Volunteer and Mega Sporting Events - Article Example

Volunteer and Mega Sporting Events Money acts as a major incentive for most of the jobs and services that people offer today in the world. People work so that they can derive benefits out of it later. However what needs to be focused here is that money is not the only benefit for which people work and at many places we come across volunteers who offer their services without any monetary gains. This paper will focus on why volunteers are hired and managed and what motivates them to be loyal to their jobs. More over this paper will focus on examples of members of St. John Ambulance and their voluntary services and those volunteers hired by the Centre of volunteering. This article will touch upon some key concepts and definitions from the article by Baum and Lockstone that will further highlight the understanding of volunteers and their services. There is a major lack of consensus as to the definition of volunteering in the research perspective. It is still difficult to understand whether the concept of volunteering is based on purely altruistic reasons or not. What can be gauged from the research here is that the basis of volunteering differs from events to events. In some events volunteering might require purely altruistic offerings while in others benefits and returns might be achieved by the volunteers. There are many different kinds of volunteers, first of which is episodic volunteers who work spontaneously as one off or work at the same time each year. ‘Episodic volunteering is divided into long term volunteering, habitual episodic volunteering and genuine episodic volunteering. These three types of episodic volunteering differ based on the amount of times spent on a project, the motivation of volunteers, their expectations of rewards and their willingness to donate cash.’ (Handy and Brodeur 2006) There are still some undefined similarities and differences between these three forms of episodic volunteering. Therefore further research is suggested to clarify the definitions and management of these episodic volunteers. Event managers require volunteers for many tasks of an event. First of all, as mentioned earlier, volunteers work with out any financial gain which provides an economic benefit to the event managers since they save up on their expenses. Such people who offer their services with out any monetary demand, most of the times, have a grave interest in the event which leads them to be seriously committed to their work. This again is a major benefit to the event manager since this gives him a chance to make a responsible team of workers. Volunteers offer a unique flavor to the event and bring in skills that are missing from the existing working team. They show interest and offer ideas to further improve the event. Also, the volunteers increase the number of the event team which gives a good impression to the spectators and also divides the responsibilities in a better way. Volunteers can be hired by the event managers for many different jobs such as spectator services, ushering, pamphlet distribution, pre event registration, logistics etc. Sometimes paid employees are too busy handling other important stuff and do not pay much attention to smaller details. Therefore volunteers are hired to look after such details. It is very necessary for event managers to properly manage the team of volunteers from the time they are hired till the time their work comes to an end. The Centre of Volunteering of New South Wales has given 8 tips regarding how to manage the volunteers at the event. These tips are specific to not-for-profit organizations. The first tip is to get in touch with the Centre of Volunteering as soon as possible so that the arrangement of volunteers can be made in time. The second tip is to appreciate and acknowledge the work of volunteers since they work without any financial benefit. Their time and energy should be put to proper use. The third tip is a necessary one which is to inform the volunteers about what is going on at the event at all times. They should be made aware of the internal as well as external matters of the event. The fourth tip given by The Centre of Volunteering is to have a volunteer coordinator to answer all the queries by the volunteers. The volunteer coordinator should be available at all times. The fifth tip is that the volunteers should be offered refreshments especially if their work exceeds four hours. Tip six is an extension to tip two and says that the volunteers should have an orientation session before the event for familiarization and also the managers should make sure that there is enough work for all the volunteers to engage in. The next tip is to have insurance cover for all volunteers to protect them from any risk at the event. The Centre for volunteering will request the event manager to confirm the insurance for all the volunteers before hiring. The last tip is that the paid employees should not be replaced by volunteers neither should there be any threat to their job security. St. John Ambulance is another not for profit organization that offers membership to volunteers. The managers at St. John Ambulance manage their volunteers by trying to create a good team. Apart from the appreciation and acknowledgement given to the volunteers, it is also very necessary for all the volunteers to have good working environment and team spirit. Therefore, the event managers should make sure while hiring, that the volunteers get along with each other and are able to work together. Just as Centre for Volunteer’s tip four talks about having a volunteer coordinator, the St. John ambulance talks about having mentoring for the volunteers. Mentoring would help to familiarize the volunteers with the event and its happenings along with building up their confidence. A proper management of the team of volunteers not only leads to a successful event, but also results in well motivated members that would be willing to offer their services again as well. It is very important for the event volunteers to feel motivated at all times. ‘Motivation is basically what drives us to do something. Much of what we do is driven by a potential reward or a consequence of not doing something’. (Motivation 2004) Most of the times the motivating factor to work and give up one’s time and effort is the financial reward gained in the end. However this is not the case with volunteers but there are many other factors that keep them loyal to their work. There are many different types of motivations. The first is affiliatory motivation which is to drive people on social basis. Workers with affiliatory motivation work better when they are appreciated for their cooperation and favourable attitudes. Another type of motivation is altruistic motivation which is motivation only to help others. The third is instrumental motivation which is motivation to obtain something concrete such as a job, graduation etc. On the other hand, egoistic motivation is the drive for self satisfaction. This type of motivation basically keeps ones selfish reason before everything else. Another type of motivation is solidarity motivation which comes from a sense of community and team spirit. With all these different types of motivations that drive volunteers to work, there are other major reasons discussed below in the light of some articles and real life examples. The article on motivation for members of St. John Ambulance discusses some motivating factors in detail. The article says that the volunteers might be motivated to work because they would want to work as a part of the team and develop confidence. This could be termed as some psychological requirement. The sense of belonging that the volunteers get by their work might be a great motivating factor. More over some employees like to work in a team because they think it is fun and enjoyable. Another motivating factor for volunteers is the opportunity that they get to ‘widen their horizons’. At events, volunteers get to meet different kinds of people that help them to develop a bigger social circle and make new contact. Some volunteers work for events because their work has C.V value. This may help them attract employers for paid jobs in the future. Another motivating factor for volunteers is their desire to make a difference in the world by helping others. The sense of achievement that the members of St. John Ambulance get by just providing first aid boxes to those in need is remarkable. The volunteers also get motivated to work if they have a way to apply their skills through it. For instance a lot of people learn first aid but do not get a chance to apply their skills. St. John Ambulance provides people a chance to use their skill for the betterment of others. Also another way to keep the volunteers motivated is to invite them to social events such as concerts and stage shows. This is a good way for volunteers to get to know people outside the workplace and helps in the improvement of team working. Moreover, volunteer work offers a great learning experience to the members. For instance member of St. John Ambulance not only learn first aid qualifications but also become more confident and learn to work in a team. To further motivate the volunteers, the managers can also keep certain positions for them in the event management firm later on. For instance the best volunteers can be given a chance to work as paid employees in the future and acquire a more reputable position in the company. This can drive the volunteers to work harder and perform their best. As discussed in the article by Baum and Lockstone, peer pressure and social obligation also play a role in influencing volunteers to work at events. Even if volunteers themselves are not motivated enough to work and feel that their volunteering is not worth the time and effort, the pressure from their family members or friends might lead them to work. Also, there is an element of social obligation present as well in volunteering. Many times volunteers work for events that are for charity of the less privileged or for some betterment of the country. Even though volunteers might not be personally willing to work at such events, just because there is a social responsibility attached to working for such events, the volunteers would agree. According to Baum and Lockstone, volunteering has some similarities with leisure. The benefits derived from volunteering and leisure are more or less the same. ‘That is why volunteering is sometimes called ‘serious leisure’. The reason for this comparison is that volunteering and leisure are both satisfying and enjoyable. Also, volunteering in the mega sports events can also be called project based leisure which is infrequent, short term and yet of a relatively complicated nature’. (Baum & Lockstone 2007) According to Baum and Lockstone there is also a form of volunteering called the informal volunteering. This kind of volunteering is just to assist friends or family and is relatively private and not properly organized. However for major events such as the mega sporting events and for membership in St. John Ambulance, such form of volunteering can not be used. The reason for this is that for such major events only fun and enjoyment can not be the factor to drive the volunteers to work. There needs to be proper job satisfaction and all the major factors discussed above for the volunteers to work as hard as required. The event managers have to be very careful about factors that might demotivate the employees as well. It is not necessary that the opposite of each motivating factor would become a demotivating factor. The demotivating factors might differ from event to event and volunteer to volunteer. What needs to be understood here is that what might be a motivating factor for one volunteer might turn out to be a demotivating factor for another volunteer. Therefore managers need to keep this in mind and be very careful about their treatment with each volunteer. The managers should put in extra efforts to develop camaraderie between volunteers so that personal enmity or jealousy does not become a hindrance to their work. The managers should keep reminding the volunteers of the sense of achievement that they’ll gain after their work will be complete, despite there being no financial benefit. I would recommend that all the management skills proposed by the Centre of Volunteering should be taken under consideration while managing a team of volunteers. This is because the Centre of Volunteering has paid attention to all the relevant details that would augment the interest of volunteers to give improved performances. It is not only necessary for the managers to hire a volunteer and give him work, but it is also important for them to understand the requirements of a volunteer and value his efforts. The idea put forward by the Centre of Volunteering of having insurance for each volunteer is also necessary. The insurance will protect the volunteer incase of any damage to him at the event. There are many motivating factors for a volunteer to work for an event but what needs to be understood here is that each volunteer will have a different set of factors motivating him to work with out any financial benefit. The event managers have to be vigilant about this fact and try to motivate each volunteer differently. For instance for one volunteer having a CV value is important and for the other having a sense of achievement is important. Therefore each volunteer will have to be dealt with, differently. The characteristics of volunteers are also a major motivating factor for them. For instance if there is an event for female rights, the female volunteer will get more satisfaction out of working for it rather than a male volunteer. This is because the female will have a higher level of sense of achievement and belonging from working for the event. The age and personality of a volunteer also needs to be considered before hiring him. The younger age group from 15-30 years will obviously be more energetic. Also, mostly the volunteers need to be calm and patient with their work, therefore there should be special focus on the personality of the volunteer while hiring. Another important point that I would like to put forward here is that volunteers should be hired through a proper channel, for instance through a hiring firm like the Centre of volunteering. This is because while volunteers work, they find out a lot of details about the event management firm. Along with their development of confidence and know how of the event, they might even get to know about the internal matters of the firm that might be confidential. In such a case, random hiring of volunteers might be risky and lead them to leak very important information. However a trustworthy team of volunteers should be hired through a trustworthy hiring company. Volunteers should be treated with great respect and honor for their work. They should be given the same respect as the paid employees and should be given recognition for their efforts once the event is over. This recognition can be in different forms, such as certificates, trophies or medals. References: Event Volunteers, New South Wales Government, 2008. Available from . [7 July 2008]. Motivation, A Study of the Motivations for Members of a Volunteer Organization, Rugby St. John Ambulance, Available from: . [2004] Baum & Lockstone, Y 2007. ‘Volunteer and Mega Sporting Events: Developing a Research Framework’, International Journal of Event Management Research, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 29-41. Available from: IJEMR Website [2007] Femida Handy, Nadine Brodeur, and Ram A. Cnaan. "Summer on the Island: Episodic Volunteering" Departmental Papers (SPP) (2006). Available from: [2006] Read More