We all know teams come together for a whole number of reasons for
a whole number of purposes, for a whole number of time scales in very,
very many different scenarios.
In this particular scenario, we have
a range of different backgrounds that have come together to work in this charity.
And we'll be chatting to Jan to find out how this team was built,
how this team developed.
And how this team performed in the various responsibilities that it had.
So Jan, when you were working for this charity you had responsibility for
a team of around about 20 people.
And they came from two sort of very specific types of background didn't they.
So tell us a little bit about that please.
>> The volunteers ranged quite significantly from school children
getting experience or graduates wanting a proper work experience to
retirees who wanted to basically do their bit and help for charity.
So it ranged from between 16 to 80, let's say.
>> 80?
That's a range.
>> Yes, and each individual had their own motivations for
coming to the organizations to help.
And it was my responsibility to make sure that firstly
that they could be trained to do the work they had to do, and
as well as we wanted to have a good volunteer retention rate,
was to find out what motivated them to come.
because, again, going back to the point about people being different and
individuals.
The motivations vary considerably from the schoolchildren who perhaps want to get out
of school and- >> [LAUGH]
>> To look at the graduates who wanted
to learn proper skills which make them get full time employment from retirees who
are just happy to come in and do straightforward work and perhaps
are there for the more social scene rather than I think gainful employment.
>> Sure, and that was for about how much of a proportion of your team of 20?
>> 15 of those would be volunteers but it did vary.
We had sometimes we had up to 30 at one point.
>> Right, okay, but the majority of your team were volunteers?
>> By far, yes.
>> And these volunteers were ones that were just given to you.
So this was the resource that you were working with and
this was the resource that you had.
>> Precisely.
So we would advertise volunteers wanted.
>> Okay.
>> And because the work they had to do was quite straight forward.
One of the works, for example, was them, they're stuffing envelopes which is a And
we're not going to tell people how to stuff envelopes or
how many they had to do because they're volunteers.
But well explained the basics and just let them get on with it.
>> So looking at the volunteer resource in Ian's team,
what we've discovered is there's a very wide age range.
What we've discovered is that there are many different reasons why volunteers
volunteer.
And we've heard three main ones from Jan, one is for
the school he was dipped to get out of school.
For graduates perhaps to get some work experience when perhaps a job
that they're looking for longer term isn't available.
And perhaps for all the people who are looking to perhaps just have
the social side of a weekly life but also to get something back.
And Jan has also talked to us about how differently,
in effect, you would manage volunteers.
And gave us the example of putting publicity material and
sponsorship material in envelopes, on the basis that you couldn't really
drive productivity through perhaps KPIs or through targets.
But rather just appreciate and nurture the fact that having something done
at no cost Is better than having nothing done, with nobody to do it.
So what we're beginning to find out is working with
a resource of volunteers might be very different to the way that you would work
with a resource of full time employees.
And Jan had these volunteers, they arrived as his team of volunteers, but
between 15 and 30 and that was the resource that he was there to work with.
But you also, Jan, had some full time employees, didn't you?
>> Yes.
>> And you recruited them yourself?
>> Yes, they were part of my team.
So it, one of their requirements was the ability to work with volunteers.
We also had the their full term roles in which they had to do.
And part of that ward was supervising volunteers and
being able to use volunteers perhaps to help them reduce their workload.
In that sense, we could afford to be, because they're full time employees,
we could afford to be a bit more picky.
>> So just as an example with these people full time,
you had more applicants than vacancies?