Inspiring Members to Leadership Kathleen Douglass Goals of

Inspiring Members to Leadership Kathleen Douglass

Goals of workshop • Overview of member engagement cycle • Understand volunteer motivation • Matching the right volunteers to the right positions • Encouraging members to step up to leadership

Today’s members • Volunteers come in all shapes, sizes, skills and talents, time availability • Let’s value diversity!

MEMBER ENGAGEMENT CYCLE RETAINING orientation, recognition, development PLANNING position designs, resource materials, program planning RECRUITING / SELECTING –marketing (branding) Interviewing, process, forms

Affiliation • Sense of belonging and companionship, to be liked • Working in groups • Need for lots of contact with other volunteers and staff • Listen to them, describe the team, personal satisfaction and social benefits • Group members - caretakers

Achievement • Enjoy challenges, personal best, completing a task • Give specific tasks with parameters, jobrelated information (budget/timelines) • Assignments that offer responsibilities and advancement with possibilities of participation in decision-making • Give entire responsibility away, needs minimal monitoring

Power • Enjoy impact and influence • Like to gain recognition within community, self-starter, status, reputation • Present job assignments that allow responsibility and authority • Critical for public recognition, impressive job-title

SELECTION • Do we recognize differences, value diversity? • Do we use skills we recruit for? • Does this member REALLY know what is expected? • Do we ‘assign’ tasks to meet our needs or the needs of the member?

Retention • Regular communications • Do we acknowledge how the project or program is succeeding? • Listen to member suggestions - implement when possible • Effective evaluation – why or why not was project successful?

Formal recognition • Formal program may involve: • Length of service awards • Club merit awards • Community or provincial awards • Venues can include: • Club meetings or special events • Area workshops, conferences • Presentations at volunteer’s place of employment

Informal recognition • Celebrating National Volunteer week or December 5 th • E-mails or letters of thanks/appreciation • Letters to employers or spouses • Small gifts • Saying thank you • Article/biography in newsletter (focus on …. . ) • Offering opportunities for advancement

Offering opportunities • How do you offer ‘advancement’? • Who is the right person to offer these opportunities? • What is the benefit to this person (WIIFM)? • What do they need to know? • What skills must they have? • How do we make it easy for them to say yes? 12

What are the barriers to leadership? What would prevent someone from saying yes? How to mitigate this? I can’t afford it The job is too big I don’t have the skills I don’t deserve it I don’t have the time I don’t like speaking in public I don’t know enough about Zonta I have not been a member long enough I am a good worker not a leader 13

How to encourage leadership • Give members ‘smaller’ responsibilities • Give up on ‘the way we used to do it” • Encourage them • Give feedback 14

1 5 Committee Development • Clarity of mandate / terms of reference • Give committee members an opportunity to interact with board members • Often a ‘grooming’ role for board members • Raise profile of committee or member

1 6 Development of current and future leaders • Can you develop from within through professional development sessions? • Specific skills, general leadership, on-going learning, Zonta programs • Do you need ‘outside’ help to develop? • Share leadership opportunities whenever possible

Conclusion • Plan! • You inspire through your own behaviour • Build strong mentorship program • Offer development opportunities • Talk about leadership – put it on the agenda! • Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other. ” • John F. Kennedy 17