Training/Skills

It is clear from the "Economic Value of Volunteers in Community Literacy Agencies in Ontario" (Community Literacy of Ontario) that volunteers place a high value on learning new skills. How do you know what skills development your volunteers want?

Tutor training is certainly a current priority in community-based literacy delivery agencies. With the implementation of program reform, and outcomes-based training in particular, many programs have found themselves revising their tutor training significantly.

Ivan Scheier's "Window of Work" (discussed in Module 2) can be used on an on-going basis. When you continually ask and follow through on "quests" your volunteers have, you strengthen your relationships with them.

Think about training as another way to recognize and reward volunteers. Training provides an opportunity for them to up-grade their skills and be ready to respond to new clients, programs, policies, and organization structure. Training is also important as preparation for taking on new roles or increased responsibilities within the organization.

Some people feel opportunities for training that provide for their personal development are a real benefit, so don't restrict yourself to job-specific training. Courses such as time and stress management, communication skills and confidence building will help your volunteers and the organization.

There is a balancing act between being flexible in meeting training needs and maintaining program standards. You need to weigh options for training and be creative in solutions to address training needs.

(Note: it would take another course to address the variety of approaches to training and ways to make training interesting. There are many places to find information about training. One source is chapter 10 in "Management of Volunteer Services in Canada: The Text," 2nd Edition, edited by G. Johnstone.)