Euradiponet_best practice

                                                                                Italy

Eur.adi.po.net

BEST PRACTICE about Recruitment

(Agnese Baggio Study Centre)

Maurizio is a volunteer at Agnese Baggio Study Centre. This is his witness.

“My name is Maurizio I'm 50 and I'm a volunteer at Agnese Baggio Study Centre. I work at International After School.

I met people from Agnese Baggio during my job time. Until a few years ago I used to be a policeman at the Immigrant People Bureau, I was assigned at  permission to stay office.

In my job I used to meet a lot of foreign people. I liked to know personal histories of everyone of them because of my job and also because I’m a very curious man.

In  my job position I started to collaborate with Agnese Baggio Study Centre, which were used to help foreign people when arriving in Italy  they should meet a new country and  new laws.

Unfortunately a few years later I got sick, and my disease didn't permit me to continue my job, so I retired.

As retired person I had a lot of free time, but I didn't want to waste the chance to do something that could keep me active in my life and in the society. So I reminded that Agnese Baggio Study Centre was performing after school activities for all the foreign children I used to work for.

I talked to Agnese Baggio's headmistress about working as volunteer at the After School section and she interviewed me informally. We talked about my experiences and my attitudes. After this she asked me to do a little trial period.    

During this time I was supervised by an educator who accompanied  me through my first approach.

Now I'm proud to be a volunteer and this experience makes me richer and reacher of new incentives every day.”

Recruitment_by Euradiponet_to be inserted in the Framework

Recruitment – by Euradiponet

Recruitment framework

Preamble

The project aims to develop a  Framework about the recruitment, the retention and the recognition of volunteers in the field of  health and social care.

This framework wants to provide methods and techniques  that  show results superior to those achieved up to now with other means , and that can be  used as a benchmark.

At the end of the project, we are able  to present some good practices thanks to a lot of  comparisons among the theoretical researches and the practical strategies adopted by the partner associations involved in the project.

Besides we  collected and analysed  some good  practices carried out  by 21 active associations in  social care and health.

How to attract and recruit volunteers

We can identify two different main phases in the recruitment process.

The first phase.- The organization should spread all the possible information about the association in the community to alert people to what the  organization is doing and how they can help.

How/where:

• by word of mouth (if the volunteers enjoy their work, they will tell their friends);
• on occasion of  special events organized by  associations;
• by local press,  local radio and TV;
• by posters fastened in the local volunteer centers and  public offices;
• by the internet (especially for young people);
• in volunteer association offices;
• in work places and schools.

The second phase.-Find out what motivates people to be a volunteer.

 

Volunteers Selection  should be done on a base of good balance between volunteer  expectations and their possible roles.  is about ensuring a good match between the volunteer and the role description.

Types of selection procedure include:

·         Interviews with some members of staff and some volunteers

·         Informal chatting

·         Application form

Formal or informal interviews are necessary to

estimate and take into consideration the potential volunteer skills, attitudes and motivations, as well as giving him clear information about the organisation, the role and what is expected from volunteers.

The more the degree of responsibility a volunteer will have, the more detailed and in-depth the selection process should be.

Successful organisations recognise this and go the extra mile to ensure that they match the volunteer to the role, taking account of their needs and interests, not just what the organisation needs.

During the recruitment the management should  bear in mind what do volunteers want and need:

• the opportunities of roles;

• a welcoming and efficient recruitment process;

• induction;

• training that meets the needs of the role & the volunteer;

• a well-organised but flexible workplace;

• to be valued;

•  to learn new skills or make use of skills they already have;

• to develop confidence or self-worth;

• to meet new people and have fun;

• insurance cover for volunteers.