Transforming volunteer management practices for lasting impact

The Social Service Sector Strategic Roadmap (4ST) is the National Council of Social Service’s (NCSS) guide for empowering individuals, strengthening communities and fostering a more caring and inclusive society. It comprises four strategic thrusts that provide actionable steps and best practices for stakeholders to drive organisational growth and sector-wide impact.

In 2023, HCA Hospice participated in a volunteer role redesign pilot under the NCSS Volunteer Management Capability Development (VMCD) Consultancy Project. This project aims to help social service agencies build resilience and prepare for the future by reviewing and enhancing existing volunteer management practices. Read on to find out how this exercise contributed to positive outcomes across the organisation.

At the day hospice centres run by HCA Hospice, it’s not unusual to find members of its volunteer management and engagement (VME) team participating in morning roll calls alongside their day hospice colleagues.

With these roll call meetings, the day hospice team has a platform to share patient-related challenges with the VME team as well as identify gaps in operational needs, for example, a lack of manpower. The team can then pinpoint areas that could be resolved with volunteer support. Not only do these meetings help strengthen the support system for patients and their families, they also cultivate a culture of trust and collaboration between the two teams.

As a registered charity and Singapore’s largest home hospice care provider, HCA Hospice offers a range of volunteer roles, which include supporting operational needs, providing services such as photography, design, personal grooming, befriending and respite care, as well as assisting with medical appointments, transportation and house cleaning. The VME team thus plays a crucial role in managing these volunteers, to ensure that they can provide the necessary support for patients and their families.

Strengthening processes for greater success

Volunteers play a crucial role in social service agencies as they help augment manpower, reduce reliance on funding and enhance overall service quality. By implementing effective volunteer management strategies, social service agencies can expand their outreach and serve more service users.

In a bid to refine its volunteer management strategy and better leverage its pool of volunteers, HCA Hospice participated in a volunteer role redesign pilot under the NCSS Volunteer Management Capability Development (VMCD) Consultancy Project.

HCA Hospice staff collaborate closely with the VME team to identify patient-related challenges that volunteers can help address.

As part of this project, HCA Hospice implemented a comprehensive plan to transform volunteer management. By adopting a structured framework to enrich the volunteer journey, HCA streamlined training programmes and equipped volunteers with the necessary skills for specific roles.

Tapping on insights from their day hospice colleagues, the VME team further refined volunteer roles and responsibilities. This strengthened the recruitment, selection and deployment process, enabling volunteers to make a more meaningful impact at HCA Hospice.

Collaboration was essential to the VME team’s success, particularly in working with programme staff to redesign volunteer roles.

Ms Liu shared that on a strategic level, the role redesign exercise also served as an opportunity for HCA Hospice to explore how volunteers could be integrated more effectively into the organisation’s existing work processes, and to gain better insights into volunteers’ skills and capabilities that could potentially benefit the organisation.

For example, before the redesign of the volunteer befriender role at the day hospices, volunteers did not assist with tasks like serving meals to patients. By including this responsibility in the volunteer role’s description, the day hospices benefited from the additional manpower in their operations.

Additionally, several new remote volunteering roles were introduced at HCA Oasis@Outram Day Hospice following the role redesign. These roles enabled volunteers who couldn’t be physically present during the centre’s opening hours to contribute their time and skills.

HCA Hospice enhanced its volunteer management strategy by participating in a role redesign pilot under NCSS’ Volunteer Management Capability Development (VMCD) Consultancy Project.

“The support from these volunteers helped alleviate time-consuming tasks, such as delivering items and sorting through hundreds of event photos, which would otherwise have to be managed by staff,” explained Ms Liu.

Building a community of advocates

For the financial year of 2023/2024, HCA Hospice saw a 27 per cent increase in the total number of volunteer hours and a 16 per cent rise in the amount of manpower costs defrayed by volunteers, compared to the previous financial year.

Additionally, in its 2023/2024 Annual Volunteer Satisfaction Survey, the organisation reported an average volunteer satisfaction rate of almost 94 per cent.

As part of HCA Hospice’s revamped volunteer management plan, a series of small, cosy social events was introduced to foster a greater sense of community between the staff and volunteers. These gatherings helped inspire volunteers to advocate for volunteering at HCA Hospice among their friends and families.

Through these word-of-mouth recommendations, HCA Hospice successfully recruited several new volunteer hairdressers. With more haircut requests being fulfilled, the team is able to support more patients, creating a cycle of enhanced efficiency and improved care.

As part of HCA Hospice’s revamped volunteer plan, social events were introduced to strengthen staff-volunteer connections.

Ms Liu highlighted that HCA Hospice’s progress was bolstered by the comprehensive resources provided by NCSS. The structured frameworks and templates from the VMCD Consultancy Project played a critical role in enabling HCA to achieve its goals.

According to Mr CM Chan, a long-time HCA Hospice volunteer, the programmes introduced under the revamped volunteer management processes helped volunteers gain a better understanding of patients’ profiles, the available roles and responsibilities, and the skills needed to fulfil them effectively.

“The staff are familiar with my schedules and capabilities, which makes communication easier and enables me to support the patients’ needs more efficiently as a volunteer,” he said.

Mr Chan added: “The friendships formed with fellow volunteers and the VME team through the gatherings and appreciation events have kept me motivated over the years.”

Learn more about NCSS Social Service Sector Strategic Roadmap (4ST) and find out how you can become a partner in the social service ecosystem.