“Don't you want to stay?” The impact of training and recognition as human resource practices on volunteer turnover

Abstract

Managing volunteers is a difficult undertaking. This study draws on human resource (HR) management theory and literature to investigate the effect of two HR practices—training and recognition—on volunteer turnover. We use longitudinal administrative data collected by an Indiana nonprofit organization, which contains individual volunteer characteristics, organizational HR practices, and information on actual turnover behavior. We found that recognizing volunteer contributions with awards predicted volunteer retention in the following year. Training did not have a direct effect on volunteer turnover, but interacted with gender; men who received training were more likely to stay than women. The study contributes to the literature on HR management in the volunteer context, adds to the emerging literature on awards as incentives for volunteers, and addresses the common method bias by using longitudinal data.

The role of technology in reconfiguring volunteer management in nonprofits in Hong Kong: Benefits and discontents

“…These include the ability of volunteer managers to establish a rapport with volunteers, creating positive user experience, establishing clear roles, expectations, and recognizing volunteer contribution, and optimizing volunteer impact. These findings are consistent with volunteer and nonprofit literature which highlight the importance for charities to provide a culture that is welcoming to volunteers, recognize volunteers' contribution, and allocate resources to support them (Eisner et al, 2009;Hager & Brudney, 2004;Nichols, 2013;Walk, Zhang, & Littlepage, 2018). To this end, these universalistic approaches to volunteer management seem to ring true within this study as well.…”

More is less? The volunteer stewardship framework and models

“…In a comprehensive review of the literature on volunteer coordination, Studer and von Schnurbein () find that contemporary treatments of volunteer administration and management still tend to adopt a Human Resource Management (HRM) approach pioneered during that era. Likewise, Safrit and Schmiesing () review nine models of volunteer administration and find they are similar in integrating principal elements of HRM, including those identified by Studer and von Schnurbein () related to planning, recruitment, performance assurance, retention, and separation (Walk, Zhang, & Littlepage, in press). The dominance of the HRM approach is disconcerting, given “that the transfer of HRM practices and theory onto the volunteer coordination situation is only half of the picture” (Studer & von Schnurbein, , p. 423).…”

It’s Not All the Same: Implemented and Perceived HR Practices in the Volunteer Context

“…BSA has about 7,000 active volunteers providing youth programming to 33,000 youth. We have established rapport with the organization through a preceding study that left open questions, especially with regards to HR practices of recognition and training (Walk et al, 2019). BSA organizational leaders invited us to conduct interviews with their staff and volunteers to uncover potential reasons for counterintuitive findings and to understand how volunteers experience the training and recognition within the organization.…”