“I began wearing hats as a young lawyer because it helped me to establish my professional identity. Before that, whenever I was at a meeting, someone would ask me to get coffee.” What Hat Am I Wearing? The Ethics of Role ChangesOne of our past board chairs wanted to purchase two baseball caps for each of our board governors. One cap would have “Governor” on it and one, “Volunteer.” He clearly understood people engagement in community organizations is all about involving people – both paid and unpaid employees – in a way that ensures each individual is providing their best thinking – and doing – for the organization. This often requires an individual to take on different roles – that is, to wear a different “hat” at different times. Would the concept be easier to implement if each were actually wearing a role-depicting term on a baseball cap? Our past board chair also understood it is imperative for all accountability to be crystal clear. He knew that from having lived in many significant volunteer roles in the community. It is important the individual knows what hat they are wearing as they perform (often many) different functions. We are discovering many strong organizations are often not inclined to involve volunteers because they believe the volunteer will not be accountable. That is never stated and yet there are some who believe there really is something deep inside our psyche that tells us “if this is a volunteer, we cannot expect the person to be committed to completing the task.” For some, it is not ethical to ask a volunteer to be accountable. Conversely, at Volunteer Vancouver, we believe it is important for us to manage that expectation and be clear on accountability and processes from the first encounter. The idea that volunteers are not required to do a task is absolutely true; however, if they say they will, we must hold them to it, and make sure they do as they have committed to do. The option for a volunteer “to put up his hand” IS there – however, once he raises his hand, there is no longer an option to deliver. Organizations must hold volunteers accountable. How can we deliver our mission if some people have an option to do – or not do - their part? Because we “live” the business of volunteer engagement we have spent many years examining all the ways of accountability. We have developed three tools that can outline accountability – a position description, a committee terms of reference, and a letter of agreement. We think they work for both paid and unpaid people. As we have developed these tools, we have experienced and examined the different roles we have and which tool works best for each role. We also have become students of the many times we take off one hat and don another. In our board development training, we often talk of board members “changing hats” and becoming accountable to a staff person if they are interested in a service delivery volunteer role in addition to their role as a governor. As all of the Volunteer Vancouver board chairs have known, it is not always an idea that is simple for board governors. It does require a certain level of self-awareness. We have also experienced and examined not only temporary, but also permanent, role changes. Let’s take the cases of a specific volunteer - board governor - to employee and employee to board governor. How very overwhelming it can be for an organization to stabilize in the wind gusts of these kinds of permanent hat changes! Again, it is not always easy to understand it is often the altered accountability that is affecting the culture of the organization. We believe there truly are some ethical considerations in these permanent role changes. Imagine taking a role as an executive director when the former (and often founding!) executive director is part of the governing body. How difficult is that?! And yet we think we can keep that knowledge and learning intact in the organization in this way. Absolutely - it is important to keep all our raving fans close to us, and yet, not at the expense of our current people. Often the current paid employees then pays a huge price in executing with inappropriate parameters and lack of clarity in accountability. And, let’s address one additional scenario when it isn’t the executive director to board governor – and rather another employee role to governor. At one time I actually had a governor on our board suggest an employee we were in the process of “moving on” could become part of the board, so we didn’t lose his knowledge. What part of executive director being accountable to the board did they not understand? How much fun would that be to have someone you’ve asked to leave turn out to be your boss? Yet, we create many untenable situations by not thinking through the hats we are wearing and changing - and what context makes the role change potentially most effective. If we lack clarity on role changes we have created, we will have difficulty encountering even a slight breeze. Then there is the role of governor to employee, and very specifically, to the role of executive director. Is the community ready to accept that change in roles and the fact the process of selection was completely transparent? Did the governor remain on the board during the process of selection? Did the governor have a definite advantage in applying for the position? It is much easier when we are aware of how the “changing of the hats” can affect the culture, within the organization, and the way the organization is viewed in the community. Yes – the ethics of role changes. Can our organizations withstand the breeze – or a gust of wind – or an all out gale force – or even a hurricane? Do we know what hats we are wearing, and have them snuggly secured, for each role each of us plays in delivering the mission of our organizations? About Colleen Kelly
About Volunteer VancouverThe mission of Volunteer Vancouver is to inspire & build leadership in the voluntary sector. This publication is intended to be a medium of communication and information for the many organizations active in the volunteer and not-for-profit sector. The opinions expressed herein are solely those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect official policy of the Board of Directors of Volunteer Vancouver. Volunteer Vancouver |
