How to Recruit and Manage Volunteers Successfully – Case Study

Enthusiastic volunteers are essential for the successful running of any major event. However recruiting, training and managing volunteers is far from a simple process.

Young people and the unemployed often use volunteering to learn new skills and gain experience in the hope that it may lead to employment and new careers. Others may see volunteering as a means of meeting new friends or making a valuable contribution to society. In order to gain maximum benefit from volunteers, organisations need to have an employee scheduling software in place to ensure their volunteers carry out their duties efficiently and have a worthwhile experience.

This case study illustrates how workforce management software was used in the recruitment, training and management of a large volunteer team to produce considerable savings in time and money.

CASE STUDY - ICC Champions Trophy 2013

The ICC Champions Trophy 2013, an elite cricket event for the top eight nations in the Reliance ICC ODI Rankings, took place over 18 days in three venues – The Oval, Edgbaston and The Cardiff Wales Stadium. 800 volunteers were needed to carry out vital roles in customer services, operational support and media operations. 

With only a small staff team at their disposal, the ICCCT 2013 organising committee recognised that in order to recruit, interview, train and manage volunteers effectively, a customised workforce management system would be required.

The solution was provided by Get Scheduled, who added a purpose-built dynamic online registration form for capturing of extensive application data to their basic professional workforce management system. This ensured consistency of response and enabled recruiters to sort and review applications easily. Prospective volunteers with the relevant skills and experience were quickly identified and selected for interview. Inbuilt communication tools enabled the recruitment team to notify all successful applicants of interview times and allocate training so they could process candidates in the shortest time.

Management could see the progress of applications at each venue via a full tracking facility and adjust communication strategies accordingly.

Once recruited, the dedicated private User Portal function allowed volunteers to access vital shift details, contact information, venue maps etc online.  It also enabled Venue Managers to ‘check-in’ volunteers at the start of their shift and record absences.

In addition to the clear financial return-on-investment gained from recruitment and employee scheduling operational efficiencies, Get Scheduled helped ensure a great volunteer experience. Keeping volunteers engaged and informed about work periods and crucial event information increased the likelihood of future participation in other events.