Introduction- The Issue
The Online University commenced its broadcasting operations an year back in New Jersey. Deficit budget forced the company to look for volunteers, who were trained and recruited to fill specialized roles in the broadcasting station. The Program Director happened to be a casual team-spirited person who mingled well with the staff. He headed the program for 9 months, during which the Organization grew and the staff worked with enthusiasm. However, he left the company and there existed a huge gap. The new Program Director favored a different policy of working which did not work well with the staff. This resulted in mass resignation from volunteers who left to look for better options.
The following sections will focus on summarizing the primary reasons that caused the problem. This report will deal with the analysis of the situation and its impact. It will also look for ways in which volunteers can be retained and encouraged to work for long.
Problem of understaffing – An Analysis of possible causes
While the bigger Organizations tend to have the pool of resources for emergencies, smaller companies usually face the dilemma (Shepherd, 2000). Companies or units with new ventures struggle during the initial period of their establishment with right resources. Available funding seldom proves insufficient due to following reasons:
- Expensive Technology:
Before the expenditure can be levied on staffing, it must be invested on technology needed for the program. Establishing a Broadcasting Station is undoubtedly an investment-oriented step that demands huge amount to be spared for its operation. This caused the Organization to face the financial crunch, which was the first hurdle to be cleared. It may be considered the foremost cause of why the Organization could not consider employing regular staff in the first place.
- Absence of hierarchical management:
In absence of Program Director, the business could not proceed further, and looked forward to having a new commander in control as urgency. A hierarchical management solves this problem during such instances. Temporary gap in one of the managing roles can be substituted by another decision-making authority that ensures continuity of business. Together, the management can handle the unanticipated risks which may arise due to problems like understaffing or lack of skills at any point of time.
- Lacking encouragement:
Volunteers formed the main driving force for operations within broadcasting unit. Unfortunately, they were never rewarded for their dedication. Both, the financial and the emotional encouragement were missing in the entire process under new management that de-motivated the staff. They found no reason to work in such an Organization further. There was neither monetary benefit, nor the morale boosting words from the management’s end, leaving a wide compatibility gap between two ends.
- Existence of better opportunities:
For volunteering work-force, there are abundant opportunities to find work with their individual interests. It was evident from Online University’s instance. Rather than spending time and effort at the place that failed to reward them appropriately, they resorted to quitting from it.
Significance of a compatible leadership
Leadership is not about getting the work done, it is about setting an example for the succeeding workforce (Garber, 2006). In case of the presented instance in Online University, volunteers stayed in the same company to work for 9 months in continuation. This indicates that they were under the right management which motivated them to move on. Program Director was the main driver behind the design of this smooth moving process.
It is clear that during the first year of its operation, the Organization could not have earned enough revenue to pay hefty sums to their volunteering staff. So, what was it that made the staff stick to the same unit without switching? It was the motivation for a better future and the environment at work-place (Garber, 2006). Basically, the staff felt ‘happy’ working under an encouraging leader. They felt confident that they could have bright prospects if the things moved on in the same way. What they lacked in financial terms was offered to them through words of appreciation.
If compatibility drives the business to move on even under weakest financial circumstances, incompatibility can cripple it all over (Garber, 2006). Similar proved true for Online University. The new hired manager may have been recruited based on his qualifications, but he lacked compatibility with team working under himself. He forgot to reward them appropriately, that resulted in de-motivation and dissatisfaction among employees.
Proposed Rewarding System to encourage volunteers
As the Organization moved on succeeding in its business, so did the volunteers move on with their experiences in the unit. For Online University, the volunteers that were trained as naives became experienced employees with every passing day. This means that the unit grew not only in terms of its sales figures, but also in terms of the human workforce comprising the main strength.
The volunteers thus deserved to be rewarded with appropriate appraisal system. A good method would have been to hire them under contract sheet for the initial few months and then induct them as the employees of the Organization with decent payment. For example, a volunteer working for 6 months with no financial benefits can be offered employment at the Organization on company’s payroll. During the first 6 months of his work as a volunteer, he may be rewarded through benefits of some sort like free meals in the unit, transportation charges for his travel to-and-fro, free entertainment tickets during weekends or the mass picnic every week. This will help in retaining the staff even in lieu of any official salary.
Once onto the company’s payroll, the staff can be motivated to hire more volunteers. This will benefit two ways. Organization will not be over-burdened financially by moving all the volunteers to the payroll; staff will grow in number, preparing the hierarchy under itself as it moves up the business ladder. For the newly inducted volunteers, there can be same set of leisure activities or better, as allowed by the Organization’s finances.
Recommended plan to alleviate problem in future
A fool proof plan that can help the Organization deal with problem of insufficient resources must be laid out well in advance. Here are some recommendations on how to proceed with the process:
- Arranging the resource pool:
After the investments are made on needed technology, it is time for staffing. Since the Organization initially depends on volunteers to drive its show, it must spend some effort in laying out the number of volunteers needed. As the volunteers take up their roles while they are being trained, Organization is supposed to be acting upon addition of resources. These may be the fresh college pass-outs or volunteers again, who can spare some time on regular basis.
The resource pool acts as the work-force reserve for the Organization. It can act during emergencies, or may be utilized for expansion of Organization. Arranging the reserve of resources will make sure that the operations continue in all circumstances. It will promise business continuity in both anticipated and unanticipated times.
- Hierarchical Management:
The Online University worked in a non-hierarchical manner, where the Program Director was solely responsible for carrying out operations in broadcasting unit. There exists a gap for several managerial layers under Program Director, as well as above him for supervising the activities and decisions that he plans. A multi-layered management is very essential when key business decisions are to be taken urgently (Shepherd, 2000). Absence of decision making authority at this level cripples the routine functioning of Organization.
Hierarchical Management could have been a better option when Organization looked for the new hire, to fill the role of Program Director. For example, an Assistant Program Director working under his supervisor would have been an obvious choice to take up the role, when his boss decided to quit. Likewise, the senior management working above Program Director would have worked better in bargaining time, when the utmost responsible resource for operations decided to leave the Organization. In this way, they could have planned on good recruitment rather make hasty choice of appointing the new Director on urgency.
- Regular Appraisals and Rewarding System for volunteers:
The complete scenario demands a lot to be done if volunteers are to be retained in an Organization. Performance based bonuses, appraisals and rewards are keys to employee retention in any Organization (Fader, 2010). It becomes more urgent when the work-force comprises of volunteers willing to work on nominal benefits. All that can keep them move on is ‘motivation’.
Motivation can be rewarded to employees through emotional boosting and encouragement for every task they accomplish; however that is not enough in the long-run (Fader, 2010). For dedicated and outstanding performance by volunteers, there must be monetary rewarding system implemented within the unit. It keeps them from looking for options outside their workplace. In case of Online University, lack of ample motivation appears to be the major factor for volunteers’ resignation in the end.
Conclusion
When an Organization employs volunteers for its operations and decides to train them, it invests a good deal on imparting knowledge to the workers willing to continue with it (Burgess & Crisfield, 1998). As the Organization grows with time, so do the volunteers in their individual experiences. They are no more naives, but the experienced work-force adding value to the Organizations routine operations dramatically.
Losing these resources at a stage when they can contribute a lot is a big loss for the company. A retention policy is necessary for Organizations which depend on experience of employees (Burgess & Crisfield, 1998). Rewarding system and performance based appraisals on regular basis are the parts of employee retention policy that every Organization must adhere to. To implement such a system, key decision makers must be present in the Organization at all times to deal with any unanticipated challenge. A planned hierarchy in management helps with this.
References
Burgess, S., & Crisfield, P. (1998). Valuing volunteers. Leeds: National Coaching Foundation.
Fader, S. (2010). 365 ideas for recruiting, retaining, motivating, and rewarding your volunteers. Ocala, Fla.: Atlantic Pub. Group.
Garber, P. (2006). 51 activities for collaborative management. Amherst, Mass.: HRD Press.
Shepherd, A. (2000). Hierarchical Task Analysis. London: CRC Press.
Wittich, B. (2014). The Care & Feeding of Volunteers. Cork: BookBaby.
