Learning and development opportunities as a tool for the retention of volunteers: a motivational perspective

• Author: Cameron Newton,Karen Becker,Sarah Bell
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12040
• Date: 01 November 2014
• Published date: 01 November 2014

Learning and development opportunities as a tool

for the retention of volunteers: a motivational

perspective

Cameron Newton,Karen Becker and Sarah Bell, School of Management, QUT

Business School, Queensland University of Technology

Human Resource Management Journal, Vol 24, no 4, 2014, pages 514–530

The growing reliance on volunteers in Australia has heightened the need for non-profit organisations to

retain these valuable resources. However, the current literature on volunteer retention is limited. One

potential way volunteers can be retained is by providing learning and development opportunities

(LDOs). This study investigates the relationship between volunteer perceptions of LDOs, their

motivations for volunteering, and retention. Analyses revealed significant main effects for LDOs and

volunteer motivations on retention and several interactive effects demonstrating that LDOs can have

differential effects on retention depending on the reasons for volunteering.

Contact: Dr Karen Becker, School of Management, QUT Business School, Queensland

University of Technology, 2 George Street, Brisbane, Australia. Email: karen.becker@qut.edu.au

INTRODUCTION

Human Resource (HR) professionals have traditionally focused on the management and

development of paid employees. However, the growing need for a volunteer workforce

in many organisations, whether they are non-profit, public or private sector (McKeown

and Lindorff, 2011), makes it critical to effectively attract, manage, develop and ultimately

retain these unique and valuable resources. For those tasked with the issue of attracting and

retaining talent in general, a better understanding of how to best achieve these outcomes with

a volunteer workforce will only continue to grow in importance.

Volunteers are important as they contribute to organisations by filling supplementary roles,

enabling paid staff to concentrate on central tasks (Handy and Srinivasan, 2004; Holmes, 2009).

Volunteers also act as community ambassadors for the organisation which subsequently

contributes to recruitment of other volunteers and generation of financial donations for the

organisation (Handy and Srinivasan, 2004; Holmes, 2009). Recent data reported by the

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show that in 2006 there were 5.2 million volunteers in

Australia, contributing a total of 713 million hours to the community (ABS, 2007). While this

is a 3 per cent increase from the 32 per cent of the population who volunteered in 2000, the

average number of hours spent volunteering declined by 16 hours between 2000 and 2006 (ABS,

2007). Given the increasing importance of volunteers, it is vital for HR professionals to develop

strategies to ensure the total volunteer hours of service is maintained or increased.

Empirical literature on volunteer retention is limited, with many non-profit organisations

relying on ‘how to’ guides for information on the retention of their volunteer workforce (for

example, see Harr, 1996; Rufer, 2010). Furthermore, the assumption that HR practices for paid

staff can be directly transferred and applied to a volunteer workforce has been questioned

(Laczo and Hanisch, 1999). For example, while there is support for offering learning and

development opportunities (LDOs) as a tool to retain paid employees (Paul and Anantharaman,

2003; Choo and Bowley, 2007), these findings have not been tested specifically on a volunteer

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doi: 10.1111/1748-8583.12040

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT JOURNAL, VOL 24 NO 4, 2014514

© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Please cite this article in press as: Newton, C., Becker, K. and Bell, S. (2014) ‘Learning and development opportunities as a tool for the retention

of volunteers: a motivational perspective’. Human Resource Management Journal 24: 4, 514–530.

population. Consequently, one aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between

volunteers’ perceived level of LDOs and levels of retention.

When assessing LDOs as a retention tool for volunteers, it is important to recognise that

volunteers donate their time for different reasons (Clary et al., 1992). Moreover, it is possible

that certain motives may be more heavily linked to one’s desire for and expectation of LDOs.

However, there has been limited empirical research examining this relationship. Therefore, the

current study also aims to explore this gap by investigating the relationship between different

functional motives for volunteering and retention, and the extent that these motives for

volunteering moderate the relationship between perceived LDOs and retention.

VOLUNTEERS AND RETENTION

A volunteer is defined as an individual who ‘donates his or her time, skills or services to an

agency or organisation without obligation, and without receiving direct financial compensation

for his or her work’ (Laczo and Hanisch, 1999: 456). In many non-profit organisations,

volunteers are often relied upon to provide the majority of the labour due to limited financial

resources (Ryan et al., 2001). It is therefore essential these volunteers are retained to minimise

the time and costs associated with the recruitment, selection, orientation and training of new

volunteers (Clary et al., 1992; Ryan et al., 2001). Furthermore, turnover of volunteers or

infrequent volunteer participation must be minimised as it can negatively affect the short-term

productivity, performance and service quality of an organisation (Hausknecht et al., 2009).

The measurement of retention has been the subject of numerous studies. For example,

Da’vila and Chaco’n (2007) conducted a study to investigate the factors that influence sustained

volunteerism (or retention), finding that there is a positive relationship between organisational

commitment, intentions to stay and sustained volunteerism. Miller et al. (1990) and Greenslade

and White (2005) also found that length of service can be predicted by the strength of intention

to remain in the organisation. Based on this literature, organisational commitment and

intentions to stay are used as indicators of retention in the current study.

There are limited studies that investigate retention in the volunteer context. While authors

have highlighted differences between paid employees and volunteers in terms of motives,

satisfaction, rewards and HR practices employed for both groups (e.g. Laczo and Hanisch, 1999;

Boezeman and Ellemers, 2008), levers for retention of paid employees such as remuneration,

bonuses and job security cannot be applied in a volunteer context. A small number of

researchers have identified a number of factors influencing whether volunteers remain with or

leave an organisation. Cuskelly et al. (2006) found HR planning and orientation practices were

significantly associated with fewer problems retaining volunteers who hold formal positions.

Furthermore, training and support were the most important HR practices for the retention of

volunteer board or committee members.

More recently, Hidalgo and Moreno (2009) examined the influence that organisational

socialisation has on volunteer retention. They found organisational support, social networking

within the organisation, positive job characteristics such as non-repetitive tasks, jobs that are

gratifying have clear objectives and benefit others; and training all contribute positively to

volunteers’ intentions to continue volunteering in that organisation. Finally, Skoglund (2006)

found that to reduce turnover, organisations must ensure volunteers feel valued and provide

them with social support. Furthermore, volunteers identified ongoing training and professional

development as an area influencing their decision to remain with the organisation.

Consequently, LDOs should be considered further as a potential retention catalyst.

Cameron Newton, Karen Becker and Sarah Bell

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT JOURNAL, VOL 24 NO 4, 2014 515

© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.