Volunteer Management Policy
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Volunteer Reporting Lines
In AFS-USA volunteers who agree to fulfill certain roles or positions within the organization agree to report to and be accountable to other volunteers who have agreed to fulfill coordinating or leadership roles within their teams or within the organization or in some circumstances to staff members or volunteer committee or advisory group chairs who oversee specific functions or projects within the organization. Each Volunteer Position Description will indicate the reporting line for that position.
Volunteers who manage other volunteers as part of their role will be responsible for setting clear expectations, ensuring volunteers have the knowledge, training, and materials to do their job well, and providing feedback to volunteers on their work, including recongizing their efforts.
For volunteer positions within teams, volunteer “reporting lines” are organized as follows:
As this organizational chart shows, chapter volunteers report to the Chapter Chair, who then reports to the team chair. Team leadership is responsible for ensuring all chapters within the team meet AFS-USA’s standards for hosting, sending, financial reporting, and volunteer management.
In cases where a volunteer role is not part of the team or chapter structure, reporting lines will be either to a volunteer leader such as a National Council member, Committee Chair, Advisory Group Chair or in some circumstances to a staff person who oversees a specific function or project within the organization.
Volunteer Development, Management, and Support
As a volunteer organization, AFS-USA needs to have systems in place to promote volunteer and organizational development, including structures to ensure volunteers receive support and feedback in regards to their work and performance.
Providing appropriate support and feedback to volunteers will help AFS-USA to:
- retain valuable volunteers
- ensure that our programs are implemented with quality and in compliance
- enable volunteers to grow and develop their knowledge and skills
- ensure fair and consistent treatment for all volunteers
- ensure volunteers receive due process
- enforce the organization’s code of conduct
As stated earlier volunteers who manage other volunteers as part of their role are responsible for ensuring that expectations are clear, that the volunteers on their teams have the knowledge, training, and materials they need to do their jobs well, and that they receive feedback, support and recognition on an on-going basis. Volunteer Development staff are available to assist volunteers in their “supervisory” role at any time to provide appropriate support to volunteers on their teams.
Feedback and Support Process
Most people when asked will say that they appreciate receiving feedback on an on-going basis when performing specific tasks or taking on specific roles within an organization so that they know how they are doing and can continue to grow and develop. Important facts about feedback:
- Feedback is most effective when it is received directly from another person who has had an opportunity to directly observe behavior or who is directly involved in the work or situation to be discussed.
- Feedback needs to be given in a timely way, not months after the event or situation has occurred.
- Feedback needs to be given both when things are going well and when a person is in need of development or a change in behavior.
- If feedback needs to be given for a performance issue it is important that the person receiving feedback also receive support and assistance as s/he works to make improvements.
When Volunteer Performance Is Not Meeting Expectations
- When a volunteer’s performance is not meeting expectations it is important that s/he receive feedback first directly from another person either volunteer or staff who has directly observed or who has an issue with the performance.
- If this initial direct feedback does not solve the problem, his/her manager should be contacted. The volunteer’s manager should discuss the situation with the volunteer in question in an effort to hear his or her perspective, determine the cause of the problem and identify solutions.
- A volunteer whose performance is not meeting expectations may need additional information or skill development or may simply not know that his or her performance or behavior is problematic.
- If appropriate feedback and support are given early on, many issues can be resolved in a positive way.
In situations where initial feedback discussions and support fail to resolve the concern it may be necessary for the volunteer leader responsible for supervision of the volunteer in question to develop a written performance plan in consultation with the individual. This document constitutes not only a commitment by the volunteer in need of improvement to work on certain areas of his or her performance, but a commitment on the part of his or her volunteer leader and the organization as a whole to provide the individual with the information, tools, training, or support they need to make improvements.
- A performance improvement plan should not only outline the concerns that have arisen, but what resources will be made available to support the development of the volunteer’s performance. Ideally, performance plans should be created by a volunteer leader in consultation with the volunteer him or herself.
- When a volunteer leader believes that a performance improvement plan is warranted, they should alert both the Team Chair (if the Chair is not already involved and/or aware) and the staff Volunteer Development Manager for their region (or the Team Chair should inform the Volunteer Development Manager for their region).
- The Volunteer Development Department should be consulted as to the correct timing of the development and implementation of a written volunteer performance plan and should be given the opportunity to approve all written plans before they are finalized with individual volunteers.
- Sometimes performance plans may reflect a change in the individual’s place in the volunteer lifecycle, which may mean a change in role, re-vitalization, or referral.
If improvements in volunteer performance are not seen in the time outlined in the performance plan, the volunteer leader and/or the AT or Unaffiliated Chapter Chair should again meet with the volunteer in order to summarize and document the shortcomings in the volunteer’s performance. At this time, the volunteer leader and/or the AT or Unaffiliated Chapter Chair should work with the Volunteer Development Manager for their region to determine next steps to resolve the situation, including the possibility of removing the volunteer from their current role and reassigning them different volunteer responsibilities.
Not all performance or behavioral issues can be addressed in the same way for every volunteer. For example, a serious violation, such as theft of company property or threatening or harassing an individual might warrant immediate dismissal. In cases where the safety or well-being of an AFS-USA participant or the violation of a State Department regulation is in question, the Vice President for AFS-USA in charge of participant support and/or State Department Designation for AFS-USA may request that the National Council make an immediate volunteer termination decision. In such cases volunteer team leadership, as well as the Director of Volunteer Development will be informed.
Reviewing the issues
At a certain point, despite feedback, support and improvement plans, a situation may still not be improving. In certain situations, individuals may be put on suspension or placed in a more limited role as a volunteer while the situation is further reviewed.
- A suspension might be considered, for example, in a situation where an investigation is ongoing and it is decided that the individual should stop volunteering, pending the outcome.
- Suspension decisions can only be made by the National Council Chair and Vice-Chair or their designees, in consultation with the Director of Volunteer Development.
The Decision
When all efforts to address a performance or behavioral issue have been exhausted, it may become necessary to terminate the volunteer’s involvement with AFS. In such situations the following process should be followed
- The volunteer leader or staff manager of the volunteer in question will be required to write a termination recommendation memo addressed to the National Council Chair and Vice-Chair (or their designees) and the Director of Volunteer Development.
- The termination recommendation memo should summarize chronologically all of the events that have led to this conclusion, all intermediate steps taken to counsel and support the individual, including specific dates of conversations/emails and other written communications, along with detailed descriptions of the individual’s reactions to these and agreed upon steps at each phase.
- This memo will be reviewed by the National Council (or their designees) and the Director of Volunteer Development. The final decision regarding the termination of the volunteer will be made by the National Council
As mentioned above, volunteer terminations can also occur without prior disciplinary action if a volunteer commits serious offenses, such as theft of company property, assault, the falsification of records, sexual harassment, willful and serious damage to property, serious safety violations or violations of the regulations or standards that govern AFS-USA.
Once a final decision has been made to terminate a volunteer, the individual will be informed, in writing, by the National Council Chair and the Director of Volunteer Development of the decision to terminate his/her service.
Appeals Process
At any point in the process, a volunteer may appeal decisions or request a review of actions taken by any of the AFS administrative bodies, staff or volunteers that are made in regards to his or her performance. It is the intent of AFS-USA to establish a Volunteer Ombuds Council for this purpose. While current details for the functioning of the Ombuds Council are still being discussed with the National Council, it has been agreed that a volunteer Ombuds Council will be charged with reviewing appeal requests.
Although a volunteer may request the services of an ombudsman at any point in the process, the volunteer must request the appeal no later than 30 days from the date of the notice to terminate.
In cases where an appeal is filed, one ombudsman from the Ombuds Council will be assigned to review the case. Once the ombudsman completes the review, s/he will confer with the volunteer. At that point, the ombuds will provide the volunteer with options regarding his or her best course of action. After receiving the recommendation from the ombudsman, the volunteer may request that the ombudsman submit a formal written recommendation to the National Council for its final deliberation on the appeal. The National Council will consult with the Director of Volunteer Development before making its final deliberation. The ombudsman will have 30 days from the date the appeal is received to submit such a recommendation to the Director of Volunteer Development and to the National Council Chair and Vice-Chair.
The process outlined above does not discount the possibility that a volunteer may choose to communicate directly with the National Council on his or her own behalf.
