that lens, looking at the various trust factors (respect, fairness, credibility) and the pride and camaraderie components, I could see places where we do really well (like pride) and others we don't even think about consciously (like credibility).
Will be interesting to see what the upcoming The Decision to Volunteer research/book will cover... (Anyone have a good link to that?)
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Comments
Jason -
Good stuff. As a former HR person, I thought the transition into membership and volunteer management was fairly seemless. Many of the things you mentioned can be applied directly. However, many associations themselves don't have HR staff and forget to look at those issues for their own staffs as well as their volunteers.
Posted by: Matt Baehr | June 10, 2008 4:02 PM
Great connection to the volunteer "workplace" Jason. As a member of the team working on the Decision to Volunteer I can tell you - without overstepping my confidentiality agreement :) - that the results validate your musings here ... having a "great place to volunteer" is for associations just as important as have a "great place to work" so says the volunteers and is an important learning from the research. I'd love to see this model you shared used in measuring our volunteer program. Imagine alongside the 100 best places to work might be the 100 best places to volunteer?
BTW - look to big launch of Decision to Volunteer research in August at Annual through sessions, thought leader session and Decision To lounge not to mention the book of course. Then the Component Relations Section Council will be contining the conversation through the fall.
Posted by: Peggy Hoffman | June 16, 2008 8:05 AM