Good Practice Guidelines - the Recruitment of Volunteers

It is in the best interests of any agency working with volunteers to ensure good practice. Induction and Development Training takes time and money.

Most volunteers want to help but also have their own reasons for wishing to do voluntary work. If these reasons aren’t being met, the volunteer will more than likely look for an agency that can meet their personal needs.

Voluntary workers may eventually move onto paid employment. A happy volunteer however, will often continue to work as a volunteer after they have secured paid employment because they enjoy what they do, and continue to enjoy the relationships that have been built with other staff and the client group.

Volunteers are much more likely to remain with an organisation or agency that they feel values them. The following check list has been compiled to help you do this.

• Will the volunteer be interviewed – who will do this, what do you need/want to know about the volunteer?
• Will the volunteer be provided with an induction pack?
• Will the volunteer be provided with induction training?
• Will the volunteer be certificated after training?
• Will the volunteer work for a ‘trial’ period? If so, how will the organisation acknowledge the change of their status?
• Is the volunteer aware of the organisational policies and procedures, e.g. Health and Safety, Equal Opportunities, Complaints Procedure? Do they know who the first aid representative is?
• Will the volunteer be able to access the training available to the staff group?
• Has the volunteer been given an understanding of the organisational structure?
• Does the volunteer know who their Line Manager is?
• Will the volunteer be provided with support and supervision? If so, how often will this be done?
• Who will the volunteer give notice to and how much notice will be required if they wish to take time off / holidays, who will they telephone when they are sick?
• Does the organisation provide out of hours support to volunteers and who do they phone if something goes wrong?
• How will the volunteer claim expenses, how often can this be done (volunteers sometimes have limited financial resources and may not have enough money to wait for a period of time before they claim these)?
• How long will the volunteer wait before they can start with the organisation?
• How will you maintain their interest and enthusiasm in working with your organisation whilst they await their disclosure and/or volunteer training? How will you keep in contact during the interim (which may be a couple of months).
• Do you have a job description for the volunteer?
• Is the volunteer clear on his/her hours of work, will these vary, is there a rota?
• How much notice will you need if the volunteer is unable to make it to the placement?
• Do you have insurance for the volunteer?
• Will the volunteer shadow or have a buddy in the initial stages?
• Has the volunteer had previous experience of your client group, or will you need to provide them with additional training to ensure an understanding of the client group and the guidelines in which they will be required to work?
• Does your organisation provide any benefits for volunteers, e.g. use of internal resources, access to the council bulletin, free lunches?
• Does the volunteer have any specialist skills or strengths, will you incorporate these into their job description, are they insured to deliver specialist services?
• Do you have somewhere for the volunteer to keep their personal effects?
• If glasses are broken or clothing torn while the volunteer is on duty will your insurance cover this?
• Do the volunteers need specialist clothing, will you provide this?
• Are there areas where the volunteer worker may encounter difficulties, is there an ‘incident’ sheet or diary to report these? How will they be expected to communicate with their colleagues?
• Will the volunteer be provided with an opportunity to develop their skills, how will you incorporate variety into their schedule?
• How will you help them feel that they are valued, what responsibilities will they be given, how will their learning be measured and acknowledged?
• Will you provide volunteer gatherings, or support groups for unpaid workers?
• Will volunteers attend staff meetings?
• Will you provide the volunteer with a volunteer agreement?

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