Service Civil International | Mission statement

Objectives for a volunteer support and management system in SCI

In order to be able to create a voluntary management and support system for SCI there is some preparatory work.

Why and how to develop a volunteer support
and management system?

Why?... not very hard to answer. We do need to have a clear structure in managing this resource on both national and international level.
How?...

Please give us your comments and examples to (some of) the items mentioned below in this thread of the SCI discussion board.

We have identified five main points to be considered while start thinking about developing a startegy:

Preparation

to identify areas the volunteers are interested to;
to put together existing resource material, documents, good practices…in SCI.;
to create a standard form for voluntary job descriptions in SCI;
to prepare a review of the international volunteers’s skills/competences (profiles);
to encourage the branches in preparing/supporting volunteers who want to take up an international voluntary commitment;
to include in the SCI statistics the numbers and areas of voluntary commitment (prep team, representation, … )
to offer training on volunteer management for staff, IEC, WG’s representatives, branch representatives, activists;
to do a research on the needs of the international volunteers in SCI (related to their work, motivation, skills, etc);
to decide who/which body is responsible for recruitment and to monitor that all the tasks get carried out;
to decide who/which body is responsible for selection/orientation/guidance and evaluation of the volunteers;
to develop a system to stay updated about international volunteers’ commitments, skills development (e.g a web comunity)

Parallel to these preparatory tasks we can work on introducing (or improving) the different steps of the volunteer management cycle through working on the objectives mentioned below.

You can also mention your experiences and examples on the way you recruit new volunteers in the VMS thread of our forum.

Recruitment

to make explicit job descriptions including area of work, duties and rights, roles and responsibilities, expectations of SCI;
to establish criteria for each category of voluntary jobs, based on skills and competences;
to create a selection procedure based on these criterias and taking into account the expectations of a volunteer towards SCI and the specific job;
to communicate selection procedures for specific jobs/roles;
to ensure “attractive” presentation of volunteer opportunities in SCI;
to make the information about the possible areas of commitment widely known in SCI;
to ensure an easy access for volunteers to the available vacancies;
to provide volunteer opportunities for various groups: distinct social classes, ethnic backgrounds, gender;
to make use of the volunteer follow-up system (see preparation) in order to look for possible candidates among experienced volunteers;

Orientation & Training

to make sure that each volunteer who starts a voluntary commitment on the international level gets an introduction to the work to be done;
to provide on a regular basis the training course “introduction to international volunteers” in SCI;
to define what kind of support international volunteers need;
to provide regular support through a “mentor” system* ;
to create a network of mentors;
to create opportunities and encourage more the co-operation with like minded organisations in order to enlarge the possibilities for skills development;
to offer the possibility to SCI volunteers to gain more skills by participating in non-SCI skills development courses;

Monitoring & Evaluation

to prepare guidelines and standard forms for carrying out volunteers and mentor evaluation;
to ensure that the evaluation takes place during & after the task;
to ensure that the evaluation outcomes are used and lead to a better volunteer performance and better mentoring;
to establish a procedure to dismiss a volunteer;

Recognition & Retention

to identify training needs of experienced volunteers;
to look for ways to satisfy these training needs;
to invite experienced volunteers to take up a mentor role;
to provide certificates and recommendations if needed/required;
to create possibilities for (experienced) volunteers who are less active for a while, to still feel part of the movement, by updating them about the events, inviting them to special events or creating events for them.in the regions where they are based, outside their volunteer commitment;
to invite (in a more personalised way) volunteers with specific experience; contribute in activities where their expertise is needed;
to keep regular contact with international volunteers;
to make volunteers active on international level “visible” to the movement;
to introduce the practice of saying “thank you” to volunteers for their contributions;

*mentor system : a new vol gets a support person who helps to identify the needs for support, looks together with the vol for ways to make this support available, takes part in the evaluation process and eventually assists in identifying possibilities for further involvement in SCI.

Ideas for tools and practices

Creating a Volunteer policy for SCI – never existed as such;
Offering more of the staff time to support and manage volunteers;
Training staff on how to work with and manage volunteers;
Full-time long-term volunteer in the Antwerp office with responsibility for volunteer support and management;
Clear descriptions for all the types of jobs for volunteers in SCI (not only for LTV’s but for any jobs). Take into account the volunteer philosophy of SCI and underline the fact that volunteering in SCI as such is not a career job but a way to encourage personal growth combined with a service to the SCI community;
Regular supervision and communication with volunteers;
Recognition activities;
Data base of high impact volunteers;
On line self fill-in volunteer profiles - for high impact volunteers (monitored by LTV);
Activists contact info on line (for members only);
Statistics on volunteers and their work (not only workcamps);
Training and development opportunities for more experienced volunteers;
Seminars for new volunteers interested in getting active on international level;
Regular training courses on project management and organizational management (different levels);
Training courses done not only by SCI resource people but also by outsiders;
Meetings like ICM or TEM have always an educational element e.g. ½ day workshop on effective meetings or working in geographically dispersed teams;
List of trainers in SCI with profiles and expertise;
Needs analysis of older volunteers;
Prep-teams always with mixed experience levels;
A group monitoring the implementation of the proposed System here;

Tools and practiced being already in use in SCI

defined mission and aims & objectives of the organization;
thematic working groups focusing on specific themes;
new comers sessions before ICM, TEM etc.;
data base of volunteers participating in international exchanges;
discussion lists via internet;
a working group addressing the needs of LTV’s;
system of covering volunteers’ expenses;
insurance system for volunteers;
camp-leaders training courses;
materials and handbooks for volunteers coordinating SCI projects (YUWG handbook, Coordinating together, North-South Booklet);
Summer University as a learning opportunity for a bit more experienced volunteers;
Former GATE’s guidelines for prep-teams (describing tasks and responsibilities);
Mailings for the meetings available on line;
Job descriptions for LTV’s;
Study parts on work camps, but its potential must to be better used! (to inspire more volunteers to engage in SCI);