It is good practice to maintain close links with volunteers and review their performance periodically in order to identify any issues before they become problems.
It is good practice to review a placement after the 1st 4 – 6 weeks. This may either be done by personal visit, or by telephone or email. Whilst telephone and email are satisfactory, the personal visit may uncover small areas of concern or confusion that can be immediately and easily dealt with, ensuring volunteer contentment and retention.
Thereafter, 6 monthly follow up reviews will help to ensure that the placement is still satisfactory for all concerned
This is an area that needs judgement and sensitivity as follow up reviews may not be necessary or appropriate, where you know volunteers are receiving good, ongoing support from the local manager. This is particularly so, where you have good relationships between Voluntary Services and local managers and can rely on them to contact you if they have any concerns about their volunteer. Be aware that volunteers may wish to have regular reviews so that they can give feedback on their role, the service or the organisation.
The ‘support’ element of the meeting should focus on the volunteer and the supervision should cover the ‘role’ element of their volunteering, together addressing both areas will provide a good picture of the volunteers experience, enable you to identify issues or challenges and ensure the role is having the desired impact, it is also a good opportunity to address potential performance of the volunteers or discuss feedback you may have received.
For more information regarding volunteer support & supervisions please contact your local NAVSM hub
