Understanding volunteers in a successful spiritual non profit organisation

Abstract

Volunteerism and Spirituality are phenomenon that have been kept beyond the realms of management practices of the day; though off late there have been efforts to integrate them to the management of knowledge workers and in the field of change management. However, the non-profit organizations with spiritual leaning like the Art of Living Foundation functions with volunteers successfully. In this research intrinsic motivators like spirituality, high vision, trust, human values, love and compassion, community service are being explored as a source of motivation, commitment and satisfaction for the volunteers in the organization. Volunteer Motivational Inventory (VMI) index is used in the present research work to study the motivational level of the volunteers on ten different categories of motivators Values, Reciprocity, Recognition, Understanding, Self-Esteem, Reactivity, Social, Protective, Social Interaction, Career Development based on their perception and volunteering experience in the organization AOL. For the measurement of volunteer satisfaction, Volunteer Satisfaction Index (VSI), measuring four dimensions of volunteer job satisfaction: Organizational Support, Participation Efficacy, Empowerment, and Group Integration is used. Learning at AOL, Expectations from AOL, Benefits from the courses are used as Context Specific Information. Further, eleven in-depth personal interviews of AOL volunteers were conducted during the course of research work for thematic analysis. Value and Understanding come out as strongest motivators while Career Development comes at the bottom. In the satisfaction index Group Integration and Participation Efficacy came at the top for the organisation AOL. In the present research the motivational level of the volunteers of AOL has strong correlation to the- Learning at AOL, Expectations from AOL, Benefits from the courses and the Satisfaction level of the volunteers, in the same order. Some of the important lessons relevant in the knowledge economy that can be learnt from the working of the organization Art of Living for high volunteer/employee motivation, commitment and satisfaction are Acknowledging altruism; alignment of employees; employee centric; personal transformation (high energy happy state) and fulfilment; developing emotional intelligence (EI) for organizational performance; spirituality at workplace; love and compassion; stress free working environment; belongingness; organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB); group integration; meaningful work and higher vision for the organisation; participation efficacy; a nurturing community model; learning organisation; holistic approach; emphasis on human values; clan mechanism of control; positive organizational behaviour (POB) and authenticity; faith and trust; inspiring the employees and spiritual leadership. Based on these important lessons an organisational model for high knowledge worker motivation, satisfaction and commitment is developed. The model is named as the Organisational HAPPINESS Model in keeping with the philosophy of the organisation and the lessons learnt from there. The spiritual leadership is central and binding in this highly evolved, nurturing, integrated, transformational and strength based organisational context. Proposed herein is also theory G for harnessing the spirit at work. The theory proposes the paradigm shift from 'spirit at work' to- 'spirit' is at work- relevant for the knowledge workers of today and tomorrow. Successful leaders and organizations of the twenty-first century will be those who understand, foster and help create this new spirit at work.