In celebration of International Volunteer Day, I’ve been sitting underneath an apple tree hoping for an unexpected moment of inspiration. It arrived courtesy of a groundbreaking new study from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) in partnership with YouGov.

Finally, we have a way of improving volunteer retention for your volunteering programmes. Keep your volunteers away from 82% of your managers!

The report reveals that 82% of managers who enter management positions have not had any proper management and leadership training – they are ‘accidental managers’.

…and this lack of training reduces productivity, increases staff turnover, and makes staff feel less valued, disengaged and unappreciated.

One of the central findings is that these untrained managers are promoted into management positions simply because they are popular, good at their job, or happen to be available to take charge.

This landmark study has revealed for the first time the scale of damage being caused to the UK economy by the lack of training within Britain’s managerial ranks. The results suggest that only 18% of managers have a deep positive impact on employees, including on their motivation, satisfaction, and retention.

So, what has this got to do with volunteer management?

It’s widely accepted that most people who manage volunteers are ‘accidental volunteer managers’, with little training tailored to managing volunteers. Many have experienced volunteers being thrust on them at times of organisational change, or that their first experience of managing volunteers was a by-product of a personal promotion opportunity.

What then is the damage caused by untrained ‘accidental volunteer managers’ to the UK volunteering economy? Organisations perceived as unwelcoming by volunteers, ‘stressy’ volunteering placements, difficulty in keeping good volunteers, disillusioned management teams, damage to the organisation’s reputation in the wider community, and ultimately delivering an impoverished service for beneficiaries.

So what should we do?

In response to the research, Ann Francke OBE, the CEO of the CMI, said “By investing in management, the UK has the opportunity to set a positive trajectory that can deliver a growing economy, invigorated public services and a healthy, inclusive society driven by good management and leadership.”

Applied to volunteer management?  Invest in training tailored to ‘accidental volunteer managers’ to create a healthy, inclusive society.

If the lessons of this study are applied to volunteer management, those who have received formal training are substantially more likely to feel confident in their volunteer managerial abilities, being significantly more likely to trust their team, feeling comfortable leading change initiatives, and feeling comfortable addressing issues that need addressing.

So where can we get this tailored training for ‘accidental volunteer managers’? At this point I was considering a shameless plug of Attend’s ‘Managing Volunteers for Line Managers’ courses, but that would be too crass for a blog inspired by Isaac Newton!