Supervision of volunteers in service organizations: the effect of leadership style and manner of delivery on volunteer satisfaction

Connolly, Maureen (1986) Supervision of volunteers in service organizations: the effect of leadership style and manner of delivery on volunteer satisfaction. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether leadership style and manner of delivery of the supervisor in health, education and leisure service organizations were significant factors in volunteer satisfaction. -- Many health, education and leisure service organizations rely on volunteers for the direct delivery of service. In many such organizations, it is the volunteer who enables the organization to meet client need. Retaining these volunteers and keeping them satisfied are priorities for the administrator who utilizes volunteer manpower. -- This study investigated leadership style of the supervisor as a factor in volunteer satisfaction. The leadership styles considered were autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire styles. As well, the concept of manner of delivery was presented and investigated. The manner of delivery was presented, simply, as the way a thing was done. In other words, a, supervisor can issue an order, vaguely pass on a directive or offer a constructive suggestion, depending on the way in which the information was passed on. Categories of manner of delivery were considered to be sensitive, impersonal or brusque. - Two hundred volunteers in various organizations were given questionnaires constructed to collect information on leadership style, manner of delivery and satisfaction levels, as well as pertinent demographic data. Ch'i square, correlation, one-way analysis of variance and multiple regression procedures were performed on the data. - Both leadership style and manner of delivery were significant factors in volunteer satisfaction. The democratic leadership style and the sensitive manner of delivery yielded the highest satisfaction levels. -- In addition, volunteer satisfaction was found to be significantly affected by the age of the volunteer, the gender of the volunteer, the age of the supervisor and the gender of the supervisor. Female volunteers exhibited significantly higher levels of satisfaction than did male volunteers; female supervisors yielded significantly higher satisfaction than did male supervisors. - Volunteer satisfaction was positively correlated with education level of the volunteer, age of the volunteer, age of the supervisor and the length of service with the agency and with the supervisor.

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