1

2

St John Ambulance Australia 8/18 National Circuit Barton ACT 2600 www.stjohn.org.au Engaging Gen Y Volunteers Lachlan Cibich, Amy Winner and Clair Strickland © St John Ambulance Australia 2012 This book is copyright. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, communicated or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher.

Acknowledgements

The AYC would like to thank the state and territory youth councils and consultative groups for their valuable contribution to this report and the 2012 Engagement Working Group.

3

Contents Acknowledgements 2

Contents 3

Abstract 5

Introduction 7

Recommendations 9

Background 10

Aim 13

Results 16

Discussion 21

Conclusion 26

References 28

Appendix 1 Questions 29

Appendix 2 Raw Data 30

4

5

Abstract The St John Ambulance Australian Youth Council (AYC) consulted with 18–26-year-old St John members to better understand our young members motivations, and investigate strategies to increase engagement with this group. State and territory-based focus groups and surveys were used to analyse current preferred volunteering practices. The consultation process also allowed for feedback about what young people think could improve their participation, and what they found challenging in their past volunteering experience with St John. This report highlights those areas for improvement based upon the challenges that in most cases have contributed to poor member engagement and retention. The data collected from this consultation process indicated that there are two main reasons why young people volunteer: personal fulfillment and community awareness/social contribution. The research also identified that providing training and development opportunities, as well as offering a wide range of interactive and flexible volunteering options were also important in fostering active volunteering. As a result of the research, a variety of recommendations have been made, focusing on:

the ‘enjoyment’ factor

recognition

members on duty

flexible opportunities; and

member consultation. For St John to best capitalise on a large population of enthusiastic and experienced volunteers, a continued investment in youth development and a strategic approach to increasing engagement will be fundamental in future-proofing the organisation. Young people are striving to be engaged and included in the organisation and appreciate the ability to do so via a variety of flexible volunteering opportunities. It is important to note that our young members do enjoy and value current volunteering opportunities; however it is important to continually review and improve what St John offers its members. This report aims to address current practice and provide strategies to support this future development.

6

7

Introduction Recent data out of St John Ambulance Victoria suggests that 32% of the membership complete 72% of the duties hours, therefore there a large number of members that complete very few service hours at all (Foran, FAS Public Events Presentation, Slide 6, 2011). Although this data cannot be generalised to the broader St John Ambulance Australia (St John) membership this data provides anecdotal evidence that this may be an issue worth researching across the organisation. If this is the case, a high proportion of members may not be effectively engaged with St John. The 18–26 age group may find that more involvement in their volunteer activities is challenging, as this is a time in their lives where study, entering the workforce or starting a family is common. The 18–26 age groups may be an area where a significant increase in engagement may be possible if the opportunities and barriers to engagement are identified, and incentives or opportunities to better meet the needs of this target group are found. For the purpose of this research, ‘engagement’ referred to increasing service hours and continuing to retain the target group within St John. According to the St John Formal Service Recognition Guidelines (2011), service hours may be gained through a number of volunteer activities, not just by attending first aid duties. Examples of service hours may include, but are not limited to, participating in first aid events, facilitating training or activities in a division, fund-raising activities, divisional administration tasks and being a part of youth councils or working groups. This is an important definition to discuss at the beginning of this research because it widens the definition and flexibility of service. This wider and more flexible definition of service allows for a more varied approach to effectively engaging our members.

Why specifically focus on engaging young volunteers? Young people represent the fastest growing group of volunteers in Australia (ABS 2010). Engaging this group is not only a smart idea (i.e. to increase organisational output), but it also aids the ongoing sustainability of the organisation and its aims. The ability to effectively engage young people also provides the organisation with a different energy, new ideas and flexibility that may not have existed before. Young people also tend to bridge the gap between generations, and research has found that engaging people when young creates a volunteering commitment that they will retain for the rest of their lives (QLD Government Department of Communities 2012). This means that even though young people often take time off from volunteering at certain key points in their lives, they tend to return, especially if they were effectively engaged and enjoyed their experience.

8

In 2010, the Australian Youth Council’s (AYC) Flexible Volunteering paper provided information for the organisation in regards to better retaining our young volunteers (Boessler and Ding 2010). However, in the scenario where young volunteers are staying with an organisation, how do organisations better engage them to increase organisational outputs? This report details the findings of national consultations held with young St John members aged 18 to 26 years and provides recommendations on how to better engage these members in St John.

9

Recommendations Recommendations based on the research are:

That St John makes an effort to consult more regularly with young members and create processes that allow young people to contribute directly to decision-making in the organisation.

That St John better promote, review and develop opportunities that are offered to young people. Young people in particular are interesting in flexible opportunities to develop their skills (clinical and non-clinical).

That St John identifies and actively provides mentoring and leadership opportunities for allowing young members to continue to develop, feel valued and engaged.

That St John better recognise the skills and expertise of our younger members, as well as maintain and promote flexible service standards. We must educate all of our members about how our young members add value to our community.

That St John ensures its members are being recognised and are achieving their individual goals as St John members. The organisation could benefit from working with members to plan their volunteer experience through a pathway preparation scheme.

10

Background

Volunteer work is an enormous renewable resource for social, economic and environmental problem-solving throughout the world … but the lack of solid data on volunteering has left it under-valued and its full potential unrealised.

Lester Salamon Director of the Centre

for Civil Society Studies (2011).

The undervaluing of volunteerism creates its own issues for organisations who are trying to better engage, support and value their volunteers (Hawkes 2011). This is especially the case as volunteering becomes more formalised and professional and volunteers are subjected to the same requirements as paid staff. Completing police checks, child protection checks, awareness training and having performance monitored are now the norm for most volunteers in Australia (Hawkes 2011). These checks and training requirements are necessary but it is not the purpose of this paper to discuss whether they are too onerous. It is the purpose of this paper to discuss the role of engagement in making it worth for volunteers to continue their involvement despite these requirements. Organisations would benefit from finding ways to ensure volunteers are engaged and feel as valued as their paid counterparts. As volunteers do not rely on underlying incentives such as monetary compensation to keep them returning, to achieve our organisational outputs engaging and valuing volunteers is crucial.

What is engagement?

Engaging is the process of occupying and holding the attention or efforts of someone.

Macquarie Dictionary

Engagement in this paper is defined as attracting volunteers to complete service hours and having them continue to complete service hours throughout the year, as opposed to on a one-off basis. Successful engagement is not determined on an ‘increase in service hours basis’ solely (although this may occur) but on the increase of volunteers consistently engaging to share the current work load required of St John.

11

There is a variety of strategies that research and volunteer organisations have developed and subsequently employed to properly and successfully engage volunteers. These include:

providing induction training

continuing training

mentoring

competency achievement processes

recognition awards

acknowledgment of good work in a volunteer newsletter

discounted opportunities for courses/retail/food outlets

complimentary passes

disciplinary procedures

grievance procedures

regular volunteer meetings, updates as well as role clarity and review (QLD Government Department of Communities 2012).

This research aims to challenge, confirm or tailor strategies to St John and the target group to increase success in engaging these volunteers in service hours.

Previous research There has been research conducted previously within St John regarding the engagement of volunteers in an emergency management organisation. This research, conducted by Ranse and Carter was published in The Australian Journal of Emergency Management in 2010. The research reinforced the view that emergency management organisations need to better focus on implementing and enhancing strategies to engage volunteers. There are a few things that distinguish this previous research from the research the AYC conducted during 2012. The Ranse and Carter research focused on one Australian state with groups from rural and metropolitan divisions in first aid services. This research also focused on the adult members with no defined age range, while the AYC research was to provide information in regards to the 18–26 age range, as well as providing up-to-date information on engagement strategies. The AYC research also aimed to gain data from most states and territories (rather than one state), and provide a breakdown of results for each of the participating states and territories. The research conducted by Ranse and Carter (2010) found that adult members wanted to give back to the community and maintain and expand their skills. There was also value placed in friendships and having a work-alternative activity as reasons to join (Ranse and Carter 2010).

12

In identifying the differences in the respective research studies, and the gaps the AYC wished to fill with its research, the AYC found Ranse and Carter’s research a valuable stepping stone in shaping the research study into the engagement of 18–26-year-old members. Research has also been undertaken on volunteer motivation in the general population. Previously Clary et al. (1998) suggested that there were six motivators to volunteering: 1. values: related to altruistic and humanitarian concerns for those who they are

caring for 2. understanding: related to learning new skills and gaining knowledge 3. social: relating to gaining friendships and spending time with like-minded people 4. career: related to enhancing career prospects 5. protective: related to reducing self-perceived guilt or concerns of one’s self 6. enhancement: related to making the volunteer feel good about themselves. Luong and Tuckey (2006) included the additional motivator of enjoyment, which is related to giving the volunteer the opportunity to have fun. In the discussion of the results of the AYC research, this paper also draws comparisons to the motivations contained in the Clary et al. (1998) research.

How does flexible volunteering fit in with the idea of increasing service hours? In 2010, Boessler and Ding developed a best practice guide for flexible volunteering. The aim of this guide was to inform St John about Generation Y volunteering trends and ways to better engage this group in volunteering. The AYC, in researching engagement of volunteers in continuous or consistent service hours, advised taking these flexible volunteering principles into consideration when encouraging engagement of Generation Y (Boessler and Ding, 2010).

In order to capitalise on both St John’s current young volunteers and to recruit new volunteers interested in giving to the community, St John needs to ensure that our practices and programs are flexible and adaptive to the needs of Generation Y. This includes developing flexible, short-term volunteering opportunities to fit the needs of a busy target group as well as utilising technology and innovation in communicating with this population. (Boessler and Ding, p. 9, 2010).

13

Aim To ascertain how St John Ambulance Australia can increase the effective engagement of young members aged 18 to 26 years.

Objectives

1. To establish what St John volunteers, aged 18–26, enjoy about volunteering with

St John. 2. To identify challenges for the 18–26-year-old age group with volunteering their

time. 3. To identify incentives for the increased engagement of 18–26-year-old

members. 4. To provide a summary report to key stakeholders and determine if there is a

further need for research.

Strategies

Phase 1: Consultation

Objective 1, Strategy 1

To hold consultations in each jurisdiction with participants aged 18–26 years, particularly those identified in the target group, to ascertain enjoyable aspects of volunteering with St John.

Objective 2, Strategy 1

To hold consultations in each jurisdiction with participants aged 18–26 years, to identify challenges or barriers to target group members volunteering their time with St John.

Objective 3, Strategy 1

To hold consultations in each jurisdiction with participants aged 18–26 years, to identify incentives for increasing the engagement of the target group.

14

Phase 2: Reporting

Objective 4, Strategy 1

To collate and analyse focus group and national survey data.

Objective 5, Strategy 1

To provide a written report identifying challenges and barriers to engaging the target group, and potential incentives for engagement including suggestions for ways forward at a national and jurisdictional level.

Consultations will occur with all of the above in both metro and rural areas (as applicable).

Method The research utilised both face-to-face consultations and online surveys as a means of data collection. Consultations and surveys with the target audience were held over July and August 2012.

Population The population for this study was active St John members aged between 18– 26-years-old. The respondents were members from the six states and two territories, and one group made up of members from several jurisdictions.

Data collection Consultation groups and online surveys were used as the methods of data collection. Four consultations were carried out by members of the Australian Youth Council with members in South Australia, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and a National Group. Each consultation had between two and six respondents and took approximately one hour to complete. An online survey was also distributed to young members in New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia.

15

The online survey and each consultation group were asked a series of eight questions: 1. What do you enjoy about volunteering with St John? 2. What motivates you to volunteer with St John? 3. Do you feel that the volunteering opportunities offered to you (i.e. at events) by

St John encourage you to participate? Why/why not? 4. Is achieving service recognition (i.e. doing 60 hours a year towards your service

award) important to you as a young member? Why/why not? 5. Have you ever faced challenges with volunteering your time at events for St

John? If so, what are these challenges? 6. Are there things that St John could do to help you to participate more in St John

events? 7. Have you ever thought of leaving St John? If so, what makes you stay? 8. What type of St John volunteering interests you the most?

Participant protection This research was approved by the St John Ambulance Australia Human Research Ethics Committee. For the consultations, all participants provided voluntary consent and could withdraw at any stage. All participants who completed the online survey also gave consent by submission of the survey to St John Ambulance Australia, and were also given the opportunity to withdraw at any stage.

16

Results

State/Territory

No. of participants consulted

No. of Online Survey participants

ACT 2 –

NSW 5 6

NT – 5

QLD – 6

SA 6 –

WA – 21

National 5 – Participant demographics

Question 1 What do you enjoy about volunteering with St John? Many different factors that contributed to the overall enjoyment of young St John Volunteers were identified. These varied across respondents, however all of the responses fell into one of two categories: 1. personal fulfillment, or 2. community awareness and social contribution. Examples of personal fulfillment included making friends, developing skills and simply having something to do. On the other end of the scale, engaging in the community, supporting others and making a difference reflected responses associated to the Community Awareness and social contribution enjoyment factor. Of all the responses, the following five responses where the most frequent: 1. networking and making friends 2. involvement in the wider community 3. training and development opportunities 4. exposure to different opportunities and experiences 5. incorporating skills provision with professional study and employment.

Question 2 What motivates you to volunteer with St John? Although there were many differing reasons for volunteer motivation, five key themes were identified: 1. community service; serving others 2. personal development 3. developing others; being part of change 4. friends 5. events.

17

Question 3 A. Do you feel that the volunteering opportunities offered to you (i.e. at events) by St John encourage you to participate? The results from this question suggest that St John can offer encouraging volunteering opportunities with 39% of respondents saying ‘yes’ and only 6% saying ‘no’. However, 56% of respondents feel that the volunteering opportunities only sometimes encouraged participation which suggests inconsistency with event opportunities within St John.

B. Why/why not Again, responses varied, however six main themes appeared amongst respondents: 1. participating in and at events is often about who you know, not what you know 2. a mentality that you have to ‘earn’ the bigger, more fun events 3. that it is easier to get a national role than move up in ranks at state/territory

level 4. that there is a diversity of events to attend, which can depend on geographical

and jurisdictional location 5. that there is a ranging level of support, recognition and opportunity at events—

the responses reflected a negative picture 6. younger people want to be offered more experience, opportunity and

recognition whilst at events, i.e. more awareness of individual skill levels etc.

Question 4 A. Is achieving service recognition (i.e. doing 60 hours a year toward your service award) important to you as a young member? More than half (60%) of respondents suggested that service recognition is important to them.

39%

6%

56%

Yes

40%

60%

No

Yes

18

B. Why/why not? Recognition of service in young people was seen as important, or not, with the following themes identified: Why: 1. important to be recognised 2. provides a goal to work towards 3. involvement in a whole of St John membership goal 4. sense of achievement. Why not: 1. difficult to get to 60 hours/12 years’ service (long time for young people) 2. motivated by community service, rather than recognition. There also appeared to be a significant amount of misinformation about what is included in service hours in the answers. This is addressed in the discussion and recommendations.

Question 5 A. Have you ever faced challenges with volunteering your time at events for St John? Challenges appear to be commonplace within St John with over 92% of respondents having faced challenges during events.

B. What were the challenges? The challenges experienced by volunteers were broken down into five main themes: 1. lack of recognition 2. other volunteers not allowing skills to be developed (due to rank, healthcare

professional qualifications, age, confidence leading to humiliation) 3. commitment (travelling long hours to get to a duty, being expected to stay for

long periods of time, balancing work, social and duty hours) 4. duties not being appropriately managed (unable to allow appropriate breaks for

volunteers, managing difficult team members, supervision of Cadets, time mismanaged during duties)

5. not being provided appropriate information (debriefing and awareness of counselling services after a major incident, understanding legal and religious differences).

80%

8%

12%

Yes

No

Sometimes

19

Question 6 Are there things that St John could do to help you to participate more in St John events? Many suggestions were made as to how St John could improve participation of volunteers at events with six main ideas standing out amongst responses: 1. formal recognition (particularly for young adult members) 2. buddy/mentoring/support systems at duties 3. flexible options (volunteering, training, events etc.) 4. more qualification training options (first aid training, event management training,

leadership training) 5. succession planning (Deputy-Duty Commander) 6. promote volunteering opportunities.

Question 7 A. Have you ever thought of leaving St John? 53% of respondents said they have thought about leaving St John.

B. If so, what makes you stay? All of the responses in this question link to what volunteers enjoy and what motivates them to volunteer. The reason respondents stayed was that they were able to associate themselves with an area of enjoyment and self-fulfillment. 1. flexible volunteering opportunities (LAD) 2. THE AYC! 3. cadets/young people 4. friendships 5. opportunities for development 6. events 7. giving back to the community.

53%

47%

Yes

No

20

Question 8 What types of St John volunteering Interests you the most? The four themes that stood out regarding the types of volunteering that interests young people were: 1. consultations; big picture/strategic decision-making 2. volunteering with Cadets 3. member development and management 4. hands-on volunteering at exciting events.

21

Discussion

Motivations It is important to understand what motivates young people to volunteer within organisations. The results from Clary et al. (1998), and Tuong and Tuckey (2006), suggests that the enjoyment factor is particularly important to young volunteers. There are also a variety of factors that contribute to the overall enjoyment of young volunteers in St John. It is fundamental that we recognise, understand and maintain what our young members enjoy about volunteering, and that we continue to encourage the development of the organisation in the direction that encompasses this enjoyment factor. The two categories that most responses regarding volunteer enjoyment and motivation fell into were either personal fulfillment, or community awareness and social contribution. According to the research from Clary et al. (1998), the functions that encompass personal fulfillment stem from both the social and understanding categories, with examples including networking and making friends, and exposure to different opportunities and experiences. Further, it was highlighted that incorporating skills provision and training, particularly first aid training and leadership advancement with professional development, study and employment was also important to volunteering amongst young people.

“I have friends all over Australia thanks to volunteering. Also what I enjoy as a health care professional is the very different role that I can undertake by volunteering.”

A number of respondents stated that they enjoyed having the ability to learn and use their clinical and associated skills in St John and also, more particularly, external study and professions. Professions that were noted included health care professionals (HCPs), Nursing, Paramedic Studies and Medicine. Other professions such as Legal Studies and Management were also mentioned. The ability for professional studies and employment, partnered with the organisation’s acceptance to recognise and allow the use of skills that are learnt externally to the organisation, also lead to enjoyment for young members. Respondents also noted that management development and mentoring pathways would be a positive factor to their overall enjoyment. Development opportunities in training included event communications and commanding, the bicycle emergency response team (BERT), leadership development training, and clinical skills training. The diversity of the opportunities provided by St John is also enjoyed more when they are offered through flexible platforms. Notably, training abilities and being offered and holding different roles throughout the organisation is important to young people.

22

The community awareness and social contribution categories are strongly related to the values motivator (Clary et al. 1998). Young St John members also state that supporting others involvement in the wider community and making a difference are things that are particularly important to why they volunteer. Having a connection to the community and helping in the lives of other people rated as the second most important aspect to young member fulfillment. The ‘community’ is defined as the community, both internal and external to St John. Contributing to the St John community ranged from the divisional level through to a national involvement in growth and development. Of note, contributing to the voice of younger people featured frequently in this area, as well as making a broad community difference and assisting to help and save lives. Giving back to the community and saving lives is linked to the very root of the organisation and is what most young people experience during their time of St John. It is important to identify that this continues to provide enjoyment and engagement to our young members. Another major key to ensuring young member enjoyment is the simple act of helping other people through the provision of first aid.

“[St John provides] great opportunities to meet new people, both within the organisation and out in the public. Great training opportunities and a great way to give back to the community.”

These responses could also be linked to both the protective and enhancement categories of the research from Clary et al. (1998). The results suggest that the respondents felt positive about themselves volunteering (i.e. enhancing their positive internal feelings). However, young people may be responding to internal negative feelings, and their volunteer motivations could be a way of negating those feelings.

Encouraging participation According to Volunteering Australia’s 2006 National Survey of Volunteering Issues (2006), 81% of volunteers would like their ‘volunteer work recognised in the form of opportunities to develop their skills’ (Volunteering Australia 2006). This statistic shows how important providing opportunities to volunteers is to aid participation, and young St John members feel very similar to this. 39% of respondents stated that the volunteering opportunities that are provided to them in St John encourage them to participate. However, 56% of respondents felt that the opportunities provided only sometimes encouraged participation.

“there is an expectation that you have to do local events before you get to do the more interesting events…”

23

The responses by young St John members showed a marked difference in individual experiences across Australia, with some members happy with their volunteer experience and others facing barriers to participation. The barriers that young members faced included a perception of nepotism amongst members, and a significant difference in the level of support, recognition and opportunities available at events. The lack of opportunities included age as a significant factor, with young members feeling they were not given the opportunity to increase their skills, and a perceived mentality amongst leaders that young members ‘have to earn’ the bigger, more exciting events. However, respondents also stated that in some cases there were plenty of opportunities available to them and that the events that they are involved in are fun and interesting.

“sometimes I feel like other members see me as not experienced enough as some older members so I should sit back and watch rather than participate.”

The difference in the level of volunteering opportunities suggests that young people are entirely dependent upon the local leadership base across St John for their learning and volunteering opportunities. Young people who have a forward-thinking leader who encourages them to become team leaders and take responsibility for themselves, have significantly more positive volunteering opportunities than those who do not.

Recognition Recognition is seen as a significant factor within volunteer organisations. Existing research suggests that without recognition, retaining volunteers could be challenging (Esmond 2005). Esmond states that ‘every one of us needs to feel valued for our efforts, our skills, our achievements and our potential’, and for young members in St John, this is also true to an extent. Service recognition as a young member was important to 60% of respondents, which is not a surprising statistic. However, what is surprising is that 40% of young members said that service recognition is not important to them, seemingly due to the difficulty in gaining 60 hours of volunteering per year and keeping the volunteering consistent for 12 years in order to gain the St John Service Medal. (St John requires 60 volunteer hours per year in order to gain a service medal after 12 years.) Sixty hours of volunteering for some members, in particular young people, can be quite challenging due to other life commitments such as school/university, work and family. Also travel to and from events appears to be a consideration as young members often do not have their own transport.

“I like being recognised for the hours that I have done but I feel like 60 hours is a lot and we should be recognized for the hours we have time to do.”

24

A further reason for not finding service recognition important is due to lack of motivations. Similar to the value function (Clary et al. 1998), some young members were not motivated to volunteer for recognition but for service to their community and a need to want to help. There also appears to be a lot of misinformation amongst young members regarding service recognition, particularly regarding what is counted towards service hours.

Volunteering challenges and barriers Challenges to volunteering appear to be commonplace amongst volunteer organisations (McLennan J 2008, p. 31) and St John is no different. More than 92% of young members stated that they had faced challenges at some time or another while volunteering. The responses were similar to the barriers to participation as stated above. Particular challenges faced by young members included a loss in volunteer motivation due to lack of recognition of young members, and also young members not being encouraged or allowed to advance their skills base due to older, more experienced members’ misconceptions of their ability or Health Care Professionals (HCPs) not allowing non-HCP’s to treat. There was also an expectation of prolonged commitment to duties when young members are not always able to undertake long duties due to school/work/family and social commitments.

“[It’s a challenge] to balance work, university, family and a social life.”

Appropriate management techniques during duties was also highlighted as a challenge including not allowing appropriate breaks/time management, Cadet supervision issues, and management of difficult team members. A lack of providing appropriate information and training, including appropriate debriefs and understanding legal and religious differences while treating, was also cited as a challenge to volunteering. Suggestions were made by young St John members to alleviate some of the challenges that they had identified. Formal recognition for members was suggested as the 12 year Service Medal is a long time for young members to wait for recognition. There are other ways of recognising both Cadets and adult volunteers but these tend to require the member to complete further activities such as badge work or to still complete a number of service hours for a set period of time. Young volunteers are interested in being recognized for what they can contribute and more regularly then once every three years.

“Give everyone a chance to do different positions on duty.” Other suggestions that were made to alleviate challenges included a buddy/mentoring system during events in which less experienced members could be

25

buddied with more experienced members to provide support and encouragement during events. Another suggestion was making more options available when it comes to volunteering and training including flexible volunteering and more accredited and non-accredited training. Flexible volunteering was previously seen as an issue to young members within St John and the AYC provided a paper on flexible volunteering options as previously discussed in this document (Boessler and Ding 2010). Promoting volunteering opportunities and succession planning was also highlighted as a possible way to improve volunteering at events by providing opportunities such as Deputy-Duty Commander positions for young members. By doing this young members learn the role on the job and gain valuable experience while under the guidance of a more senior member.

“Provide more flexible options for volunteering and training.” More than 53% of young members have thought about leaving St John however, what stopped them from leaving links back to the research related to the values, social and enjoyment motivators (Clary et al. 1998; Luong and Tuckey 2006). Giving back to the community, flexible volunteering options and development opportunities (Values motivator) were three of the key reasons why young members stayed in St John. Also, attending events, friendships, working with Cadets/young people and the Australian Youth Council (social and enjoyment motivators) were other reasons cited as to why young members continue to volunteer with St John. It is not surprising that the types of volunteering that interested young members of St John were opportunities such as working with Cadets, member development and management, strategic decision-making and consultations and most frequently cited was first aid volunteering at events.

26

Conclusion

‘Engagement’, for the purpose of this research, was defined as attracting volunteers to complete service hours and holding their attention consistently as opposed to a one-off basis. Service hours as defined in the Guidelines for Formal Service Recognition (2011) could include a number of volunteer activities. As the research was conducted with what was considered an already engaged group of young people the question about whether they were engaged was not discussed, but rather how well they were being engaged and how this level of engagement could be improved. Overall, the research found that the participants enjoyed volunteering, with the aspects they were most motivated by being personal fulfillment, being community aware and contributing to the community. It is important to note the young volunteers particularly are motivated by enjoyment and that if you are to successfully retain their attention the organisation needs to harness and develop the enjoyment factor. Further, the organisation needs to recognise that young people are motivated particularly to volunteer with St John because it provides them with skills that directly translate into their work and school lives. The organisation needs to make sure that this professional and personal development continues to be provided, that it maintains its diversity, remains up-to-date and that delivery of opportunities is flexible to fit in with young people’s lives. As 56% of participants felt that opportunities provided to them only sometimes encouraged participation, this is an obvious area for the organisation to focus attention on. Recognition is a topic that is often raised when discussing the retention of volunteers. More than half of participants (60%) said that service recognition was important to them. The remaining 40%, although they indicated that service recognition was not important to them, this was not because they did not want recognition for their service, but rather they perceived service recognition as difficult to achieve. Part of this difficulty was the misconception of what counted towards service: the perception is still that service only included duty hours. In fact service hours include all volunteer hours, including travel, administration activities and meetings. Additionally young people saw 12 years as a long time and were more interested in practical recognition. Rewarding young people with further training or development opportunities, and more regularly, will tap into the young person’s motivations for volunteering and encourage them to volunteer more often and consistently. Finally, the research found that almost all of participants (92%) said that they had faced challenges at some time during their volunteer career in St John. Challenges are not unique to St John; they appear to be commonplace in volunteer organisations. The challenges faced by young people in St John, however, directly

27

related to the answers they gave for how they would suggest St John better engage young volunteers. Young people thought they were not well-recognised or their skills well-utilised because of their age. They also felt that what was expected of them was often unrealistic and that volunteering opportunities and skill upkeep was not flexible enough due to their other commitments. The participants also felt that they were not being managed well and were not provided with correct and timely information to progress their training and other requirements. Participants highlighted a number of ways to alleviate these challenges and encourage their engagement. These suggestions have been encompassed in the recommendations. Ultimately the organisation will achieve the best engagement results if they prioritise consulting and becoming familiar with the ideas of young people.

28

References Australian Bureau of Statistics, ‘Voluntary Work Australia, 2010’, 4441.0. Accessed 21/7/12 at:

<http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/4441.0Main%20Features22010?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=4441.0&issue=2010&num=&view=>

Boessler J and Ding B 2010. Gen Y and Flexible Volunteering: A Good Practice Guide. St John Ambulance Australia, 2010. Access 31/7/12 at: <http://www.stjohn.org.au/images/stjohn/youth/FV_Good_Practice_Guide_Feb_2010.pdf>

Clary EG, Ridge RD, Stukas AA, Snyder M, Copeland J, Haugen J, and Miene P 1998. ‘Understanding and assessing the motivations of volunteers: A functional approach’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74 (6), 1516–30.

Foran A 2011. FAS Public Events Presentation, Slide 6. Comment: Victoria, since this publication has implemented certain strategies to improve these statistics and Andrew mentions that these figures have been improving.

Hawkes H 2011. ‘Time Rich’, In the Black, July 2011. Accessed at 31/7/12 at: <http://www.itbdigital.com/opinion/2011/07/01/time-rich/>

Luong F and Tuckey MR 2006. Volunteering resources at the local level: Motivations for volunteering and the connection to burnout, dedication and retention of volunteer fire-fighters. Adelaide: University of South Australia Work and Stress Research Group.

McLennan J 2008. Issues facing Australian Volunteer-based Emergency Services Organisations: 2008–2010. La Trobe University, School of Psychological Science, Complex Decision Research Group.

Queensland Government Department of Communities, ‘Engaging Young Volunteers’. Accessed 31/7/12 at: <http://www.communities.qld.gov.au/resources/sportrec/publications/fact-sheet-engaging-young-volunteers.pdf>.

Ranse J and Carter S 2010. Engaging volunteers in an emergency management organisation. pp 36–41. Accessed 31/7/12 at:<http://www.em.gov.au/Documents/10-70447DOC%20%20EMA%20Vol25%20DOC.PDF>

St John Ambulance Australia 2011. Guidelines for Formal Service Recognition. Accessed 14/11/12 at: http://www.stjohn.org.au/component/docman/cat_view/64-awards-and-recognition/65-formal-service-recognition.html>

Salaman LM 2011. Counting the Volunteers the World Counts On. Accessed 7/11/12 at <http://www.ngopulse.org/category/defined-tags/ngo-management/volunteerism>

Volunteering Australia 2006. National Survey of Volunteering Issues, 2006. Access at 14/11/12 at <http://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/Policy/-National-Survey-of-Volunteering-Issues/2006-Report.asp>

29

Appendix 1 Research questions 1. What do you enjoy about volunteering with St John? 2. What motivates you to volunteer with St John? 3. Do you feel that the volunteering opportunities offered to you (i.e. at events) by St John

encourage you to participate? Why/why not? 4. Is achieving service recognition (i.e. doing 60 hours a year towards your service award)

important to you as a young member? Why/why not? 5. Have you ever faced challenges with volunteering your time at events for St John? If so, what are

these challenges? 6. Are there things that St John could do to help you to participate more in St John events? 7. Have you ever thought of leaving St John? If so, what makes you stay? 8. What type of St John volunteering interests you the most?

30

Appendix 2 Raw data: Engagement

consultation results

Consultations completed:

St John National members face to face consultation (respondents: 5)

SA face to face consultation (respondents: 6)

ACT face to face consultation (respondents: 2)

NSW face to face consultation (respondents: 5)

NSW online survey (respondents: 6)

NT online survey (respondents: 5)

QLD online survey (respondents: 6)

WA online survey (respondents: 21) 1. What do you enjoy about volunteering with St John? St John National members face-to-face consultation

opportunities that I’ve been given

friendships

sense of community

personal growth

fun

sense of achievement

sense of worth

assisting/giving back the community

saving lives

leadership opportunities

personal development

mentoring

increasing confidence

giving you a social (or not). SA face-to-face consultation

More a social thing, been in so long that everyone has become a friend and if left the organisation wouldn’t see anyone

Support for younger siblings in the same division

Helping out others and supporting the division

Different opportunities to do different things

Relief from work life, It feels like a different job, something exciting ACT face-to-face consultation

Opportunities, lots of titles. Like getting involved...

Studying nursing, have always volunteered and so joined St John. Enjoyed speedway and certain duties.

NSW face-to-face consultation

Personal achievement

Belonging to a group

Free stuff

31

Free concerts

It’s fun

Applying uni knowledge into local duties

Enriches our lives

Sense of responsibility

Socialising

Something to do on weekends

Run different to youth based organisations- more opportunity in St John NSW online survey

The opportunity to help others and give back to my community, whilst meeting new people and learning new skills like BERT and communications.

The opportunities for self-development and learning, leadership, teaching, working with a wide variety of other volunteers and patients. All of the perks!!

Friends, experiences, life skills

Helping the community.

Hanging out with other young members and helping the community. Great contacts, friends and good fun!

Spending time with friends Opportunity to make a contribution to my community Learning a vast range of skills and knowledge from other members Clinical skills - development and application Helping others

NT online survey

The national and international aspect of it. I have friends all over Australia thanks to volunteering. Also what I significantly enjoy is as a HCP the very different role that I can undertake by volunteering. As a Paramedic I have very much being used to the treat and transport mode of thinking. With St. John this is very different as it forces me to think about treat and discharge or referral. This is a completely different model of thinking compared to the normal paramedic thinking. By working with the Medical Assistance Team in Vic and the ACMT in Sydney it has pushed me to become a better clinician by having to deal with and think about things that I've never done before. The networking opportunities are fantastic especially if you work in a health care environment. At national events meeting people from all different fields and them knowing you opens opportunities that wouldn't have happened before. The support that student health care professionals receive is also great. Seeing an acknowledgement of their skills and abilities whilst on duty.

Social activities and helping out the community.

Keeps first aid up to date

The rewarding experience of helping others and giving back to the community.

People QLD online survey

Training and Friendships

Learning new skills, meeting people, talking to people from all walks of life at events.

Developing my clinical skills

Catching up with people with similar interests and attending duties

satisfaction of helping out the community, and also the hands on experience of practicing new skills on a weekly basis. The ongoing training programs are fantastic too.

I think that it is fun and I make a lot of really good friends WA online survey

Diversity of roles in cadet division, FA training, duties, etc. and opportunities to develop skills such as leadership and management.

Helping the community.

Ambulance/First aid experience and the social aspect.

32

The other members are very friendly and knowledgeable and make you enjoy and feel like you are a part of a great team.

Great opportunity to meet new people, both within the organisation and out in the public. Great training opportunities and a great way to provide back to the community.

Providing the youth voice and making a difference.

Keeping up to date with life skills and First Aid. Meeting the different people along the way.

Flexibility, being part of a widely recognised team, giving back to the community, influencing the lives of young cadets.

Meeting people and working with cadets and juniors.

Meeting different people, helping others by providing first aid and going to events that I otherwise would not have the opportunity to go to.

Helping the community. Learning new skills. Meeting new friends.

Saving life.

Learning new skills meeting people helping the community.

Working with different people especially working with youth

The variety in what you can do.

The satisfaction of helping others, even if I don’t know them.

I enjoy using my skills to benefit the greater community.

The opportunity for growth especially in training.

The people that I meet and work with and whatever situation comes I know I have a great team beside me.

The diversity, making a difference, supporting the community.

I love meeting new people and in the process learning life skills. 2. What motivates you to volunteer with St John? St John National members face-to-face consultation

Personal satisfaction;

personal growth;

personal development;

being a part of change;

leading change;

giving back to the community;

allowing younger people to experience the same experiences we had;

providing other opportunities that we would have like to have had;

looks go on my resume,

helps me get a job;

influencing change;

being part of a community;

getting to meet people you wouldn’t normally meet;

getting to go places that we wouldn’t normally go. SA face-to-face consultation

Seeing and assisting their cadet’s reach their goals.

Feeling of self-worth in the community, feeling good about yourself for helping other people.

Motivates them, good and fun and helps others.

Competitions feel like a mile stone, look forward to major events, feels like it breaks up the service if the year is broken up in parts.

Motivated by friends in St John. ACT face-to-face consultation

Sense of service, love to help others, serve others NSW face-to-face consultation

Continual learning

33

Great mentors

Great support

Opportunities to do stuff like socialise

Made friends

Focus on community and first aid- practical application NSW online Survey

My family mostly, but also the fact it is helping me to develop my clinical skills as a student nurse, as I help others.

Community and family values Enjoyment Friendships and social reasons giving something back to the community

everything

Interesting events. Hearing how poorly my division covers events in the past I feel I have to prove to the event organisers that we are professional and do show up as requested and that we're not all terrible communicators etc.

Lots of opportunities for personal development and social gatherings.

That I have to opportunity to help others - no matter how small the opportunity or contribution NT online survey

Being able to see and do things I normally wouldn't. The way that it keeps on pushing me to become a better clinician by exposing me to things I may not deal with routinely.

The friendship

Awesome duties

the help we give QLD online Survey

Training and Friendships

Good fun!

The medical qualifications which St John helps you to become accredited to (e.g. cert 3 basic health care, cert 4 ambulance (paramedics)

Updating my medical skills

A way to give back to the community, and helping out in times of need.

I think that my involvement with cadets keeps me interested in volunteering WA online survey

Sense of being needed in the organisation and having a role to play.

Not much.

Learning more each shift and community service.

Firstly the fact that we are potentially saving lives is a major motivator and to be part of a great team who are widely recognised for our excellent service to the community.

Being able to give back to the community and assist members of the public when they need it. Also, making lifelong mate-ships with other members of the organisation.

Community spirit and giving back to the org.

Helping out others as well as being involved in different events in Perth and WA.

My cadets, knowing that I have the support of my division and being able to change the lives of kids in my community is highly rewarding.

Doing duties with friends I have met! And having a good time.

I am a divisional officer at a cadet division, and I like to pass on what I have learnt over the years since I joined at a Junior when I was little.

Doing something for the community.

Have good training and more chance go to different events.

Knowing people appreciate what we do and the enthusiasm of other members.

Being a leader for younger cadets.

The people and the fact that you’re helping the community.

Someone has to do it. There isn’t really a lot to motivate existing volunteers.

34

This is a really good question. I've never really thought about why I'm still here. I suppose it's about giving back to my community.

Working with patients and knowing I have helped them.

The experiences.

Doing first aid, standing out in a crowd and being there when people are in need.

When you get smiles of the people you treat just makes it all worth it! 3. A) Do you feel that the volunteering opportunities offered to you (i.e. at events) by St John

encourage you to participate? St John national members face-to-face consultation

Some but not all x5 SA face-to-face consultation

No

Sometimes

Sometimes

Sometimes

Yes

Yes ACT face-to-face consultation

Yes

Yes NSW face-to-face consultation

Sometimes x 5 NSW online survey

Sometimes

Sometimes

Sometimes

Sometimes

Yes NT online survey

Sometimes

Sometimes

Yes QLD online survey

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes WA online survey

Yes

No

Sometimes

Sometimes

Yes

Yes

35

Yes

No

Sometimes

Sometimes

Sometimes

Yes

Sometimes

Yes

Yes

Sometimes

Sometimes

Yes

Sometimes

Sometimes B) Why/why not? St John National members face-to-face consultation

I think there are good events, the problem I found was that good events like concerts weren’t available to me-you have to do the shit-kicker events before you get the good ones

there is an expectation that you have to do local events before you get to do the more interesting events; I think there are good opportunities offered to members, however these aren’t always offered to members and they have to seek them out

not in my state, I don’t feel there is much opportunity even after making it known to management that I was available-it wasn’t conducive to my level of ambition

it is easier to get a national role than a state role which is very limiting and unsupportive for young people-you have to chase it yourself

there is no supportive framework or mentoring program to help you participate

you had to ‘work your way up’ and it was based on time in the organisation and not ability

it is about who you know, not your ability

my division is not particularly helpful as they want you for their divisional duties so you don’t get to do the bigger state duties

state tends to be a tap on the shoulder

not in FAS, in other areas I have had opportunities

in the cadet area, it was a bit more protected and the SOC made sure there were opportunities, but once I turned 18 and went to adults I had to re-earn my place in the organisation, which made me want to quit so I took 6 months off from St John

the state division in my state is much more flexible than in a division

once you finish cadets, you don’t have as much structure or a program to continue with or aspire to-you either become an adult, fall by the way side or become an officer and teach cadets; I wasn’t offered leadership opportunities until I made my name with the AYC, I had to ‘earn’ my opportunities

if you come in as an outsider, you are treated as an outsider

if you are late to Cadets and transition to adults, you have to start all over again and it’s frustrating

it’s all about the name or reputation that you build for yourself

as soon as you have a bad reputation, you never get rid of it SA face-to-face consultation

Feels like they have to do them to encourage the younger cadets as a role model and giving them motivation

When they were cadets couldn’t afford to go to events but now they are older they can afford to and is more fun when you are not with St John

Are motivated to be a motivator

36

Feels different don’t think about it the same way

Get to go to events for free, atmosphere

Meeting new people you meet at events ACT face-to-face consultation

There are quite a lot of opportunities. Would love to do my Sovereigns award internationally.

Can see how it could make a difference if they didn’t offer certain opportunities. People don’t know who we are sometimes. Don’t administer adrenaline in S/T...Can we run the ambulance service!

NSW face-to-face consultation

Depends on people in charge

Sometimes people with higher knowledge tend to be overbearing

Some people transfer knowledge but other people don’t

Let people learn by doing

When adults take a back seat

Team leading

Learning opportunities available

Communications

Being allowed to do things

Adults should know what skills set everyone else has so that everyone can participate

Reorientation to adult division

Child protection as a transition NSW online survey

Depending on the event planner, as an under 18 year old I was not offered many opportunities, but as an adult, the doors were wide open.

Sometimes as a young member you are frowned upon by older members when you volunteer for extra opportunities or take on leadership roles. Not all of the opportunities are offered to all members equally. Some members feel left out as they are not well known. Mostly though the opportunities are there if you look for them!

Sometimes. Other times I feel that the sharing of responsibilities is completely unfair particularly at state events. The state ops team needs to look into sharing responsibilities equally. I requested to be a team leader... yet they give it to someone that didn’t even want to be team leader. Other members get the most sought after responsibilities time and time again. It just goes to show it's not what you know... it's who you know.

Service isn't always well recognised so I reckon it's not always worthwhile.

I see the variety of duties, especially the larger state duties as being really attractive and almost like an unofficial reward or "pay" for my service

NT online survey

Living in the NT the opportunity to participate in large events are fairly seldom. Support to attend larger events would be fantastic as it presents quite a large learning opportunity and exposes people from the small towns to the larger organisation and what we as a national organisation are really capable of.

Sometimes you get to attend the event after duty hours

Because they do QLD online survey

Because they are a good experience

Sometimes when events are too quiet, really feel like I'm there not doing anything. In those cases, the kind of event makes a big difference how much I enjoy the duty (e.g. school concert is enjoyable even though I might be doing much in a first aiding capacity)

Duties are fun and interesting

37

Yes, the more duties I do the more experience I get and more likely that my divisional officers will ask me to step up to the next level which benefits the division and myself.

I get lots of opportunities at duties to further my skills WA online survey

Because if you are not friends with the event coordinators you don't get to experience other roles etc.

The events themselves can be very entertaining, as well as networking with many other members, all whilst helping the community.

Sometimes I feel like other members see me as not experienced enough as some older members, so I should sit back and watch rather than participate.

Living on the outskirts of Perth doesn't allow for a variety of events to attend as I find events in Perth are just too far.

Great atmosphere, fun events and excellent organisation.

Diverse group of people with the same visions.

There are a lot of options and flexibility with times available.

They don’t offer enough opportunities as a youth member in a cadet division. As an adult member I can do whatever I want however I don’t see the point if it doesn’t allow me to take my cadets and allow them to experience the things I did at their age. I don’t feel I am supported or encouraged to develop further than the position I am in. I feel segregated from the adults because I am part of a cadet division and therefore I am penalised by not being able to fulfil my training requirements.

Depends what Job u get to do at the events.

I feel that sometimes the events available are just not ones that I am interested in doing e.g. junior rugby - I am not interested in Rugby.

Depending on the event you get a chance to try different roles but there is not always the support to teach you as everyone is already busy. It's really learn on the fly.

Have different equipment and tools.

I'm still new so I'm working in slowly.

Putting your bit in to help the community.

That's why I'm here.

It depends what events you get to attend. It’s not as easy as the advertisements lead one to believe.

Sometimes the events are so boring that you really feel like you’re just working for free. In fact the WA service recently stated that they intend to hire staff to attend some events on an hourly pay rate.... this was a huge disincentive for us and has demolished the St John community's tradition of pulling together at the last minute to get things done with the new saying "let the paid people do that, we do enough for St John". Also, support offered at most events is very limited. There are serious issues around SJA valuing younger volunteers. I can't count the number of times I've been asked by other First Aid companies/competitors of SJA to work for them - doing exactly the same job but being paid $30/hr. cash in hand. - I seriously consider whether it's worth giving my time to SJA free of charge anymore.

The opportunity to work in different roles.

Especially when being rostered to retrieval or getting on a good high risk for first aid duty.

There are a lot of opportunities to volunteer but sometimes they are more aimed at adult volunteers and not us young people.

4. A) Is achieving service recognition (i.e. doing 60 hours a year towards your service award)

important to you as a young member? St John national team face-to-face consultation

No x5 SA face-to-face consultation

38

No

No NSW online consultation

No

No

Yes

Yes

No NT online survey

Yes

Yes

Yes QLD online survey

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes WA online survey

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes ACT face-to-face consultation

No

No B) Why/why not? St John national team face-to-face consultation

We get service awards?

having to do 60 hours of duty hours to be efficient is difficult

39

we still get told me have to do 60 duty hours; I know people who haven’t been deemed efficient if they’ve helped in a division,

turned up to meetings but didn’t do 60 hours of duties

it makes me angry that I do not get recognised for non-FAS service-I put so much time into service for this organisation

I provide as much support to St John as any other person in St John and should be equally valued; it is important to me because all the work that you’ve done should lead to the service medal-all the nights, weekends, hard work that you’ve put in-it doesn’t make you more or less valuable to the organisation

if you have enough duty hours you don’t bother claiming ‘other hours’; yes its important, but I don’t think the culture is there in the East; young people have no understanding of what the service medals/pins are

it is not personally important to me, but it is nice to be recognised and I’d fight for others who wanted to be recognised

yes it is really, really important, you’ve done all the work so it’s important to have

I like the service medal idea SA face-to-face consultation

You do it because you want to help out

Don’t care about medals, feels like medals are in it for themself, feels selfish when the organisation is about helping people. People feel pushed to wear it, but don’t want to wear them, it feels like they are showing how dedicated they are for themselves.

ACT face-to-face consultation

It is nice to be recognised. But don’t go out of my way. Don’t really thing about it. We shouldn’t disregard people who do less.

Service recognition is not important at all. Don’t even think about. Efficiency is “I walked in the door and wear a uniform”. Young people don’t know what they want....

NSW face-to-face consultation

Grand Prior

Informal recognition on a divisional level

Formal recognition NSW online consultation

It allows people to boast and become arrogant as young leaders, something I experienced a lot of from other leaders in my division. Sure it is great to be recognised, but in adults, nothing like that happens.

I can't always make duties regularly due to other commitments (Work, uni, family etc.). It's also not a real estimate of the time I spend working on St John projects. I could spend hours developing lessons for a semester, or planning a duty, or organising an excursion or a camp in one week, but not be able to make any meetings or duties due to work or lectures, and all that hard work doesn't count.

It is important to me, I try and do as many hours as possible.

Getting the 60 hours so my service is recognised is great, doing much more than that isn't since there isn't much motivation for it.

Yes and no - service hour recognition is important but I also feel that as an organisation we still don't quite recognise the "quality" of those hours - the people that go above and beyond.

NT online survey

I have been a member for over 10 years so having recognition for my many years of service is important to me. I can see for those who have less service years the thought of a medal 12 years later is less motivating and not as important. For those who only give a couple of years’ service they receive no recognition nor is service awards particularly important

Shows ability to work towards a set goal

Because it does.

40

QLD online survey

Experience.

Otherwise without this requirement I would feel less involved and valued as part of the division.

Not interested in recognition, duties and training nights satisfy me.

Yes, but I don’t focus on that aspect. I put as much into the organisation that I can in terms of duty hours.

I want to prove to my cadets that these goals are achievable. WA online survey

Provides a goal

I'm happy with the hours I have time to do

As younger members, we are still trying to work hard at finding careers or working towards them, and time is stretched. Having recognition for our service is something for us to be proud of and something to show future employers that we have experience outside of our uni studies.

It keeps others from having to complete so many events and allows me to meet a variety of different people at events

It provides a goal to reach and an incentive to go to as many events as possible.

Provides recognition for commitment given youth and provides passion and drive to continue to stay in the organisation

I want to make a contribution but one that is expensive not just the bare minimum.

By doing my hours I am able to encourage the younger cadets to strive within the community. To develop their skills and take part in something bigger. I don’t get my hours for myself I get them so I can be a role model to other cadets who want to excel.

As I have uni work to complete

I like being recognised for the hours that I have done, but I feel that the hour pins offered e.g. 250 hours, 500 hours etc. are too high, there should also be a 150hr pin.

Yes, it gives me something to aim for.

I don't I need to achieve that service hour, cause I am just a volunteer

I want to prove I can do the required hours to myself and so I feel I am worth St Johns time and effort to train me.

yes and know some member strive to achieve this as it’s something to achieve others members couldn’t care less as they can only give a certain amount of time

Recognition

It’s a family tradition.

It's completely ridiculous, we don't get any benefit for doing 40 hours or 70 hours... no-one actually cares. It's just for the service medal - on that note, the decision to ignore years donated as a cadet is also demoralising. I've been a member for 12 years but through a combination of cadet years, completing yr. 12, failing to complete the whole 60 hours every year and difficulty getting onto re-accreditation courses. I have never received any formal recognition for my decade of service (or any service for that matter). - again, If I'd worked for a competitor I’d be up for long service leave and have a healthy bank balance.

I think the more hours u do the better skills u have with a patient

Yes it is even If I’m still waiting for my 6th year pin and now am at 10years but it is a good sense of achievement

Most people our age would not spend their time doing what we do, in getting recognition it shows other people our age what we can do it also shows some adults!

5. A) Have you ever faced challenges with volunteering your time at events for St John? St John national face-to-face consultation

Yes x5 SA face-to-face consultation

Yes

41

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes ACT face-to-face consultation

Yes

Yes NSW face-to-face consultation

Yes x 5 NSW online survey

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes NT online survey

Yes

No

Yes QLD online survey

Yes

Yes

Yes

Sometimes

Yes WA online survey

Yes

Yes

No

No

Sometimes

Sometimes

Yes

Yes

Sometimes

Yes

No

Sometimes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Sometimes

42

B) If so, what are these challenges? St John national team face-to-face consultation

Not getting recognised makes me not want to do the duties

other people turn up on the scene and take over is frustrating, especially when I was a Cadet but to some extent as an adult

Adults think Cadets shouldn’t do anything but put a band-aid on

HCPs or people with higher qualifications often take over even if the situation doesn’t warrant a HCP and its within my skill level

I don’t want to do duties anymore because it’s who you know at duties rather than your skill level; sometimes younger people (HCPs and Advanced Responders) try and take over from others too quickly even though the situation is in their skill level-but if you know

certain qualifications are perceived as elite

people who look straight at your shoulders or lack of what is on your shoulders and decide if you should be on the scene, especially if you are a Cadet or younger person-I was a RN but didn’t have my epaulettes yet and my opinion was dismissed because my epaulettes were missing

it’s about rank, not experience; as soon as you say you’re a Cadet Officer, you are considered lower than an ‘adult Officer’-it’s like its considered a fake officer

I would feel that there is a lack of professionalism from certain members-people that get on power trips, are rude in front of the public-to do with treatment methods

being humiliated in front of others by people in higher roles SA face-to-face consultation

Getting up so early and travelling commitments, mainly travelling is an issue ( country division)

Keeping an eye on cadets when they are there

Hours that they volunteer, feels pressured to stay at a full day event if they are only available for half the day. Trying to leave an event is difficult sometime

If someone who has more experience and is doing something that different to protocol, feels uncomfortable to tell them. Also feels like patients are overcrowded ‘feels like at a zoo and patients are animals being over treated, like vomiters being babied. So steps back and doesn’t feel needed.

Lunch breaks at events are at strange time, or if you eating you sometimes have to leave to treat. NSW face-to-face consultation

Balancing school & socialising

Transport especially for those without a licence NSW online survey

Age restrictions for events, 8 hour time limit on duty etc. Also as a young radio operator, the comms room can be quite stressful as are some of the cases I have treated out on duty.

Balancing work, university, family and social life. Challenges with other volunteers who may not understand my position as a young volunteer. Challenges with cadets or young people moving into adult divisions and staying in St John. Challenges keeping qualified when unable to make every single meeting or take a whole weekend off for re-accreditation. HUGE issues trying to get volunteers onto a course to get their FA qualifications. Issues with other members judging youth, gender, abilities.

Sometimes I feel that my time is not fully utilised. I do come away from many many St John events and TRAINING feeling like it was a complete waste of time and very very poorly organised/explained.

Very busy with work and uni.

Time - lack of Guilt - feeling guilty for trading other areas of my life so that I can attend St John events/duties

NT online survey

43

Face clinical challenges all the time as well as admin wise if you are running the event. Also working with challenging people can be testing at times.

N/A

Old people... QLD online survey

Traveling

Transport - as a student, often rely on public transport and the costs of travelling to events on the other side of town can be prohibitive (even $3-4 each way is a big cut from a student's budget). As I don't live in the divisional area (I don't want to change divisions though ...) it'd be good to be able to see and sign onto events at other divisions closer to home, even if it's with different group of volunteers.

Getting injured while on duty

Liaising with the public, getting the organisations name out there in a positive aspect because many people in the community see St John as an old fashioned company. They don’t understand that times have changed and a lot more new members are helping to change their perspective.

Time management with school and university, and work. WA online survey

Being time poor with university studies and work

Going to uni, studying and working is always challenging. I also volunteer my time with other organisations so it becomes very challenging. I feel very intimidated when I get e-mails in my inbox that I am not doing enough, or not volunteering more of my time.

I haven't faced any challenges.

No challenges as of yet.

Patrons behaviour Volunteers expected to do more Timing of events for ages and want allowed to do

Registering for EOIs and not being aware of approval until a week before which is hard with work. But this has only happened a couple of times.

I don’t get any support on duties. I am asked if I am a cadet still, even though I wear the same uniform and my skills are consistently scrutinised. It makes me not want to attend duties when adult members make me feel inferior.

All the time! As people do things differently!

Sometimes I feel that I do too much St John work, that I just need a break! E.g. every week I attend my cadet division to teach the cadets their skills, and sometimes an adult division to maintain my skills, so doing duties on top of that is sometimes too much. Also, when I see the roster for a duty, if there is someone doing it too that I don't get along with, I don't put my name down. Some major duties that I would like to do have shifts that go for too long, it would be good if they were made shorter.

Time constraints are particularly hard. I am in a management role and I find a lot of the time I am doing work behind the scenes and don't have time to go to as many events as I would like. I did try to do it all but discovered the hard way that you can burn out.

No.

It's always going to be a challenge doing something new.

People not understanding different roles and being unorganised.

New management.

Getting things done by the office. Lack of communication to members, expectations from paid staff and management exceeding those appropriate for the role of a volunteer.

There is a secular divide in WA. Some members and divisions are given preferential treatment for particular roles. An example is the Royal Show, a number of years ago I volunteered to assist in radio communications, logistics and other non-first Aid related roles expecting to gain some new experiences. I already had the skills and in fact used to teach the communications course within the division. I was flatly refused a look in for these roles, I was considered too young and inexperienced (again with the age old 'need experience but we won't give it to you' dilemma) Another time, in a similar situation and in an effort to increase my skills with logistics, I was told

44

that I was a qualified first aider and nothing more, I should stay on the front line and let (so and so) get the job done with experienced people. - The Purple Circle strikes again. On a personal note, this mentality from a particular group really damaged my confidence in the organisation and ad a result I significantly reduced my duty hours for a number of years, in fact I'm still will under the number of hours I used to do back then. Another issue with volunteering time is that not all time is equal, I'm given service hours for duties but not for the 90mins it takes to get to or from the venue. Also I'm not rewarded whatsoever for turning up to weekly meetings for 3 hours.

Dealing with members who have been in for 10, 20, 30 yrs. and think they know it all but when you question them on their clinical skills they are crap against the current CPGS.

Difficult casualty's not getting fed on duty/or reimbursed for expenses Paperwork when having a lot of casualty's Members that don’t want to do any work with minor first aid but want to be a part of emergency first aid.

Learning new skills and putting them into action is a challenge, I.e. giving someone methods for the first time.

ACT face-to-face consultation

Cardiac Arrests on duty - have not always provided enough counseling but recently it has been better. A little reckless on myself...need to look after yourself. Long duties, getting tired, not eating enough. As duty commander I always look after my members but don’t always look after myself.

Religious issues - incapacity to make legal decisions - you are responsible for them. Problem with the religious aspect of administering FA. We don’t provide enough training for this sort of thing. You don’t know who you are releasing the casualty into. Don’t manage our personnel. Need to manage people better. Dealing within scope of practice...I struggle when something happens and not to go out of scope. Need to understand the scope of practice...the legal issues...HCP come and take over...members not taught to assert themself. Lack of incident management teaching...debriefing after major incidents. Lack of training for leaders...

6. Are there things that St John could do to help you to participate more in St John events? St John national member face-to-face consultation

Why can’t the special service shields continue through to adulthood? A lot of young people who aren’t in leadership positions don’t get recognised at all-it would be such an easy thing to continue

formal recognition of young leaders and ways to help them out at duties like a buddy/mentoring system at duties with ‘higher ranked’ positions (who are the people causing the issue for these members)

successful and considerate succession planning that has nothing to do with a tap on the shoulder (which is what happens now-who you know)

provide more flexible options and to try and create a culture of peoples skills, knowledge, history and background rather than who they are

less pressure to move on to the next rank-you shouldn’t be forced to do what you aren’t comfortable doing and you shouldn’t be ridiculed for it

support for what you want to do and contribute

code of conduct-have a lanyard that has appropriate behaviours/professional behaviours/tips for duties that included as part of the uniform.

SA face-to-face consultation

In regions where it’s hard to cover events, feels like people are being bullied into events so say No to doing events because they don’t like getting the third degree about their activities on the weekend.

Like to have days to them self, even if they could do the event their lives are busy and time to them self’s is important.

ACT face-to-face consultation

Qualify me more. Credit towards professional qualifications. Recognition of Prior Learning.

45

NSW face-to-face consultation

Less spam on Facebook

Mentoring program, especially new members NSW online survey

Advertise to more divisions.

Easier re-accreditation and FA re-qualification processes. A greater range of opportunities for young people

Share responsibilities around. I am sick of seeing the same people having the same role at every event. Especially when lots of other people would like to have just one go and maybe being the team leader or liaising with the event organiser or being on transport. Put members to good use. I feel completely useless when I go to some events and feel that I could have spent my day doing something else!

Make volunteering more flexible for young people. Also get young people to contact one another more so that we don't feel alone and lost amongst the oldies.

I think we need to share resources better as an organisation - especially the intellectual knowledge. I think within the organisation, particularly at the divisional level we have a lot of divisions (especially management teams) trying to re-invent the wheel because we are not very good at sharing knowledge and experience on how to run divisions effectively (as an example - this can be applied to all areas in St John).

NT online survey

Financial assistance for people from places like the NT and other rural areas to attend larger events intra or interstate. It'll really open people’s eyes up to what is possible with a national organisation and I think encourage them to better their own jurisdiction.

Uniforms. Wearing the black and white button ups does not make a youth feel good and especially in NT can go see-through from sweat/rain.

money QLD online survey

Nothing.

Events from areas outside of division (not necessarily state events), help with transport.

No – I’m happy with how things run.

What we have at present is fantastic.

Probably not. WA online survey

Promote opportunities more readily

Just be more appreciative of the time that we can give and not degrade is for the limited time that we do give.

Remind us of just how important it is to have us out at events and give us success stories where having us at an event has really helped the community.

Rewards for longer hours.

Allow affiliates to participate at events

No

Disseminate the duties fairer amongst divisions so my cadets can attend duties with me in the local area. Educate adult divisions about the presence and capabilities of cadet members so that when they become 18 they feel part of the St John community. Make it easier to change from adults to cadets. Cadet divisions should be encouraging their 17-18 yr. olds to visit their local adult divisions and adult divisions need to cater their program for youth members who have the skills and not the certification to move up in accreditation. Make them feel welcome!! Trust in their skills we might look young but we have in most cases more experience and skills to offer than those members who have just done their induction.

Give everyone a chance to do different positions on duty.

46

Just more recognition for volunteering, and perhaps giving incentives, e.g. at one particular event last year, members were given Coles Myer gift cards to the value of $20.

More support for volunteer management freeing us up to attend more events.

Pay for the meal and petrol

No

being more flexible with shifts

Giving young people more opportunity to do greater things

If I did more I'd never be home...

Recognise me, reward me, empower me! Really start to focus on the members FIRST. Stop treating us like we are employees, required to work 60 hours a year, complete 4 re-accreditation courses and attend 12 meetings. If you want us to meet your KPI's - pay for my time, otherwise start pitching in and make it an enjoyable experience to sit in the middle of an oval for 9 hours on a 40 degree day.

No I enjoy things as they are, except for the gossiping

Bring back automatic meal reimbursement and Provide proper training that include all required modules in the AFA course and FA course not run separate courses to become qualified.

Making training a bit more accessible for those who do not have enough time to go every week to a meeting

7. A) Have you ever thought of leaving St John? St John national member face-to-face consultation

Yes x4

No SA face-to-face consultation

Yes

Yes

Yes NSW face-to-face consultation

No x 5 NSW online survey

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes NT online survey

No

No

Yes QLD online survey

No

No

No

No

No WA online survey

Yes

No

47

No

No

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

No

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No B) If so, what makes you stay? St John national member face-to-face consultation

All of the above reasons have made me want to leave at some time and I stay because of the people and the opportunities;

I’ve definitely felt like I wanted to leave after turning 18 and flexible volunteering through LAD has helped me want to stay;

I’ve chosen to quit twice (haven’t done it) because I told someone about it and the second time I wanted to say up yours to all of the haters because we do such great work;

very recently because my Superintendent doesn’t see the benefit in succession planning, women and young people and what keeps me going are the young people in my division, AYC work, people that I work with and potential for growth;

no I haven’t, but I have been very frustrated at times, especially when you can’t see the reason behind things or someone has been treated unfairly, or decisions are made that aren’t in the best interest of our volunteers-but things have changed due to my position and people are more accommodating and welcoming.

SA face-to-face consultation

Stay because of the friendship and people (cretin people).

Cadets make them want to stay, don’t want to let them down by leaving.

Don’t like people to force them to stay, if they leave they leave, they will be more inclined to return in time if they miss it.

ACT face-to-face consultation

Hopefully leaving to go OS

Overbearing Supt in the past. Struggled. No assistance. NSW online survey

the opportunities provided, and some amazing people to support me.

The people mostly! A sense of service or owing the organisation/community.

I enjoy covering the music festivals.

Perseverance that my work will someday pay off. And things like LAD which mean that I have chances to do the things I want and get more out of St John.

Not wanting to let my fellow members down - people rely on me. NT online survey

Still enjoy the volunteering.

48

N/A

the young people QLD online survey No written answers… WA online survey

It's a part of life now

I still love the experience that I have, and it is my dream job in the end.

I have only just joined and so I am still learning just how everything is run.

I love it so I'd never leave.

Development opportunities and support network to help through difficult times

I have no reason to leave unless I was moving states or couldn't attend any events.

The cadets. It’s not about me anymore, it’s about encouraging the cadets to make the most of their experiences. I don’t want ribbons, or badges or a certificate. I just stay up to date with the skills so that I can educate the cadets with the best information there is. Can’t we have a little bit or recognition for the roles we play within the divisions and not just recognition for the most hours we complete.

Friendships and cadets and juniors

Knowing that I am passing my knowledge onto cadets and seeing them progress as they get older. Friends that I have made over the years. I feel pride in myself knowing what I have accomplished in St John since I started as a junior. And also, I really would like to get my St John medal!

The original reason I joined that behind it all I do get to give something back to my community. I also have made some great friends in St John.

No

Answer no?

being a part of a great cadet division, being someone there they look up to

Never thought of leaving

I have nothing better to do with my time.

The flexibility and the people are the only reason I'm still here after 12 years. I was able to tailor the hours I attended according to my uni/work requirements without really missing out on anything.

I enjoy it too much plus I am getting lots of training for free I enjoy events of all sizes and I find it very social

My friends and my divisional family structure

The people and the opportunity to give something back to the community 8. What type of St John volunteering interests you the most? St John national member face-to-face consultation

Youth consultation-I like working on big picture stuff because at a divisional level you affect the lives of 20 people at a national level you can affect thousands

I like volunteering with Cadets and young people because they are so positive and upbeat

member development, empowerment and growth

I really like duties-it got me into nursing, it changed my life. I love the feedback you get from patients, patient rapport and working with a team-you can use the skills you’ve developed to help someone/ease the situation

seeing members develop and helping them to develop, giving them the opportunities and seeing the difference that you make

SA face-to-face consultation

Cadet divisional nights

Like helping their divisions

Events

49

Communications

Community care ACT face-to-face consultation

gory stuff

really gory stuff, mountain bikes NSW face-to-face consultation

Not knowing about other types e.g. logistics

Not knowing when

How they advertise to members

Advertise other things other than FAS NSW online survey

First Aid Services

Teaching cadets/other members. Interacting with the public on duties. Planning, leadership and management.

Music festivals and high risk outdoor night time events.

Training and leadership development.

I used to say clinical because it was exciting and interesting, but now I would say member development and divisional management because it is challenging! (Though this may change when I try out for the BERT team!)

NT online survey

Medical Assistance Team/ACMT or Health Emergency Response Teams. Major events where my skills as a paramedic are recognised.

Music festivals/ royal show. Fun events

AYC QLD online survey

Training and friendship.

Busy events.

Variation in duties - duties where there is a high chance of injury or illness.

Music festivals, sports carnivals, and helping with other volunteer and charity organisations.

First aid services and teaching cadets. WA online survey

Cadet training.

Country Ambulance Volunteer, it is literally like on the job training for the job that I want to do, so you can experience it before going to study the course. It is also the best in terms of serving your local community.

The small events such as footy games and also the big events like the royal show.

Everything.

Humanitarian/ophthalmic/ community care and of course AYC/youth development.

Sports events (diff injuries) and ones with a wide variance of age groups like AFL.

Training and educating younger members. Attending duties WITH cadets and not for my own personal gain.

Working with cadets and juniors.

First aid events.

Attending events. Teaching training. Learning event co-ordination.

Large public event.

All of it.

Youth development.

Event first aid services.

Anything that is not paid or done for personal gain.

50

Local community events (not sports events) that allow the SJA members to come together, help some patients but also have a feed and a good time.

Clinical roles, I like working with patient and trying to figure out what is wrong with them and what treatment I can provide to help them in the acute setting.

Dealing with emergency situations. Volunteering on the ambulance service in local town’s retrieval, rugby, football, cycling, music festivals, concerts, local family, events, and NYE Xmas pageant.

Nothing in particular, I do like the variety of events.

51