Volunteer management in Viaporin Kekri event 2021

Abstract

This product-based thesis concentrates on establishing a standard volunteer management plan for an event called Viaporin Kekri. In fact, the existent amount of volunteers recruited from the first-year Haaga-Helia students were not adequate due to the growth in the number of people attending the event between the years 2015 and 2019. In realisation of the urgent need for supplemental human resources, a volunteer management plan is generated to fulfill the lack of workforce. The literature review about the event industry, human resource management, and volunteer management would be used as fundamental theories to support the product creation progress. Recruitment, orientation, motivation, and safety development phases are conducted in the pre-event phase. Two primary responsibilities as volunteers’ coordination and supervision proceed during the event. For the purpose of assembling feedbacks for the improvement of the volunteer management model in the future, a qualitative survey was conducted among volunteers, wherein constructive feedback, ideas, and recommendations are taken into account. The outcome of this thesis attempts to emphasize the significant role of the volunteer management model in the Viaporin Kekri event. With an intention of passing on this product to the upcoming volunteer manager, where it would be implemented for the sake of consolidating the success for the next editions of the Viaporin Kekri event, the volunteer management plan has been cautiously developed and executed. Regardless of unpredictable difficulties contained in the management phase, the product has attested its utility through the remarkable growth in the number of visitors, as well as the positive feedbacks appraised by the core event members from the Viaporin Kekri organisation. Even though there is modification and development needed in the orientation and motivation stages based on the qualitative feedback; nevertheless, the volunteers simultaneously manifested satisfaction toward the product in the view of the fact that they were compensated in terms of skills, social networks extension, and opportunity to approach Finnish culture. In fact, volunteer management planning is rather challenging and time-consuming. Even so, the skills adopted while creating the product are countless, which can be utilised in the HR field.