Training paid staff

Training paid staff is another important managerial function. Most people

have some formal training — through a university, trade school, or spe-

cial high school program. They may have undergone on-the-job training in

another organization or taken one or more courses through a continuing edu-

cation program. The job with your enterprise has unique features, though, so

you’ll need to do at least some training.

You might require the workers to take a formal course or program of

courses, work with a mentor or coach, or engage in some self-education

through reading manuals or books, to mention a few possibilities. You may

have to give the needed training yourself.

Depending on your organization’s function, the staff may be required to

undergo formal training from an outside education provider. Plan for these

expenses in your annual budget and ask staff members to take notes. Over

lunch or a staff meeting, staff members can return and give brief overviews of

the items covered and learned in the training.Recruiting Volunteers

Volunteers work for social enterprises out of different motives than paid staff

(see Chapter 3 for more on volunteers) and must be managed differently (see

the next section for more on this). But recruitment procedures often start

out similarly for both categories of workers. As described earlier, you need

to start by describing your volunteers’ roles — the tasks they’re supposed to

carry out.

Create detailed volunteer “job” descriptions in summary form that you can

disseminate through various media to attract potential recruits. Instead of

a job announcement, this is known as your call for volunteers. As with paid

positions, the Internet is the obvious place to start.

 Put the call for volunteers on your own Web site.

You want to circulate your call for volunteers wherever you think it might

pay off, but because most if not all of your volunteers will be local people,

you should also place notices of volunteer positions with local (or regional)

volunteer centers. A volunteer center is a local nonprofit organization whose

goals include promoting volunteerism as well as coordinating, recruiting,

placing, and recognizing volunteers. A modern volunteer center almost cer-

tainly has a Web site as well as a physical location where hard-copy lists and

descriptions of volunteer work are available for walk-in inquiries.Can’t we all get along? Helping your staff and

volunteers work together

A major area of potential friction in social enter-

prises with large groups of paid staff and volun-

teers are the relations between the two. And a

major managerial concern in nonprofit groups

and volunteer programs is to develop smooth

working ties and mutual respect between paid

staff of the larger organization and participants

in the volunteer program. Friction between the

two groups can arise on occasion. When it

does, the volunteer coordinator and manage-

ment as a whole should stamp it out as quickly

as possible.

Reward staff who work well with volunteers.

It may not always be possible to do this with

money (as in a bonus), but good work should

be prominently noted on the employee’s annual

performance review, acknowledging her spe-

cial value to the enterprise.

Volunteers can’t be disciplined as paid staff

sometimes must be. You can fire them, but short

of that, it’s impossible to force them to work

extra hours or dock their pay. With volunteers

you have to handle disciplinary problems more

informally, such as through discussion, negotia-

tion, compromise, and similar accommodations.

Frequently, volunteers in trouble in these ways

are unaware that they’re in the wrong, which

can often be traced to inadequate training or

supervision.

Because volunteers tend to not follow a regular

or full-time schedule, be mindful when assign-

ing a volunteer a time-dependent task. Be clear

with them that this needs to be done by a cer-

tain date in case they aren’t able to finish it

within the time allotted.

Some problems rest on a personal incompat-

ibility with the volunteer activities to which the

individual has been assigned — which was

your job as manager to avoid, right? For exam-

ple, it’s possible that a volunteer has little taste

for certain activities, finds them boring, lacks

the required skills or knowledge, or is unable to

do them at a level that meets her expectations.

College students may be able to earn col-

lege credit for their volunteer work with you.

Embrace this option, and contact your local

university and colleges for possible volunteer/

college-credit programs. These programs could

become a perennial source of good volunteers