GROUNDHOG DAY IN VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT...GROUNDHOG DAY IN VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT...GROUNDHOG DAY IN VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT...GROUNDHOG DAY IN VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT...GROUNDHOG DAY IN VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT...

So here’s the cynic in me folks: at my state volunteering centre over the years I have noticed at network meetings many new faces every few months. It’s one of those network meetings where people sit around saying who they are, where they work and how many volunteers “they have” ( as if that mattered) So you hear their introductions and you try to get to know their names for future reference and then when you get to another meeting in 6 months they are gone. And the network goes back to the same old same old…. where people sit around saying who they are, where they work and how many volunteers “they have” (as if that mattered) So you hear their introductions and you try to get to know their names for future reference and then when you get to another meeting in 6 months they are gone. And the network goes back to the same old same old….

And your estimation of the movie “Groundhog Day” grows!

And nobody talks about this at the meeting. After all we are all new (mostly). And old heads like me have been guilty of remaining silent and other “old heads” have simply left the network. In fact some of us have formed a network of our own where more than 4 managers have been in the position for over 4 years!! Which should be news I guess and which I must share with the globally respected “Volunteerism Gazette”

And this is where the cynic in me not only dances an Irish jig but performs the river dance. This agency and others provides training for those new to the field. And its volunteer management training 101.So.....new fresh people all of the time!

People don’t stay in the job long enough to consider concepts such as advanced VM or leadership.

“Hi – I’m Jan and I have 300 volunteers”. Good luck with that Jan - hope to see ya in 6 months.

Cynical? – I suppose. Sarcastic? - A given!

Martin J Cowling of People First Total Solutions has produced the evidence to suggest we are not staying in our jobs.

What can leaders do to turn this around?

What can leaders do to turn the field around?

It must happen. It will happen. The first step will be the call of those who are shouting that our collective head is buried in the sand.

Though they will be ridiculed, called trouble makers or pot stirrers they will keep shouting and getting louder until there is a fundamental shift in the way we look at volunteer management and leadership.

“Hi – I’m Jan and I lead 300 people”

It need not be such a monumental shift in how we think.