It seems these days that there aren’t enough volunteers (including board members) to go around. If you work with volunteers, you are probably nodding your head in agreement. Statistically, studies like the National Survey of Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations confirm that volunteer recruitment is a major challenge in the sector. However, Volunteer Vancouver also looks at statistics from sources like the Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating that say there are volunteers out there who want to be engaged in community. “What we see is a disconnect,” explains executive director Colleen Kelly. “What organizations are looking for are the very same volunteers that they’ve always had. However, the way people want to volunteer now is different.”

The disconnect that led to the People Lens© idea

Grappling with this disconnect led Volunteer Vancouver to a new concept – the People Lens©. Thinking with a People Lens© means that organizations plan differently. By using a “people first philosophy,” an organization looks first and foremost at all the people that they can engage and all the skill sets required. Then they find new ways to parcel up the tasks instead of saying, “We have this much money so we can hire this many people and get volunteers to do the labour intensive, repetitive tasks.”

Says Kelly, “We’ve been looking at management theory. It’s not unlike Peter Drucker’s ‘knowledge worker’. We believe there is a ‘knowledge volunteer’ and that we haven’t, as organizations, adapted to what individuals want to do as volunteers and the way they want to be engaged in their communities.” So, People Lens© proposes engaging these skilled “knowledge volunteers” to advise the organization, for instance, on finances, or HR or IT – the areas that organizations often can’t afford. The People Lens© model surrounds a staff person, who has a basic knowledge of the subject area, with an advisory committee of experts.

There are two demographics that the People  Lens© model really focuses on: Baby Boomers and Generation X. Kelly points out that both those groups want to get involved in community and will start their own projects and organizations if they don’t find what they are looking for within current organizations. “We’ve seen this with youth,” remarks Kelly. “We don’t want to lose the Baby Boomers to the golf course. Organizations just aren’t ready for them and there’s not that much time.”

Calling for systemic change and strong people skills

The People Lens© approach is all about systemic change and Kelly admits, “Systemic change is tough, so tough. It’s not about saying ‘we need more volunteers’. It’s about changing the focus of our organizations. It’s a very long process and will take three to five years. It’s not a quick fix and it takes a lot of time and devoted energy.” That’s why, in order for the People Lens© model to work, there must be buy-in from the very top. If the executive director and board don’t buy in, it can’t be done in an organization. Another thing necessary for the People Lens© to work is that paid staff need to have very good people skills and a strong HR focus to effectively engage these skilled volunteers.

Even with the challenges, Kelly knows firsthand that this approach works because Volunteer Vancouver has used and refined this concept over the last four years. Internally, they call it their GoVolunteer Probono program. The tools and templates Volunteer Vancouver has developed for other organizations to access are based on their own experiences operating with the People Lens© approach. In addition to the case studies and templates, Volunteer Vancouver has trained volunteers with expertise in organizational development and project management whose role is to work with an organization to help them figure out where they can start and how they can implement the People Lens© model. And this is available to organizations beyond the Vancouver area. Affirms Kelly, “Our board of directors is clear that any organization wanting to adopt the People Lens©, if there is a way for us to work with them, we’ll find it despite geographic boundaries.”

The certainty with which Kelly speaks about the benefits of a people first philosophy is also based on Volunteer Vancouver’s experiences. “We believe it’s the way to go,” enthuses Kelly. “The main reason it makes sense is because we can really increase the impact that we have without necessarily looking for more dollars. It’s changing how we do things and we can engage more people and have more of an impact. There’s never going to be enough money but there are enough people.”

Where to start?

Based on the findings of university researchers assisting Volunteer Vancouver, the agency has developed a series of questions to determine which organizations are best suited to implement a People Lens© approach. And Kelly firmly believes that the People Lens© is potentially a huge solution around sustainability.

“There is a feeling in Canadian society that in the supply and demand equation of volunteers, it is the supply that is missing. That’s not necessarily what we see at Volunteer Vancouver. We believe there are many who want to be engaged. It’s just that the demand side doesn’t look like what the supply side is looking for. So we really need to focus our efforts on the demand side of the equation.”

For more information about the People Lens© concept, visit www.weinspireandbuildleadership.ca or contact Colleen Kelly or Virginia Edelstein at Volunteer Vancouver (604-875-9144).

Louise Chatterton Luchuk is a freelance writer and consultant who combines her love of writing with experience at the local, provincial and national levels of volunteer-involving organizations. For more information, visit www.luchuk.com.

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