Volunteer Ombudsman debate

You can read the full article on Third Sector which includes the case for by Lewis Smith, Volunteer Rights Group.

THE CASE AGAINST: JOHN RAMSEY, CHAIR, ASSOCIATION OF VOLUNTEER MANAGERS

Volunteers are the lifeblood of our society. Many services delivered by community organisations would collapse without them. Allegations of volunteers being treated badly or unfairly affect us all, so it is right we should be extremely concerned about how these cases are dealt with.

The Association of Volunteer Managers has discussed the idea of a volunteers ombudsman for more than a year after it was approached by a volunteer dismayed at how she had been treated. It might seem a simple solution to a troubling problem, but the association has a number of concerns about the viability of an ombudsman.

First, how would an ombudsman operate? It would have to be backed by a code of practice on the treatment of volunteers. Given the diversity of volunteering, this code would inevitably be bland and therefore unlikely to be useful except in the simplest cases.

Second, what could it achieve? It could neither force organisations to reinstate volunteers, nor - unless given specific powers that would be extremely difficult to introduce - fine organisations or compensate volunteers. It might give an organisation a slap on the wrist at best, providing the volunteer with some form of satisfaction. That would be meaningful to the volunteer, but would that alone justify its existence?

Third, who would be the guardian of good practice upon which decisions were made? Volunteering good practice is constantly evolving and answers are rarely black and white, rather than varying shades of grey.

Fourth, would the law of unintended consequences apply? The existence of an ombudsman might actually discourage organisations from involving volunteers, particularly those who are difficult to manage or judged likely to complain.

And finally, is such a high-level body actually needed? There is anecdotal evidence about volunteers being treated badly, but between 1997 and 2007 the Government's national surveys of volunteering showed that volunteer satisfaction with how they were managed increased substantially, albeit with room for improvement. The money spent on setting up and operating an ombudsman would be better used to continue to drive up standards in volunteer management.

Ensuring that volunteers are treated with honesty, fairness and respect should be integral to all organisations that use them. Everything the association does is based on this premise. The association's position is that the first step towards ensuring the fair and proper treatment of volunteers is not creating an ombudsman, but making sure all organisations that use volunteers support them properly and effectively.

Supporting volunteers effectively should not be controversial. It is both intuitive and backed by evidence that effective volunteer management leads to more effective volunteering in all areas. Effective volunteer management means investing in the support and development of skilled volunteer managers and ensuring there is direct accountability to the chief executive and trustee board of the organisation.

Unfortunately, this isn't always the case. Last year's survey on volunteer management capacity by the Institute for Volunteering Research showed there is still plenty of room for improvement. For example, 30 per cent of organisations that use volunteers do not provide any funding for their support, and nearly 40 per cent do not recognise managing volunteers in any job description. This lack of formal recognition of the need to support and manage volunteers is indicative of the relative priority some organisations give to it.

Admittedly, widespread recognition of the role volunteer management plays in developing effective volunteering is actually a fairly recent phenomenon. That is why, before setting up an ombudsman, we must first concentrate on ensuring we have our houses in order and ask ourselves three questions: is the amount we spend on volunteer management appropriate to the importance of volunteers to our work? Do we give our volunteer managers time and support for their own development? And is there direct accountability for the volunteering programme to the chief executive and trustee board?

This could be encouraged or enforced in a number of ways. One example could be through the management of grants programmes. Just as most programmes have criteria to ensure the financial and organisational stability of applicants, why not have something similar that applies to applicants' volunteer programmes?

There will always be problems with how some volunteers are treated, and we might have to look at some type of informal volunteer arbitration in the future.

However, to stop a horse from bolting you first need to make sure the stable door is closed, rather than start by building a big, expensive fence around the whole farm.