Be honest do you appreciate compliments and recognition? Are you motivated by your Museum s recognition programs? 10,000 ft View.

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1 Title: Volunteer Recognition Presenter: Peter Milne Purpose: The purpose of this presentation is to communicate the findings of my research and personal experience of receiving and giving recognition Process: The presentation consists of 33 slides and will take 33 minutes to present and discuss Product: The expected outcome is informational Volunteers give of themselves wants to be appreciated Everyone wants wants to be to be appreciated Be honest do you appreciate compliments and recognition? Are you motivated by your Museum s recognition programs? 10,000 ft View Lines are blurred between Staff and Volunteers Programs must recognize and celebrate the differences and at the same time be both meaningful and dynamic To expand Corporate strategies GM, Microsoft and Disney include diverse employee recognition programs My hypothesis then is to look at those when as a volunteer manager you review existing and potential new programs

2 Paradigm Shift? There is a shift in the demographics of volunteer populations in Visual Art Museums Long the vestige of the Boomers they are now seeing younger volunteers from generation X and even Y Generational norms or traits must be comprehended by any type of recognition program Basic Ways to Think About Volunteer Motivation Motivational Orientation Achievement Oriented Increased Authority, Input, Training Linked to Specific Accomplishment Best, Most Awards Checkpoints, Records based And Volunteer Recognition Style of Volunteering Long Term Volunteer Recognition with and by Committee Use of Committee Symbols Greater Power/Involvement/Information Presenter is Senior Authority Figure Short Term Volunteer Recognition in Committee Portable Recognition Recognition at their Organization s location Presenter can be leader or peer Motivational Factors The #1 most IMPORTANT is how the volunteer is treated by his or her peers Recognition from volunteer management and the museum s staff is rated differently The #1 reason people stop volunteering is not feeling appreciated along with lack of recognition and praise Sources: Nelson, Chiem [Liu, Louie] and Milne Always Something New Granted it is NOT natural for a volunteer to be unmotivated For a volunteer to be unmotivated requires a lot of contributing factors Your first Appreciation Certificate went on the wall! Where is your 10th? unique awards are more exciting / memorable Disney has 180 recognition programs formal recognition creative spontaneous recognition top-down, lateral, & bottom-up abundant, visible, fun Spirit of Fred award

3 Some Recognition Criteria How to recognize? Exceptional Teamwork Extraordinary Effort Mentoring Leadership Dependability Dedication/Loyalty Outstanding Achievement Best is peer initiated recognition based on individual performance* Survey volunteers for personal thoughts on ways to recognize great performances Cite: *Professor Robert Graham Who to reward? Pass Around Awards Everyone... somehow Reward attitude, helpfulness, performance, improvements, etc. Reward the actual participants Volunteers define criteria Recipient decides who to pass to next Always make a big deal of rewarding the next individual Helps to avoid scarcity mentality by involving volunteer as the giver Some Ideas Write a letter to the volunteer's family (ask volunteer s permission first) telling them about the volunteer's recent feat and what it means to you and the organization. Arrange for a top leader in your organization to have a recognition lunch with the volunteer or have the organization director/president call the volunteer to thank him or her personally for a job well done. Write a letter to his or her employer on individual s contributions (ask volunteer s permission first). Dedicate the parking space closest to the building entrance to the outstanding volunteer of the month. Create a "Wall of Fame" to honor high achievers and special achievements in your organization. Cite Bob Nelson PhD and Peter Milne Note Jealousy over awards is the result of a scarcity mentality. Resolve with more frequent and varied reward programs.

4 Be Careful What You Ask For Behavior is controlled by its consequences You get what you reward Do you constantly prioritize rewarding Urgent Quadrant 1 accomplishments over Important Quadrant 2 accomplishments? NOT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT URGENT I Crises Pressing Problems Deadline-driven projects, meeting, preparations IV Trivia, busy work Some Cell calls, IM Time wasters Escape activities Irrelevant s Excessive TV NOT URGENT II Preparation Prevention Values Clarification Relationship Building True re-creation Empowerment III Interruptions Some phone calls Some reports Some meetings Many Proximate, pressing matters Popular activities Strategize Effective people have genuine Quadrant I crises that require their immediate attention, but the number is comparatively small. They keep Production and Production Capability in balance by focusing on the important, but not urgent, activities of Quadrant I Thanks Dr Covey Remember Walking the Talk - use the organizations core values to guide you. When you focus on negative consequences, volunteers focus more on your behavior. When you focus on positive consequences, volunteers focus more on their own behavior. Tip Rewarding Generation X Focus is sometimes on criticizing stereotyped faults relaxed work ethic less dedication, attitude of me Need more focus on their strengths very results driven creative new solutions more open, more honest, and less political Creating Positive Feedback I Saw What You Did. I Appreciate It. Here s Why It s Important. Here s How That Makes Me Feel. A Thumbs Up or a High Five.

5 How do you recognize? Requires your personal time NOW, not next week Keep interesting and memorable Make it unique, new and always changing most people need a little encouragement Joel Olsteen People will accept Something for Nothing But what they really want is Something for Something Specific Ideas from the Detroit Institute of Arts Volunteer to Volunteer award based on nominations from peers Distinguished Service Awards Helping Shape our Vision Dear Volunteer For sharing our ideas on Volunteer Recognition with the VCAM Conference Thank you for your efforts in support of our Museums Vision and Core Values. Gloria Parker Volunteer Director March 31, 2006 Simple Awards Can Be Best Simplicity in Action because you cared because you smiled because you helped or for some special reason that a volunteer thought you deserve it Cite: Wendy Evans

6 Review Do your plans include: Formalized awards? Creative spontaneous awards? Top-down, lateral & bottom-up awards? Committed volunteer managers? Are your awards abundant, visible, fast, and fun? Unique / New / Always changing Recall Disney has 180 recognition programs Questions? Post Script The Detroit Institute of Art has five full time staff, two for Volunteer Services Department and three in the Education Department for Docents and ATS to support volunteers There is an annual budget for the Volunteer Committee Annual Meeting and Luncheon, all volunteers invited to annual meeting, those with 50+ hours invited to luncheon (recognition) The DIA pays for volunteer parking