It's a Once-in-a-Lifetime Experience and Opportunity—Deal with it! Volunteer Perceptions of the Management of the Volunteer Experience at the London 2012 Olympic Games

Abstract

Mega-events such as the Olympic Games involve huge numbers of volunteers from the host community, necessitating the development of a large volunteer program, which will only operate for a short time. Leveraging this volunteer energy to lead to longer-term community volunteering has become a legacy goal for many event organizers. Mega-events typically use a top-down "program management" approach for their volunteer program. This article examines how the program management style impacts on the volunteer experience, using in-depth interviews with volunteers at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The study found that the program management approach had a negative impact on many volunteers' preevent experience, leading to some rejecting the offer of a role at the event. However, the anticipated "once-in-a-lifetime" experience of volunteering for the Olympic Games overcame most of the preevent shortcomings. The article considers the impact of volunteer management on repeat volunteering. Recommendations for better management of mega-event volunteers, leading to a volunteer legacy, are offered.

Volunteer selection at a major sport event: A strategic Human Resource Management approach

“…Their analysis suggested that the London 2012 Olympics used a program-centred approach to volunteer management rather than a more personal membership-centred approach, which caused irritation to volunteers and strained their commitment to the event. This theme was further explored in Holmes, Nichols, and Ralston (2018) through a qualitative study which interviewed volunteers about their experiences throughout the recruitment, training and delivery of the event.…”

Volunteer experiences at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games

“…Future volunteering intentions are reliant on positive volunteer experiences in relation to recruitment, volunteer application, selection and training program as well as effective and supportive management and administrative processes including rostering and related processes (Nichols and Ralston, 2012). Research suggests that inflexible or unsuitable volunteer recruitment and management processes that are not appropriately tailored result in a negative volunteer experience with implications for future volunteering intentions (Holmes et al , 2018). Other factors such as demographics, the role of the media, volunteering motivations, and previous volunteer experience have been found to have implications for future volunteering intentions (Dickson et al , 2014; Tomazos and Luke, 2015).…”

“…Research has identified that mega sporting events present a challenging management environment due, in part, to the significant numbers of volunteers involved in operating these events and also the intense, short-term nature of the event (Holmes et al , 2018; Lockstone and Baum, 2009). The complexity of reviewing and assessing such significant numbers of applications within the recruitment process, and the outcomes of that process in terms of candidate selection and disappointing unsuccessful applicants would, ideally, be considered when designing a supportive volunteer recruitment process (Lockstone and Baum, 2009).…”

“…As governments and organisations across the world reduce public expenditure, organisations are facing increased pressures to implement human resource (HR) practices not only with paid employees but also in the management of volunteers (Alfes et al , 2017). Volunteers also play a key role in the delivery and staging of mega events and over the last twenty years there has been a growing body of literature about mega events, including mega sporting events, reflecting the development of scholarly attention towards the planning, operational and legacy aspects of these events (Dickson et al , 2017; Holmes et al , 2018; Lynch, 2005). As with paid staff, the effective deployment, performance and retention of these volunteers relies on a planned HR approach before and during these events, supporting the potential for these mega events to provide a legacy to communities in the form of increased volunteering at the conclusion of a mega event.…”

Researching Mega-Events Under Regulatory Capitalism

“…As described below, official access to researching volunteers at 2012 was restricted to academics working with Nielsen. Other academics have researched volunteering at the Games, but have been restricted to using small, independently recruited samples (e.g., Holmes, Nichols, & Ralston, 2017).…”