Volunteer to employee Structuring your volunteer programme to support volunteers towards work
Recruitment of volunteers and staff can be challenging but getting it right can make a big difference to the impact of your organisation. This is a two-part course for anyone who is managing organisations, services, projects, and/or volunteers, plus anyone else who is interested in structuring a programme that will be attractive to volunteers who want to gain employment-based skills. The intention is to help your organisation be more attractive to potential volunteers and help to increase applications for jobs.
It is based on the good practice in the Investing in Volunteers standard, but with a specific focus around volunteering to employment.
The two sessions build on each other, with an opportunity to develop a personalised action plan and try out activities between sessions.
You will have the opportunity to meet others in a similar situation to share experiences and ideas.
When and where:
Tuesday 23 January
Tuesday 6 February
9.30 to 1pm
Venue to be confirmed
Facilitator - Becky Nixon
Becky Nixon has been working and volunteering in the voluntary sector for over 30 years at a national, regional and local level in organisations across a range of areas. Since 2005 she has been an Investing in Volunteers assessor and has spoken to hundreds of volunteers and volunteer managers about what works.
By the end of the first session you will have:
Identified the benefits that supporting volunteers towards employment could have to your organisation and its objectives to get wider buy-in from leaders and others
Reviewed volunteer role descriptions and identified how they can be adapted to highlight the employment-related skills and experience that volunteers can gain
Identified what sort of learning opportunities might be suitable for volunteers and where to find them, including those at low or no cost
Devised an outline for a volunteer learning and support plan for the organisation and for individual volunteers
Considered how to ensure that volunteering is attractive and accessible to people with diverse needs who may be looking at it as a route to employment
Understood how the law around volunteering and employment rights might affect programmes.
Have developed and reviewed an action plan.
By the end of the second session you will have:
Reviewed your progress since the last session
Identified how to measure and promote impact of your volunteering to employment work to potential volunteers, within your organisation, and to funders
Considered what research and psychology say about the motivation and engagement of volunteers and how you can incorporate this to encourage people to gain employment-related skills
Considered some of the issues in moving from service user to volunteer to employee and how to implement this in your organisation (if appropriate)
Gained ideas about how to overcome organisational and other barriers to supporting volunteers into employment
Identified what you need to do to skill yourself and where you can get support
Have an updated action plan to take forward.