How can you engage volunteers from day one?

Important things to remember at the starting is that 'They have chosen you' not vice a versa. Correct kind of onboarding is very critical. Touring of space, induction with staff, explanation on policies, setting the expectations right and deliverable agreed upon.

Provide excellent induction and training. Encourage managers to practice influencing skills Encourage social connectedness Share success stories

HR can engage volunteers by welcoming them warmly, expressing gratitude for their commitment, and highlighting the positive impact of their involvement on the organization's mission. Additionally, providing a comprehensive orientation program to familiarize volunteers with the organization's values, goals, and procedures will help them feel valued and prepared to contribute effectively.

The hunt is on! But instead of a lone wolf tracker, you're building a vibrant pack of talent scouts – your recruitment volunteers. These folks are your secret weapon, sniffing out hidden gems and amplifying your employer brand like seasoned storytellers. But keeping them fired up and engaged takes more than a simple "thanks for showing up." If I am being honest the engagement begins long before the day of the event. In the multiverse of recruitment, we all know the real deal starts from the moment the Avengers Assemble 😉

Engage volunteers immediately by extending a kind welcome, describing their responsibilities and effects in detail, and establishing a connection between them and the organization's purpose. To help them feel appreciated and a part of the community immediately, provide training and orientation, help with team introductions, and maintain constant contact.

Make sure you show respect for their time by offering clear and concise information. Over communicate early and often so that none of them feel their time is wasted. You want to make sure they know how valuable their contribution is and that means putting a little work in yourself.

1. **Clear Messaging:** Clearly communicate your organization's mission, goals, and the impact volunteers can make. 2. **Regular Updates:** Keep volunteers informed about ongoing projects, achievements, and upcoming opportunities through regular updates. 3. **Two-Way Communication:** Encourage open communication. Actively seek volunteers' input, feedback, and ideas to make them feel valued. 4. **Training Opportunities:** Offer training sessions or workshops to enhance volunteers' skills, fostering a sense of personal development and investment. 5. **Recognition:** Acknowledge and celebrate volunteers' efforts. Publicly recognize their contributions through newsletters, social media, or events. That’s how we can build trust.

When you communicate well with your people, you also take feedback and suggestions from them. This would not only make them confident but also feel that they are important and that they are part of the team. When people are given importance and are listened to, they tend to think more about what they can contribute and help whenever they can. Rewarding good work is also essential in motivating people. I worked with leaders before who cannot communicate well and kept everyone hanging, that is bad leadership.

Communication and frequent feedback as well as asking them.for theirs builds professional relationships based on trust and mutual respect. This will keep your volunteer force focused on the Organizations mission, vision and values as well as keep them informed and listening to their input which can improve overall performance.

Crisp communication is the key. Never make them nerves by over communicating. Communication should open up the way for productive work.

Let your people shine! Allow for them to communicate and participate in the ways they feel most comfortable. Provide the required guardrails but allow for freedom of expression and involvement at the pace and scope they feel best in participating. When your brand ambassadors speak, act and participate in ways that are genuine and real to them, it thus becomes genuine and real to your audiences. Audiences know the difference between forced participation and real volunteer advocacy - and the results will be the better for it.

Volunteers can get involved in various opportunities customized to their unique skills and interests. We can offer a range of roles and projects that align with their abilities, ensuring a meaningful connection between their capabilities and the tasks at hand. We can prioritize flexibility in scheduling, making an effort to accommodate their availability while respecting their time commitments. This approach enables volunteers to contribute effectively while maintaining a balance between their personal commitments and involvement with our initiatives.

If the firm is not talking about flexibility in today's day and age, it can lead to the loss of talent and its availability. Most of the time, Volunteers tends to devote their time on passion projects and love for the crusade, they might club these volunteering exercises with their respective full time day jobs, hence offering them flexibility can go long way in retaining their interest levels and variety in their tasks. 'What' and 'Who' is as much important as 'When'.

- Give the volunteers a certain amount of freedom to make decisions and make choices. - Try to rotate tasks after a while for them to explore various aspects. - Pair them with someone initially to guide them well and then delegate.

Always remember that it is their choice to volunteer and they would continue to do so if their purpose for volunteering is being fulfilled which might be emotional, social, learning driven, networking to name a few. As long as they are interested, respected and don't feel unduly pressurized or stretched, they will continue to make that choice and choose your organization / work over others. So you know if you want them then flexibility and interest are the way to go.

As the dialogue from the movie “Pearl Harbour” goes, there is nothing stronger than the heart of a volunteer. Volunteers are a key asset to any organisation, the key is to be able to put their creativity & energy to productive use, one of the best ways to do this is by recognising them. The most impactful recognition that has worked for me is to empower them with necessary resources & authority to change things (without bogging them with bureaucracy).

I personally feel with rewards and recognition, one feels valued in team and this will surely make everyone in team to volunteer into any task(s) coming up and will improve team’s and individual’s efficiency.

If you ask me, a simple shout-out on LinkedIn or a heartfelt thank you email can go a long way in fueling their volunteer spirit. I am also a big believer in making volunteers our brand ambassadors. Giving them some goodies with company brand logos not only make it worth their while but also makes the brand shine. I have seen organizations even treat volunteering as a gig within their role and add monetary compensation for their time and effort. Also genuinely interested volunteers sometimes get discouraged by their line managers as they see this as a distraction from business. Getting their buy in by sending some leadership notes, is another great idea.

As an Employee Resource Group leader a common challenge for volunteers is being recognised by their 'day' job leadership for their volunteer contributions. I find reaching out to their leader to share their development and strengths as well as their passion has in many cases opened that leader to a better understanding of volunteering and how it can contribute to the success of their team. Our DEI team also launched a program to send letters recognising the contributions of volunteers at ERG Officer level to their leadership a few weeks prior to annual performance reviews.

Show them the impact of what they do in a way that is meaningful by providing data and stories that tap their emotional sensitivities ( which is why people volunteer anyway) .

Create an environment where volunteers feel comfortable sharing their thoughts, ideas, and feedback. Encourage open communication and actively listen to their suggestions. Showing that their input is valued can enhance their engagement.

I think when onboarding volunteers or employees one of the best things you can do is ask them why they chose this initiative. If we know people’s whys we can better solve the how we get there together. Then when goals are completed, you can recognize someone in a meaningful way. I don’t think it needs to be overly complicated and one big data management project but written down and saved in a format that is uniform. It will help also in recruiting more of your top performers when you see a through point. There is a common goal in volunteering but not always a common vision to get there.

Ask them what motivate them so you have an immediate understanding of their involvement and outcome expectations through their volunteer experience.

When it comes to feedback, most leaders tend to shy away from this in case they hear something they do not like. A volunteer is someone that can provide crucial feedback and often is brutally honest as there may not be a *fear* that their job may be on the line, because they're volunteering! They can provide you feedback that you may not have thought about before from other team members that you might have thought about before.

Seeking feedback shows you value their input. Regularly ask for volunteers' thoughts on their experiences, tasks, and overall engagement to continuously improve the volunteer program.

Volunteers are the life blood of some organisations and if they did not show up in numbers then whatever you are trying to achieve will fail, so treat them as if they are the most precious item you have, because if you upset them, then they will not come back and you will fail. So treat them with respect, honesty and be dedicated to them and they will respect you and what you want to achieve

People volunteer because they want to help, they want to make a difference. I can tell you that I heard the most amazing, at times very touching, stories when I volunteered to drive cancer patients to / from the hospital for treatment. It was extremely rewarding and I recommend it. Share these stories with volunteers and they will engage 100%.

If you are a volunteer you should be the one engaging with others. If you are volunTOLD to participate, that is an entirely different subject and also not volunteering. Let’s volunteer about what we care about and also be responsible to decide to if you want to help other people’s asks/causes/whatever it may be.

Help them and managers practice influencing skills - show purpose and set targets together - set a path for the future together

I've seen it happen too often where volunteers are treated like they can do no wrong and whatever they want is what goes. While I obviously believe you should treat your volunteers with kindness and gratefulness, my experience with volunteers is that they want to know the work they're doing means something. If you can gently/kindly set expectations and hold people accountable to doing their part (again, do this kindly with your volunteers), people tend to react positively to this. Remember that volunteers show up to help but the may not always know what to do. So give them direction, set those expectations, and help them to be a part of great results. They'll feel like what they've done means something and we'll all be happy together!