Volunteer Onboarding Requires Clarity
Let's face it -- Volunteer onboarding is not always what it should be. When it comes to connecting people with information and the systems that support their work, we often find good intentions but a lack of clarity. There are two words that are key to volunteer onboarding: Clarity and Connection.
It needs to be clear what is expected and the time/energy commitment, and knowledge and action must be connected for success. This creates a stronger, more valuable volunteer experience. Staff and experienced volunteers must work together to ensure that knowledge, experience, and systems are explained and transmitted to new volunteers so they can contribute to the identified goals and outcomes.
When new volunteers come into any role whether committees, task forces, or board, they will be working with more experienced volunteers -- this is great because they can mentor each other. The downside of this is getting the volunteers with experience to remember that “the new guys” don’t know what they know. Too often assumptions are made that everyone, including the new volunteers, understands how and why things are done. This ends up creating confusion and frustration and can lead to poor outcomes.
Poor outcomes lead to bad attitudes and are counterproductive in fulfilling the organization’s mission. If a bad volunteer experience is created, this will affect future recruitment of volunteers because word will get around that it is not a good way to spend your time.
How can organizations with volunteers create a positive environment through onboarding? Here’s some steps to take and actions that will support a valuable volunteer experience:
Hold a separate onboarding session for new volunteers. They need to learn more than returning volunteers and a focused session will provide a comfort zone for questions. It also doesn’t waste the time of people who already know this stuff.
Make sure there is an agenda that addresses the major areas of volunteer work so that new volunteers have a solid base on which to build their understanding. Building on this, creating an FAQ document builds confidence for new volunteers because they can look things up as needed.
Put a communication and file sharing system in place and use it consistently for your volunteers. Make sure everyone knows how to use these tools and where they can find the resources they need to do their volunteer job.
Defined volunteer roles (think short job descriptions) provide structure and direction. Everyone needs that to be successful at what they do no matter what they are undertaking. It’s even more important for volunteers because volunteering is something we do in our “spare time” and we need to get the most out of our time and energy commitment.
We often think of onboarding for employees but are we giving enough thought to volunteer onboarding? There’s always a flurry of excitement and activity during the application process, selection activities, and then notifications but I don’t think we think things through carefully when it comes to volunteer onboarding. We usually start inviting them to meetings and assume they will figure it out because “well, we gave them a volunteer manual . . .”
If you want good outcomes for new volunteers, take the time to onboard them thoughtfully and with care. The volunteers will thank you and you will be pleased with the outcomes that support your mission. And you can say (and mean it!) “a good time was had by all.”
