Experienced volunteers of all kinds in government service are accustomed to call-outs where they are recalled while en-route, or told to return upon their arrival on scene. Inexperienced volunteers become upset when this happens. As managers we should stress to potential volunteers that this may happen more often than not. The point being that your volunteers must be conditioned to accept this fact. Yes,
that's blunt talk but a necessary truth. Never be bashful when describing your expectations of your volunteers. It helps reduce future disappointments among anyone serving on your regular volunteer staff.
When you are candid up front, more people will choose not to join than those who do. But the bonus is that it leaves you with staff that will be with you for the long haul. I tell each potential applicant that I expect them to be working with this agency 5, 10, 15 years down the road. That serves to really get the individual's attention that we are really not interested in wasting our time and effort to accommodate "joiners" and "prima-donnas". I have done this for thirty years with communications, search and rescue, law enforcement, firefighter, and other public safety volunteers with superb results.
---Stan Harter, KH6GBX
When you are candid up front, more people will choose not to join than those who do. But the bonus is that it leaves you with staff that will be with you for the long haul. I tell each potential applicant that I expect them to be working with this agency 5, 10, 15 years down the road. That serves to really get the individual's attention that we are really not interested in wasting our time and effort to accommodate "joiners" and "prima-donnas". I have done this for thirty years with communications, search and rescue, law enforcement, firefighter, and other public safety volunteers with superb results.
---Stan Harter, KH6GBX
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