I recently came across an article about motivating company employees. I immediately thought ol‘ all the organizations that have asked me for the magic formula to m0l|\ii[€ \Oluntecr members. The article goes onto say: “I can charge a person's battery. and then recharge it and recharge it again. But it is only when one has a generator of one's own that M can talk about motivation!†The question for its is this: Hou do you install a generator in it member? The people in your organization are your greatest resource in getting any job done. But they have to want to do the twrlt in order to be most el'l'eetivc. Sure. the chairman or president can hound the directors or the committee members until the iob l\ completed, but again. \kilU IN motixated'? Chuck Bokor research, Most people, according to remain volunteers because they 1. like to help others (55 per cent). enjoyed the work (38 per cent), or had a personal interest in the activity (37 per cent). One way to keep volunteers coming back is to redesign the roles and re5ponsibilities of their jobs to get a greater feeling of satisfaction. Here are some ways to enhance the job of a volunteer. 1. Remove the “bureaus " of the job (but makericiire that the volunteer remains ccountable). For exampte allow the volunteer to give thé go ahead without having to go through the system rim Certainly many decisions have to be made at [he board/executive level, but letting go of some controls Will give the members of your group a greater sense or reaponsibility and achievement. 2. Delegate the role of spokes- person to the volunteer. Having the membership com mittee chair and/or members announce the campaign results in the newsletter or on radio grants more aui'iurity and recognition to th‘ lab. 3. Give certain indi\ iti’lliiii specific or specializeti tasks, enabling them to be e\: 3H5 in a†field, e.g. public rel irons. lobbying. A sense of stealer responsibility, grown and advancement may re: i l l t. There’s more to it than merely asking volunteer membc: - to do more work. Motivation .omes from the satisfaction of tutoring that you are responsibl- that you’ve actually helped that you’ve learned something new. These feelings do not con-3 from the chair, the leadershia- or a motivational guest Spetiler â€" they come from witlnn. A leader’s role, however. is to set the scene to allow those feelings to happen. Chtï¬tk Bokor is leadership specialist with the Rural VOrganizations and Serifices Branch of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food. In H a 0 April. May l988