Hot
Topic Archive
April
2004
Unskilled
by Association?
by
Andy Fryar
In
compiling the 'Positions Vacant' pages featured on
OzVPM, I am constantly accessing a wide variety of
both print and electronic resources, in order to bring
to you all a good selection of available volunteer
management positions within the Australasian region.
I
noticed recently that one specific web based recruitment
service features, at the bottom of each vacancy, two
small category headings which obviously exist to help
categorise the particular vacancy published on that
page.
These
are identified on the site under the titles of 'Sector'
and 'Sub-Sector'.
For
example, a nursing position would feature the following
descriptive additions:
Sector
- Healthcare
Sub-sector
– Nursing
Other
examples include:
Electrical
Engineer
Sector
– Engineering
Sub-sector
– Electrical / Electronics
Retail
Sales Representative
Sector
- Sales
Sub-sector
– Non Technical
Forklift
Driver
Sector
- Logistics Transport & Supply
Sub-sector
- Warehouse & Distribution
So
why is this a Hot Topic?
Well
firstly, because from time to time vacancies appear
within those pages for volunteer positions, and in
nearly every case I can remember, the 'sub-category'
heading always featuring the phrase 'unskilled'
!
For
instance, a volunteer position in a wildlife sanctuary
would read as:
Sector
- Environment
Sub-sector
- Unskilled
Similarly,
a volunteer managing a charity shop would be assigned
a title something like:
Sector
- Retail
Sub-sector
- Unskilled
Just
what is it that makes people assume that volunteers
are without skill?
The
2000 Australian Bureau of Statistics*
(ABS) national survey of voluntary work actually indicates
quite a different picture. The survey found that around
73% of volunteers were actually in the paid workforce
undertaking a wide range of highly skilled professions.
When
asked their occupation type , the largest response
came from volunteers who identified their paid work
occupation as being 'professionals' in their chosen
field. Further, the categories of 'Advanced clerical
and service workers', 'Managers and Administrators'
and 'Associate Professionals' rounded out the top
four professions in the ABS data.
In
brief, professionals and managers volunteered at nearly
twice the rate of labourers and related workers **
(who are not without considerable skills in their
own right!)
In
addition, a 2003 Volunteering Australia research report
examining the profile of individuals who search for
volunteer opportunities via on-line recruitment sites
such as GoVolunteer, found that a massive 69% of site
visitors had some sort of tertiary education ***
I
think all these figures speak for themselves and I
am quite sure we are all comfortable throwing the
notion of volunteers being without skill right out
of the window!
There
is however a second reason that this topic is a 'hot'
one.
On
several occasions when accessing the same web based
job search program, I have also noticed that vacancies
listed for paid positions such as 'Volunteer Coordinator'
or 'Volunteer Manager' have also featured the term
'unskilled' in the sub-heading category!
Now
I suspect that this is in actual fact the result of
a faulty system command which recognises the term
'volunteer' in the title and defaults the sub-category
heading to the unskilled title. However this example
actually triggers several key thoughts for me and
I believe it is indicative of the way volunteer management
is treated in many organisations.
Here
are just a few of the ways I see this playing out
in some volunteer programs:
•
Volunteer Program Managers who are not offered professional
development opportunities or allocated budgetary
funds for training
• Senior management who willingly fill volunteer
management positions within their organisations
with individuals from other departments, assuming
that the skills these individuals have are automatically
transferable to the coordination of volunteer resources
• Poorly written job descriptions being developed
for vacant volunteer management positions within
organisations. (Eg. I recently read an advert for
the position of 'Volunteer Coordinator' that did
not even once mention that experience working with
volunteers was a criteria for the role!)
• Volunteer Managers being expected to fulfil
full-time roles on a part-time roster
• The fact that salary levels are often lower
for Volunteer Managers in an organisation than for
staff of other areas doing similar roles
• The positioning of Volunteer Managers within
organisational structures (ie Volunteer Managers
are often not seen to be a part of the senior staff
of an organisation)
• Poor levels of resources being made available
to Volunteer Managers to undertake their job
The
volunteer of the new millennium is highly skilled,
determined and focused on outcomes and yet there appears
to remain a proportion of our society who continue
to associate volunteers only with the traditional
stereotypical qualities of low skills and benevolence.
Of
even greater concern is the apparent assumption that
because volunteers are perceived to be unskilled,
that volunteer management also requires very few acquired
talents.
As
we all know only too well, nothing could be further
from the truth!
So
are we in fact 'unskilled' by association?
Let's
hear what you think?
•
Do you agree that this appears to be a problem within
volunteer management circles?
• What personal experiences have you had (both
good and bad)?
• What strategies have you employed to turn
this type of thinking around in your organisation?
• If you already work in an organisation where
both volunteers and volunteer management are highly
valued, what are the key factors that make this so
successful?
• What can we do as a sector to ensure that
these stereotypes are not perpetuated any longer?
*
Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2001, Voluntary Work
, Australia , 2000, Catalogue 4441.0, Australian Govt
printing Service, Canberra , ACT
** 'Volunteer Management: An Essential Guide', Joy
Noble, Louise Rogers & Andy Fryar, 2003, published
by Volunteering SA, Adelaide , Australia (p36)
***
'GoVolunteer User Research Report', Volunteering Australia,
May 2003
Let's
hear what you think.
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to this month's Hot Topic
(Be
sure to add your name, title and organisation to your
message)
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