Keen volunteering makes a good Games great

Olympic volunteering mastermind David Brettell presents the secrets of Sydney’s seminal volunteering programme for the benefit of future hosts

Volunteering and staffing were one and the same thing to the organisers of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Sydney. This fact is personified by David Brettell, who managed the venue staffing programme for all the games venues while overseeing the volunteer programme for the Sydney Organising Committee for Olympic Games (SOCOG) from 1996 to 2000.

Handing out flags to spectators at the
Sydney Harbour Bridge during the Olympic Games

As the programme director of games venue staffing for the Sydney Olympics, David planned and managed staffing for all venues for pre-games test events and for the Olympic and Paralympic Games; recruited, prepared and managed 34 venue staffing managers; determined the needs of venue staffing centres; and developed and implemented staffing policies, procedures and workforce conditions.

“The games were a marvellous success and an incredibly uplifting experience for all Australians,” Brettell says. “The success and spirit of the games were coloured by an amazing group of people: 62,000 volunteers.”

Brettells high praise is supported by Juan Antonio Samaranch, who was president of the International Olympics Committee at the time. At the closing ceremony for the 2000 Olympics, he said the volunteers were “the most wonderful and dedicated games volunteers ever".

Passing on experience with the torch
During and after his five year period with the Sydney organising committee, Brettell has spoken about volunteering at numerous conferences and seminars. He has been to the Olympics in Munich, Montreal, Los Angeles, Barcelona, Atlanta, Nagano, Sydney and Athens. “The Olympics have long been a passion of mine," he says.

Currently an Olympic consultant, he has visited China twice in recent months to advise BOCOG on its volunteer programme. He says he expects to visit China again before and after the games to advise them further on volunteering.

Here, Brettell offers some suggestions for organisers of the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008 and in London in 2012.

A level playing field
Brettell stresses how much the success of the Olympic Games in any country depends on volunteers – not just because they do much work for little cost but because their active participation gives the public a stronger identification with and pride in the grand event. “The success of the Olympics will be very strongly influenced by the involvement of the communities in which they are held. The best way for that involvement to manifest itself is through volunteering,” he says.

This community engagement must be carefully planned. A major factor is the management structure, the top level of which must actively support the volunteers and acknowledge the importance of their contribution without patronising them. “Our organising committee acknowledged the importance of our volunteers by making a commitment to them as though they were our customers. It was our responsibility to prepare them well and to create for them a satisfying and memorable experience.

Crucially, both paid and volunteer staff must work together as one team, not as paid staff and volunteers. “This is critical to getting the best out of volunteers. You shouldn’t use the term ‘staff and volunteers’ because it implies two classes of people. For the Sydney Olympics, we had our functional managers accept and embrace the reality that the volunteers were part of their staffing team.”

Headhunting helpers
Enlisting volunteers must be treated as seriously as any recruitment process. Partnerships must be formed with companies, universities, language schools, sports bodies and other organisations which want their staff and students and their own existing volunteers to participate as volunteers. St John Ambulance and State Emergency Service were two of the many organisations which “loaned” some of their volunteers to the organisers of the Sydney Olympics.

“Volunteers must be selected carefully for their key attributes,” Brettell says. “The best volunteers have the time, commitment and enthusiasm to do the work. They must be performance driven and have a customer focus on serving spectators at the games. Recruit only those who have the right skills and experience for each volunteer position.”

Word power
The organisers of the Sydney Olympics used the strength of language to engage volunteers. “Our vocabulary included a number of words which typified the way we wanted our volunteer programme to run and what we wanted our volunteers to achieve, feel and experience. They were words such as ‘pride, responsibility, performance, ownership and empowerment’. All these words were embedded in our training and communication with our volunteers,” Brettell says.

“We also worked very hard to create what I often call the ABC-F of volunteering. You know that 'A' stands for attitude, 'B' for behaviour and 'C' for commitment. I tossed in the 'F' for fun – it just had to be fun.”

Keeping spirits high
Motivation is essential to get the most out of volunteering for sustained periods of time. An important way of achieving this is to give volunteers a common objective expressed in a motto that volunteers can remember to focus their commitment to tasks. “We'll make it work" became the motto of volunteers at the Sydney Olympics.

It is also vital to set high standards and expectations for volunteers and select and train them to meet those standards. “Don’t underestimate the capacity of volunteers,” Brettell says. “Make sure you know their capabilities. Test them doing different things. Don’t assume they can’t perform a particular task. Give them the training they want, expect and deserve.”

A volunteering strategy should recognise the efforts of volunteers verbally and consistently without offering unaffordable material rewards. Volunteers should be rewarded by providing them with meaningful tasks and satisfying experiences. “Recognition in the form of material rewards should follow from good performances. Such rewards should not be offered as an incentive to volunteers.”

All paid members of staff should be trained how to manage or supervise and motivate the volunteers. “The best way we found to teach the paid staff was to profile some of our existing volunteers at work within SOCOG, attending and speaking at functions and performing other responsible tasks.”

Once you have hired your volunteers, motivated and trained them, keeping them on board throughout the Games is extremely important. “Retention starts at recruitment – selecting the right people. It’s also about good training, good communication, good management, good satisfaction levels and appropriate recognition.”

The Sydney Olympics had a good record for retaining volunteers. “We had lots of challenges and lots of times when our volunteers, and some of our paid staff, wanted to give up – about 6 per cent of our volunteers did but 94 per cent didn't. That's a pretty good retention rate.”

Transforming future events
Sydney’s success in 2000 was a turning point in volunteering at major events. There is great potential for Beijing and London to sustain this momentum and even surpass the achievements of Sydney.

Brettell is confident that volunteering will have a positive impact on current and future Games. “In Beijing in 2008 and in London in 2012, volunteers will be good for the Olympic Games and for legacies; will transform the games from good to great; will leave lasting memories and legacies for community; and will inspire others.”