recruiting others is easy . . . matching interests is harder

[dsteele]

I've recruited a lot of people over the years in my role as an active (not old guy) unit commissioner.

 

It's not that tough to get someone to say "yes" to a job.

 

Getting them to do it is another matter, but I'll get to that in a moment or three.

 

Getting the yes is as simple as making sure you match interest, ability, and desire into one person in one role.

 

Some are more comfortable on the administrative side of unit Scouting (commitee members) and some are more comfortable on the program side of unit scouting (Cubmasters, Den Leaders, Assistant Scoutmasters, etc.)

 

Some are more comfortable and able as support -- popcorn, Blue and Gold, etc.

 

Where we fall down as recruiters is in identifying who wants to do what to whom and then asking them to do so.

 

This has to be targetted specifically to individuals.

 

For example, I'm not a camping guy. I hate it in fact. I can do it, but it's not my choice of where to spend my time. But . . . if you want someone to raise money, recruit parents or arrange drivers for your outing . . . I can and will do that.

 

My wife will do similar logistical stuff, but would rather have red ants run over her chomping than to lead a den.

 

Other people out there would love to work with their son and 6 of his buddies in a den meeting weekly than write one set of committee meeting minutes. That's a den leader.

 

It's a whole lot easier to ask people what they want to do (give them a menu of jobs with simple descriptions) than to stand at a meeting and say, "We need leaders," and expect to get any results.

 

In my opinion (I know we're supposed to use anacronyms ) most parents want to help out where they perceive that they can. Our job as recruiters is to match the talents and the desires of the parents to the needs of the unit.

 

Some parents won't take titles like "Assistant Cubmaster." But they'll agree to take the job of being the "backup" for the Cubmaster if she/he can't make the meeting. Hmmm ... sounds like that should lead to a futurer Cubmaster. Isn't that what an Assistant Cubmaster is? Let them handle a few things and pretty soon you have interest matched with ability and desire.

 

Bada-bing, bada-boom.

 

Unc.

[Eamonn]

I think that we those who do the recruiting tend to look at the position that needs filled and not the person.

We know that when it comes to eating an elephant we do it one spoonful at a time. We forget that the best way to get the elephant eaten is to give everyone a spoon and have them work together. That way the elephant is eaten a lot faster and people don't get fed up having to eat elephant everyday with their tea.

I have never taken the time to take a long hard look at all the volunteers in the District. We have 45 units. Our packs eat up a lot of man power. I have no idea how many people who serve at the pack level have not been selected, but have been brow beat or bullied into serving? It does seem that where as we used to see a lot of Cub Scout people hang around and serve at some other level, they now can't wait for that final B&G Banquet and they are gone.

One thing that does seem to have changed is that we are seeing a lot more Dads sign up as ASM's. Most of these guys are about worthless. They are there for their son, they never really lead anything or take on any real responsibility. I am not sure if this is because they are never given the opportunity. The troop that OJ is in seems to have a herd of "Do nothing ASM's". Summer camp this year they had 30 Scouts in camp and 18 leaders. I have no idea what this is all about? It seems a waste of man power to me. We have several hundred names on the Merit Badge list I'm guessing that 90% of these are people already in units. We have a lot of people involved in our Community FOS Campaign. We have worked hard to work on no one working more than five cards and when they reach five having them recruit someone else to work on five more. This is really working well for us.

At the District level, we had a real mess. We had Committees of one!! We had unit leaders serving on the committee. We have really worked hard brining more non-Scout people in and on to the committee. This is working really well as these outside people know a lot more outside people and this has made the Nominating committees job a lot easier. Committees of one, just don't work. Having people that can share the work is good and allows people to choose what they want to take on. It also brings a lot more ideas and skills to the district.

Most of us who do the recruiting or do the "Ask" are not going to let the poor soul that we are asking off the hook. Even when they say no to the job that we think that they need to say yes too, we have plan "B". Plan B is asking them to take on something else, that is normally some other position or if all else fails we will offer them the opportunity to donate at whatever level we think they will consider.

I have been told by people who are in the volunteer business that the trend is now to have people volunteer for a specific task. Something that has a very clear end. The people who volunteer come, do the job and go home feeling that they have done something worth while. They then might offer their services for another task, when they have the time.

We all laugh and joke about the "One Hour A Week". I feel that we do need to do everything we can to ensure that we don't waste the time of those that volunteer.

I also feel that we need to get away from the idea that one position or one job is more important than any other. We are all in this to serve the needs of the youth in our communities. I am of the opinion that Den Leaders are the hardest workers in this organization. We need to do everything that we can to support them. This might mean having people from outside the pack or Den come in to offer some specific training or skill to the Den. Maybe one of the do nothing ASM's could attend 3 or 4 Den meetings and cover a skill that he has and the Den Leader doesn't.

We are at times guilty of matching the person with a position that he does in the real world. I have a friend that is an MD. His real love is wood carving and he is very good at it. His work schedule is really odd. When I went to recruit him I had him down for the Finance Committee, mainly because he has money and also because he knows lots of other people who also have money. When I spent a little time talking to him he said about his love of wood carving, so we signed him up as a Merit Badge Counselor and he also joined the Advancement Committee. We still offer him lots of opportunities to donate money. But he isn't that keen on FOS he would much sooner give money that helps a Scout. He has paid for Summer Camps and uniforms that Scouts couldn't afford and has set up a fund for Boy Scouts to attend the Jamborees (One of his nurses had a son that had attended a Jamboree and then got killed in a car accident) This guy is doing what he wants to do. He is helping where he wants to help. Sure I would like to see him go to town on the District FOS goal, but it's not going to happen. He likes what he does and is doing a great job.

Eamonn.

[scoutldr]

My chiropractor has been anxiously awaiting the day his son could join cubs. I have been "grooming" him for two years. During my last visit, he was not too happy...."ya know, this job (tiger DL) is considerably more involved than the 'one hour a week' I was promised at School night. Why do they tell people that?" We need to STOP IT!! The "one hour a week" thing is a pretty sleazy way to get a signature on an application. I wonder what the statistics are on Scouters who quit after one year because they were lied to? It's OK to have a joke among ourselves, but when recruiting people, we need to be honest. One hour a week for a den meeting. Plus a pack meeting. Plus training. Plus roundtable. Plus pack committee meetings. Plus camping and other outings. Yes, it can all be fun, but it's a serious time commitment if done correctly.

[dsteele]

My apologies if it sounded like I was talking about the "one hour a week joke." I was not.

 

I don't believe in under-selling the job. Of course I expect Cubmasters to attend Roundtable (or send a representative,) get trained, etc. I just don't use the term Cubmaster at first. I describe the job as "the main contact between the pack and the supporting volunteers." This comes after I tell the group about training, Program Helps, Roundtable, etc. I also tell them that the BSA has plans for meetings and will teach them to use them.

 

I've never in my life uttered the phrase "one hour a week."

 

All I was trying to say is that Cubmaster sounds a lot more intimidating than main contact.

 

My point is that you need to match the interest of the people to the job that needs to be done. That is the tricky part.

 

Unc.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Unc,

 

I praise your ability to recruit people so easily and your insight into matching their abilities and interests to a specific job. You also score high with the job title change to recruit through the backdoor.

 

I hope that you are able to transfer this information effectively to those that come here needing Recruitment Training. As we have witnessed in this Forum, there is a high number that Multi-Hat for reasons that appear to be connected with all aspects of this deficit area.

 

I would not have expected you to utter the "one hour" ruse either. I have never heard that one used by anyone at anytime since I have been in Scouting. Few would use it unless they had never read the job descriptions before recruiting for any job. A person that would use that method would have to be intentionally trying to hurt the program by underestimating the amount of time it takes to do any one job in Scouting well or they are neglecting any training that they might have had in the past or both.

 

FB

[dsteele]

Fuzzy:

 

Thank you for the praise, but it's more experience than talent. I'd like to offer a few tips I've learned along the way.

 

1. Watch how the people fill out the applications and how they behave when you explain the program.

 

The ones who are paying rapt attention to what the program is . . . i.e, you have their full attention when explaining Tigers, Wolves, etc. and what the camping opporutnities are. Those are the type of people who are naturally inclined to run dens and packs.

 

The ones who are more concerned with getting the details of the application correct, i.e. what's the pack number? Do I need a second address, I don't know when my son got his measle shot, etc. are more inclined to be administrators. Make those the committee members. The first one to wonder about the checking account or other major admin detail becomes the committee chairman.

 

2. Describe the job, but not the title until the job is explained. The title in Scouting, to the new person, can sound terribly intimidating. Committee Chairman sounds much more different than chair the committee that oversees the "how" side of Scouting.

 

I stand up and say, "We need a person who can coordinate the "behind the scenes" work of others to make sure the program the boys want is delivered. This involves things like finding parents to keep records of badges and pick them up, someone to keep meeting notes, and people to drive to outings." Then I say, "put committee chairman in the box" to the person who has agreed that they can do the job.

 

Quite often, from what I've seen, someone in a uniform says, "We need a Committee Chairman." Start with the description, and not the title. Most people when they hear, "We need a committee chairman," think to themselves (they don't ask outloud) "What's a Committee Chairman.

 

Do not ever under-sell. However, simplify. If someone told me that I had to create a chemical reaction involving sugars and starches, throw in a complex procedure, and heat it to 375 degrees before separating it into batches and bring it to the pack meeting next Tuesday, I'd be intimidated and probably wouldn't follow the formula and nothing would happen.

 

But if someone asked me to bake cookies to bring to the pack meeting, or buy them, the kids would get their cookies.

 

It's the same end result. I was describing baking cookies in a rather scientific and confusing manner.

 

Sometimes in Scouting, we use too many technical terms. What do you want the people to do and who seems inclined to do it? Focus on the job and not the title. The title can come later.

 

Unc.

[scoutldr]

You're "spot on", Unc, as Eammonn would say. The problem is that, for the majority of parents, their first contact with the Scouting program is school night, or whatever your local equivalent is. In my experience, parents are "bringing JOhnny to sign him up for scouts" and are expecting to just plug him in to an existing structure complete with experienced, trained leaders and a robust program. They don't expect, and are off=put to hear that, if there is to be a program, they have to learn it and deliver it. Big Surprise!!! The typical strategy in this area is to group the kids by grade level, and then someone from Council says, OK, I'll be back in 10 minutes, so decide who the Den Leader and Assistant will be. Oh, by the way, we also need a new Cubmaster, Blue and GOld chairman and Popcorn Kernel. All he gets is blank stares. Some of them are never heard from again. Some don't have a clue what a DL is or what the commitment is. Some know, and therefore remain silent. Only those few who are brave enough to raise their hand go on to New Leader Essentials where they actually learn what they should have been told before they made the uninformed decision. Perhaps if we actually herded all the new parents into a room and gave them Fast Start.>he said, thinking outside the box

[Eamonn]

Unc

As you know I have in my time done more than my fair share of adult recruiting.Like you I have never ever used and have never ever heard the term "One hour a week."

Sad to say I have heard a few horror stories about some really off the wall recruiting, most of these when you take a long hard look at what was done involved threats and bullying.One sure way to get the little green Irish hairs on the back of my neck to stand up is to try and bully me. I don't like it.

I really don't like it when people ask me to do it.

As you know on October first our DE retired. She did sign on as a District Member At Large (After it was OKed by the Nominating Committee and voted on by the District Committee.) Pam and I are very close and dear friends, we had talked about what she would do and planned it in such a way that she wouldn't step on or get in the way of the new DE. Pam would freely admit that she never got into the outdoor side of Scouting and never really got into the program side. She didn't need too, she had people like me!! I had dinner with our Area President, who also serves as the Council Vice President for Program. He said that he was going to ask Pam to be the Council Activities Chairman. I said that he could ask, but I felt sure that she would say no. I wasn't asked to do anything. I wasn't asked not to tell her or tell her. I choose to do nothing, he said that he was going to ask her, so my thinking was that it really had nothing to do with me. A couple of weeks went by and Pam and I went to the Heritage Society dinner. He asked Pam for a minute and asked her. She said that she would think about it.

We have driven up to the dinner in the same car. She told me that he had asked and asked me if I knew? I said that I did. When she asked why I hadn't informed her before? I explained my reasoning. She said that she was honored to be asked but activities were not her thing.All the way home we discussed it. The VP, had been her Patrol Guide when she took Wood Badge and she really likes him, but activities?

We still talk 3 or 4 times a week on the phone and she made it clear that she was going to say no.

The wife of the VP is the Council Pop corn Chair. She invited the people who had been involved with the popcorn sale to dinner at her house. Again the subject of the Activities Chair. Was raised, He asked me what I knew? I said that it would be wrong of me to say anything as Pam hadn't said that I could. The conversations that I'd had were between two people and it would be wrong of me to get involved. He then said that he wanted me to ask her. I said I would ask, knowing that she would say no. Our December R/T is a very social gathering, everyone brings desserts. The new DE, was away at DE school in Texas. Pam is there, because I invited her. I was going to tell the District Commissioner, that the Nominating Committee wanted him to step down and consider taking the Membership Chair. We both thought that Pam could sell him on that and it would help ease his disappointment about not being the District Commissioner. ( A bit like good cop - bad cop.) As it happened he wasn't there he was sick. I had told Pam that I was to ask her to give the Activities position some thought, she said that she didn't want it. I look around and see two really good pals, Mike who was the District Chair, when Pam first joined and Jack the Council Program Director. This pair had been signed up to ask her. I was busy with District stuff, when I met up with Pam after the meeting she was upset and mad. She had explained to them that she didn't think activities were her thing, that she is really enjoying her retirement and has plans to travel. These plans are going and coming when she feels like it and she didn't want to be tied down to meetings and events. She also said that her first love was the District and she wanted to do everything that she could to help me. They then turned on her saying that she shouldn't be doing stuff for the district. This really upset her. She informed them that the reason she had quit was that she didn't like the Council and wanted no part of the Council, but she loved the District and the people in it. They left with a flea in their ear and full knowledge that she was not taking the job.

Here we have us seeing a position that needs filled and seeing a person who knows the working of Scouting and the Council. But we have offered her the wrong position. We have gone over the top in asking her and to make matters worse we have nearly lost a person that will make a darn good volunteer. She is no longer a professional and how dare they interfere with the running of the District.

I think given time Pam might have taken up a position in the Council, something to do with finance or membership, these were areas that she was very good at and liked working in. The way they have gone about it, we will be lucky if she ever does anything for the Council.

I have her working on the District Outstanding Citizen Dinner. This is right up her alley, she loves planning Dinners and fussing over flowers and invitations.

One lesson we have to learn is that no can mean no and to keep pushing can do more harm than good.

Eamonn.

[dsteele]

Eamonn:

 

Exactly what I'm trying to say. If the individual shows interest in the job, then by all means let them say yes. If they aren't interested in the job, re-group and ask them for something else. Help find a spot where they're comfortable and can expect to be successful.

 

To the others -- you can't just get someone to say "yes" to anything and walk away from it yourself. When I get a new Cubmaster or other position, that individual does not leave the room without a time and date set (before they start meeting with the kids) to get them either fast start trained and their first meeting with the kids planned. If I'm not available for the planning session or first meeting, I ask the District Commissioner, Cub Scout Chairman, or another experienced volunteer to walk them through it. They are also given the date, time and place of the next New Leader Essentials and are offered a ride to it by a member of the commissioner staff.

 

I agree. The follow up has to be there, or you're just whistling in the wind.

 

Unc.