Introduction
Management of any organization is a complex issue as it requires considering numerous factors impacting results and performance. These include payment, motivation, goal setting, and opportunities for further growth. For this reason, there is a critical need for an effective strategy that might help to address all these issues and align the stable work of an organization. However, it is impossible to use the same approach in all cases. For instance, working with volunteers might require specific measures to manage them, align their cooperation and attain desired outcomes. The peculiarities of this process can be analyzed by using the case Food forward: How volunteer teams move surplus produce from tree to table.
Volunteer Value Proposition
First of all, speaking about using volunteers, it is critical to discuss the key elements of their value proposition. It implies the benefits and rewards individuals acquire for their skills (Griffin et al., 2019). For volunteers, training becomes the first key element. In this case, Food Forward gives much attention to training (Silver, 2021). The organization helps to understand the peculiarities of the process, educates them, and cultivates necessary skills. It attracts new workers and ensures they are ready to cooperate. Another element is recognition, as it helps a volunteer to feel their importance. The scenario shows that assisting people motivates others and makes them feel engaged in processes necessary for society. Finally, volunteers perform work that matches their skills, which is another essential element of the value proposition (Pynes, 2013). Combining these aspects, it is possible to attain better outcomes and ensure the organization achieves its major goals.
At the same time, there are fundamental differences between managing volunteers and paid staff. The first cohort cannot be controlled by payment or financial aspects (Swift, 2019). The primary motivation comes from recognizing the project’s necessity and enjoying the process. Volunteers’ “personal mission” plays a more important role than financial rewards (Silver, 2021, p. 3). Thus, it introduces a particular difficulty as there is a need for control, which can be difficult when the primary tool, payment, is less significant (Swift, 2019). It means that highly diverse groups consisting of people from a variety of backgrounds should be organized to achieve existing goals (Silver, 2021). As a result, there is a need for a flexible management model, helping to consider these changes and address them.
It is also critical to mention the fact that working with volunteers might imply specific compromises to ensure the necessary result. As stated previously, volunteers are individuals with diverse backgrounds who might not have the required knowledge (Swift, 2019). As a result, it is critical to ensure some responsibilities are transited from volunteers to staff (Silver, 2021). For instance, after the successful launch and fast development, Food Forward considered the necessity to hire employees with professional skills to manage the organization (Silver, 2021). It shows that managing volunteer organizations requires combining different approaches to organizing the work of teams to guarantee the high speed of professionalization and create the basis for future rise (Pynes, J. (2013). Volunteers who previously performed tasks assigned to hired specialists should be motivated by other aspects to ensure the incentive remains attractive for them.
At the same time, the necessity to pay the newly hired specialists might be considered a source of conflict. Usually, volunteers acquire other rewards and do not require payments for their services. In such a way, the involvement of fully paid employees might change the balance within the company and require reconsidering the approach to working with employees and encouraging them (Pynes, 2013). Thus, in the offered case, volunteers remain highly motivated and might cooperate with the organization for many years, which is untypical for volunteering (Silver, 2021). It is attained by offering rewards other than payment. This compromise is achieved by providing opportunities for training, education, and interaction with others (Silver, 2021). As a result, all newcomers acquire a chance to find additional motivation and avoid thinking about being paid. In such a way, it is vital to ensure no conflicts between hired specialists and volunteers working for an organization.
A Case Perspective of Organizational Development in the Context of Volunteer Management
The major goal of any company is constant development and continuous improvement. Speaking about firms using volunteers, the given processes acquire additional peculiarities because of the necessity to redefine their mission and meet all major stakeholders’ demands (Pynes, 2013). For instance, Food Forward managed to grow from a small local incentive into a big project impacting the lives of numerous people (Silver, 2021). The organization had to buy transport to support its activities, use software to plan and manage tasks, and align the work of numerous individuals. It requires using professional workers and hiring additional employees. As a result, the mission and services should be revised to meet the new organizational goals. However, it might promote the emergence of several critical challenges, such as reduced workers’ motivation, and lack of understanding among partners and clients. Resolving these challenges might require additional effort and a specific managerial strategy.
First of all, the first group of actors, such as founders, should be considered. Food Froward resolves this problem by cultivating a new culture and explaining its importance for future success. Fruit Geek Culture is one of the methods to promote organizational development (Silver, 2021). The fact is that many current employees started as volunteers, meaning they realized the importance of their activity and its inspirational nature (Silver, 2021). As a result, they can be potent change actors explaining the necessity of alteration and refining of the mission. The founders’ interests, who are motivated to help the community, will be aligned with the motivation of volunteers, which should be emphasized during the change process (Swift, 2019). It will help to attain better outcomes and guarantee that no conflicts or critical problems will emerge. It will also contribute to the individuals’ engagement and their readiness to continue cooperating with the organization.
The reconsideration of the current mission should also be explained to clients and partners working with the organization. Thus, Food Forward says that its major donors see themselves as part of the volunteer story (Silver, 2021). It means that the work with partners and clients is given much attention and rests on the idea of social responsibility, the necessity to help others, and community commitment (Silver, 2021). The new mission should consider these factors as they are vital for these groups’ interests. In such a way, the major challenge of reconsidering the mission statement can be resolved by explaining the importance of the would-be change and the possibility of boosting effectiveness due to the planned reconsideration (Swift, 2019). It can help to avoid misunderstandings because of the radical change and motivate partners to continue working with the organization.
Thus, organizational development regarding volunteer management acquires several specific peculiarities. As against companies using paid employees, a single person cannot initiate the change (Swift, 2019). It requires additional explanation and discussion with the main actors involved in the work of organizations and their stable functioning. The Food Forward’s example shows that by cultivating the appropriate culture and communicating with its partners and super volunteers, the group manages to prove the necessity of growing and geographical expansion (Silver, 2021). The unique culture supported the transformation and motivated individuals to move forward and accept the new schemes to work with communities (Silver, 2021). The key challenges, such as decreased motivation levels, misunderstanding, and conflicts between major stakeholders, can be addressed by emphasizing the positive effects of the planned restructuring and its critical importance for the future of the whole incentive.
Conclusion
Altogether, the analyzed case shows that using volunteers to support the development of a particular organization or incentive might be beneficial. The highly motivated individuals might help to perform the current tasks and create the basis for future growth. The absence of the necessity to pay salaries is one of the advantages of this model. However, it might also introduce additional challenges for the organization as managing volunteers acquire specific strategies. Finding a balance between motivation and reward is vital to guarantee individuals remain engaged and contribute to future growth.
Furthermore, changing the company’s mission and vision might be difficult as the previous methods should be replaced with new ones. It means it is critical to focus on values and the factors attractive to volunteers. It would help to preserve their loyalty levels and continue working with them.
References
Griffin, R., Phillips, J., & Gully, S. (2019). Organizational behavior: Managing people and organizations (13th ed). Cengage Learning.
Pynes, J. (2013). Human resources management for public and nonprofit organizations: A strategic approach (4th ed.). Jossey-Bass.
Silver, N. (2021). Food forward: How volunteer teams move surplus produce from tree to table. Harvard Business Publishing. Web.
Swift, M. (2019). The disruptive volunteer manager. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.