In the next few days every Scouts Queensland Adult Leader will be invited to participate in a survey of an important research project. Participating in this research is invaluable for Scouts Queensland, moreover you can win prizes to do fun activities with your Scout Group.
THE RESEARCH PROJECT
Scouts Branches across Australia have partnered up with a research team from the University of Western Australia to find ways to attract and retain more adult volunteers to deliver Scouts youth programs. As volunteers across the country no doubt already know, developing effective recruitment, training and retention strategies is essential for Scouts organisations to continue to deliver quality youth programs. It is, however, challenging for non-profit organisations including Scouts to attract and retain a sufficient number of volunteers, resulting in wait lists of youth who would like to join the Scout movement.
Together with four Australian Scouts branches the UWA research team was awarded a large grant from the Australian Research Council Linkage Project Scheme to develop state-of-the-art recruitment, training and communications strategies to improve the engagement and retention of Scouts volunteers. The research will run for four years, during which time Scouts volunteers will be approached by the UWA team to participate in surveys or interviews with the researchers.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
In the next few days the first survey will commence and this will be the most important survey of the entire research project. We would like to urge you to participate, because more information will allow the research team to make better recommendations that allow Scouts to continue flourishing.
If you agree to complete the questionnaires, we can provide you with some personalised feedback on your responses. For example, if you complete a personality questionnaire, we can tell you how you scored and give you some information about what your scores mean.
The most important aspect of this project is getting opinions from as many volunteers as possible. So, in addition to completing the questionnaires yourself, please encourage your fellow volunteers to do the same! Please talk to other volunteers about the project and encourage them to talk to other volunteers about it as well. Additionally, the Scout groups with a high participation rate will partake in a raffle to win a Woolworths group gift card for group activities! It is our hope that you will actively participate in these activities, which are likely to pave the way to better practices to create and manage a volunteer workforce across Australia’s Scouts Branches.
MORE INFORMATION
For more information, please visit our project website www.uwascoutsresearch.com where you can meet the research team, get updates on the project and learn more about your personalised results. You can also contact the research team directly via scoutsresearch-psy@uwa.edu.au.
Thank you very much for your support!
Meet the Research Team!
Professor Marylène Gagné is an expert in volunteer and work motivation. Marylène is originally from Canada but moved to Perth in 2013 to escape the cold weather and to enjoy the famous Perth beaches. Marylène will be involved in the training and onboarding experiences of new volunteer recruits to ensure they feel well-equipped to deliver the youth programs and have a strong sense of belonging to the Scouts family.
Dr Patrick Dunlop and Dr Djurre Holtrop are experts in the areas of employee recruitment and selection.
Patrick grew in Perth and was a Cub Scout. Now he lectures in Psychology at the University of Western Australia. Djurre, also a former Scout, has recently moved to Perth from the Netherlands, where he completed his PhD studies.
For this project, Patrick and Djurre will develop tailored recruitment strategies aimed at attracting volunteers who share Scouts’ values and who would be likely to enjoy this type of volunteer work.
Dr Christine Soo and Prof John Cordery are experts in work design and strategic human resource management. Christine is originally from Malaysia but grew up and studied in Perth. She lectures in Organisational Learning and Strategy at the University of Western Australia. John is a leading scholar in the area of job design and team effectiveness. He was a Professor at the University of Western Australia before joining Curtin University as the Deputy Vice Chancellor. Christine and John will be involved in developing communities of practice that will enhance socialisation and knowledge sharing across Scout groups.
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