An initiative of in association with

Nick Ockenden

A gateway to work? Volunteering as a route to employment

09.09.09

Introduction

• Why now?

• IVR research: A Gateway to Work (2009)

• Current work on the employability agenda

• The link between volunteering and employability

• Principles of good practice

• Conclusions

Why now?

• The recession and rising unemployment

- An opportunity or a threat for the third sector?

• Government-interest

- DWP Volunteer Brokerage Scheme

• Career-related benefits as a motivator for volunteers

  Volunteers (all) Volunteers (16-24 yrs)

‘To learn new skills’ 19% 46%

‘To help get on in my career’ 7% 27%

Helping Out (2007) A national survey of volunteering and charitable giving

A Gateway to Work

• To explore the link between volunteering and employability, specifically in relation to the work being done in this area by Volunteer Centres

• Funded by Capacity Builders

• Eight ‘good practice’ Volunteer Centres as case studies

- Interviews with staff from Volunteer Centres, employment

agencies and host organisations

- Focus groups with volunteers

• Telephone survey of 220 Volunteer Centres

The work of Volunteer Centres

• Numerous Volunteer Centres doing work in this area

- 63% had carried out work around volunteering and employability (up from 37% in March 2009)

- 76% said interest from volunteers in this area was ‘high’ or ‘very high’

• Core partner was Jobcentre Plus (63% of cases)

• Variety of support provided

- Brokerage as the main role

- Ongoing support

• Majority felt that their work had been successful

The link between volunteering and

employability

The evidence for…

• As a direct route to employment

- Especially amongst job seekers

- Benefits most pronounced in full-time volunteering

• Improving someone’s employability

- Gaining new skills (‘hard’ and ‘soft’)

- Key motivator for volunteers (61% to gain new skills)

• As an alternative to employment

- For people unable to work (e.g. positive benefit on mental and

physical health, reduces social isolation)

…and against

• The link to employment can be unclear

- Hard to isolate the role / impact of volunteering

- Impact rarely seen quickly (e.g. long-term strategy)

- Soft outcomes not immediately obvious

• Unemployed people volunteer less

- Barriers to participation (e.g. real and perceived impact on benefits;

out-of-pocket expenses; lack of information; lack of transport)

Principles of good practice

Protecting the organisational remit

• The challenge…

- Being pushed into new areas of work – ‘mission drift’

- Risk of being seen as catering to one part of the community

- Risk of delivering government employability agendas

• Ensure it complements the core mission (e.g. the six core functions of Volunteer Centres)

Recording soft outcomes

• The challenge…

- Funders / contractors may have an instrumental, target-driven view

- Can force organisations to focus on rapidly moving people into jobs

(cherry-picking)

- Can be difficult to record ‘hard’ outcomes

• Recognise ‘soft’ outcomes

• Recognise the wider, holistic benefits to volunteering (e.g. non employability-related)

Good dialogue and relationships

• The challenge…- Evidence of some dismissive attitudes towards volunteering

- Some jobseekers ‘told’ to volunteer

• Good relationships evident and possible

- Effective and sustained communication with frontline staff

- Ensure a positive message about volunteering

‘Don’t ever sell yourself short. Don’t ever think that volunteering is demeaning or second-best.’

- Ensure understanding of the principles of volunteering (e.g. freewill and unpaid)

Ongoing and comprehensive support

• The challenge…

- Job seekers often have multiple and complex support needs

- Many are not ‘job ready’

• Comprehensive support frequently seen

- Volunteering as a flexible and supportive environment

- Tailored to the individual

- Part of a long-term strategy

Conclusions

• Volunteering can help someone progress towards employment – becoming ‘job ready’

• The flexibility and support to volunteering is a key strength

• Key challenges for many volunteer-involving organisations – asked to do more for less

• Volunteering should not become the servant of government agendas

• Need to recognise the wider, holistic benefits to involvement

‘A Gateway to Work. The role of Volunteer Centres in supporting the link between volunteering and employability’

Rochester, C. (2009) IVR: London

Download free PDF from www.ivr.org.uk

Nick Ockenden

nick.ockenden@volunteeringengland.org

0207 5208 931

Discussion

• Why have you, or why have you not, worked on projects around volunteering and employability?

• What do you see as the benefits of volunteering to someone’s employability?

• What has been your experience of engaging in projects around volunteering and employability?

- successes / benefits

- challenges / drawbacks

• How does work around employability relate to your wider work on volunteering?