Exploring the Dynamics of Volunteer and Staff Interactions

• Date: 01 December 2017
• Author: Robert K. Christensen,Jeffrey L. Brudney,Heather Rimes,Rebecca Nesbit
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/nml.21277
• Published date: 01 December 2017

195

N M  L, vol. 28, no. 2, Winter 2017 © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/nml.21277

Journal sponsored by the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University.

Exploring the Dynamics of

Volunteer and Staff Interactions

FROM SATISFACTION TO CONFLICT

Heather Rimes ,1 Rebecca Nesbit, 2 Robert K. Christensen, 3

J e ff rey L. Brudney 4

1Western Carolina University, 2University of Georgia, 3 Brigham Young University,

4 University of North Carolina Wilmington

The quality of the relationships between volunteers and paid staff can have far-reaching conse-

quences for organizations that utilize volunteer programs to support service delivery. We utilize

a mixed methods case study design to explore volunteer and staff perceptions of their mutual

interactions within a large library system in the southeastern United States. We consider which

areas of these interactions might be vulnerable to conflict. Our findings suggest that conflict is

likely to arise due to communication problems, behavioral or attitudinal issues, perceptions of

job vulnerability, divergent expectations, lack of trust, and workflow integration hurdles. We

argue that to avoid these tensions and promote effective service delivery, staff members must

have appropriate training and preparation to interact successfully with volunteers.

Keywords: case study , human resources , management , research , volunteers

VOLUNTEERS SERVE AS key sources of human capital for many organizations in the public

and nonprofi t spheres, often working in conjunction with the paid staff in those organiza-

tions (Gidron 1985 ). Engaging volunteers requires investments of eff ort, time, training, and

fi scal resources so that both organizations and volunteers benefi t. Nancy Macduff ( 2012 ,

256) argues that “the relationship between volunteers and staff can infl uence the success or

failure of a program … and the ability to make positive organizational changes.” As such, a

purposive volunteer-staff relationship is critical. Despite the importance of these working

relationships, many organizations fall prey to the misperception that volunteers are a source

of “free labor” (Handy and Mook 2011 ). Such organizations may inadequately invest in the

management of these valuable human resources (Hager and Brudney 2004 ; Machin and

Paine 2008 ). Too often, paid employees fi nd themselves inadvertently directing and supervis-

ing volunteer labor, rather than being trained and prepared to take on this role (Nesbit et al.

2016 ).  is situation can be particularly challenging when organizations increase their use of

volunteers, such as during times of fi scal constraint when increased reliance on volunteers is

often utilized as a strategy to reduce personnel costs (Brudney 1990 , 1993 ; Dover 2010 ).

Correspondence to: Heather Rimes, Western Carolina University, Political Science and Public Aff airs, 246 Central Drive

PSPA 358, Cullowhee, NC 28723-9646. E-mail: hnrimes@wcu.edu.

Research Article

Nonprofi t Management & Leadership DOI: 10.1002/nml

196 RIMES, NESBIT, CHRISTENSEN, BRUDNEY

Notwithstanding the aforementioned challenges, organizations cannot ignore the dynamics

of volunteer-staff interactions, because tension between volunteers and staff leads to dissatis-

faction and costly turnover in both groups (Hobson and Heler 2007 ; Kulik 2006 ; Rogelberg

et al. 2010 ). We argue that equipping staff to navigate daily interactions with volunteers is

therefore a key component of successful volunteer involvement strategies specifically and of

organizational effectiveness more generally.

We adopt a mixed-methods case study design to investigate several aspects of volunteer-staff

interactions. Much of the literature on volunteer-staff relationships stems from practition er

contributions, which are typically based on one person ’ s experiences, observations, or intui-

tive arguments. Although this literature is valuable, we could identify very few empirical

studies that increase our knowledge of volunteer and staff relationships (see Laczo and

Hanisch 2000 ; Rogelberg et al. 2010 ; Wandersman and Alderman 1993 ). Our study is

therefore exploratory; we seek to enhance the literature in the field by providing a systematic

approach to examining the dynamics of volunteer-staff interactions and laying the ground-

work for future explanatory studies.

In this article we investigate whether themes in the volunteer-staff relationships literature are

present in our case study and identify additional issues and themes that emerge from these

data to share with researchers and practitioners. We consider the questions of how volunteers

and paid staff view their mutual interactions and why some areas of interaction might be

vulnerable to conflict. A unique aspect of our study is that we include the insight of staff who

manage volunteers in order to explore more fully the dimensions of volunteer-staff relation-

ships. Volunteer managers hold the distinctive position of facilitating relationships between

volunteers and staff and are able to speak about issues of concern to both groups. We con-

clude with a discussion of managerial and policy implications, including how lessons from

this case may apply to volunteer managers and volunteer programs in other organizational

settings.

Dynamics of Volunteer-Staff Interactions: From

Satisfaction to Confl ict

In order to investigate the dynamics of volunteer-staff interactions, we turn first to the relevant

literature. Our review identifies two overarching, although not equally explored, themes: satis-

faction and conflict. The extant literature tends to focus more on conflict than on satisfaction;

the following sections reflect this disproportionate balance of attention.

Satisfaction

The importance of satisfaction in the volunteer-staff relationship context often builds on

ideas and theories in the general management literature. Empirical management studies link

employee relationships with supervisors and coworkers to job satisfaction (Hackman and Old-

ham 1975 ; Smith, Kendall, and Hulin 1969 ), and job satisfaction, in turn, has been con-

nected to outcomes such as job performance and turnover intention (see Judge et al. 2001 for

an overview). In a similar manner, Galindo-Kuhn and Guzley ( 2002 ) include volunteer-staff

relationships as an integral component of their volunteer job satisfaction index. They use factor

analysis to identify four dimensions of volunteer satisfaction, one of which is group integra-

tion, including the social relationships that volunteers develop with other volunteers and paid