Over the last five years volunteering at the National Railway Museum has increased by 167%, but why? What is it that motivates people to come in and sit at an information desk when the museum is almost empty or to stand in the pouring rain waiting for customers for the miniature railway? If we look at the results from last year’s Science Museum Group Survey we see that initial motivators vary greatly, from an interest in the subject to being given a CV boosting experience. But although this might explain why people begin volunteering with and, perhaps, indicate to some extent why they stay it doesn’t provide us with a comprehensive answer. Of course, as good volunteer managers we would be foolish to ignore this information and we should always strive to create volunteer programmes that responds to the needs of our volunteers and that we ourselves would wish to be a part of. But how can we move beyond just doing what our volunteers tell us they want? How can we be proactive instead of reactive?
In his book, Drive: The Surprising truth about what motivates us, Daniel H. Pink offers us one possible solution. He suggests that traditional carrot and stick motivators such as rewards, punishments and target setting are not only inefficient ways of motivating people but can, in fact, have a negative effect. So how does that affect us as volunteer managers? Well, probably not that much. The traditional ways that business applies these standards – target related bonuses and pay reductions – don’t really reflect what we as volunteers managers do. However, what Pink goes on to say is important and highly relevant. He suggests that instead of using carrot and stick motivators we should be empowering our staff – or in our case, our volunteers – in three distinct ways: vision, mastery and autonomy.
- Vision: We should ensure that our staff can see how their work contributes to the overall achievement of an organisation’s vision.
- Mastery: We should empower our staff with the skills they need to master their work.
- Autonomy: We should free our staff to make creative decisions that allow them to apply their skills in a way that lets them make a maximum contribution to the vision.
For us as volunteer managers, this philosophy could prove a vital tool in unlocking the potential within our volunteer programmes. Yes we need to get the basics right: we need to make our volunteers feel a part of our organisation, we need to make them feel valued and we need to respond to their needs. But beyond this, we need to consider applying Pink’s philosophy. That means trusting our volunteers, empowering them to make choices and being creative with the roles we develop. Ultimately we must try and ensure that roles are worthwhile and contribute to our organisation’s aims, that volunteers are given freedom within their roles and that we give them the opportunity to develop and fully master what they are doing. If we can do this then we can fully unlock the potential without our volunteer programmes.
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