Sample Position Charter

Effective recruiting demands a very clear, complete and brief presentation of the roles and responsibilities. The most effective way to begin this process is to develop a position charter. I personally use the "position charter" rather than a job description for the following reasons:

• A "position charter" suggests a higher commitment level.
• A "charter" is an agreement between the organization and the volunteer.
• When a volunteer reads the "position charter", he or she understands the level of commitment that is expected.
• The position charter raises the professional image of the volunteer position and makes the recruiting process much clearer.

The following two-step process is a simple way to develop a very complete and mission driven position charter. By communicating clearly the job expectations, retention rates will increase dramatically. Many volunteers quit because they did not know just what they were getting into.

Step One: The first step is to develop the objective, or mission, for the position. Use the following five questions to develop the objective. The following is a sample from the volunteer receptionist for the ABC Adult Day Care Center.

Sample answers are in bold.

1. What is the position?
Receptionist for ABC Adult Care Center.

2. What are the duties?
Answer the phone, take messages, take orders, distribute mail, make coffee and buy doughnuts.

3. What is unique about the person in this position?
A very enthusiastic person, very positive with great telephone voice and skills. Loves people and has a "knack" for details--get phone messages correct.

4. What value does this position contribute to the mission of the organization? (What are the benefits of this job to customers?)
Customers feel great when they finish talking on the phone with ABC Adult Care Center. They have the confidence that their messages are going to be delivered. The office is always warm, friendly, and neat for all of internal and external customers--making it a fun place to work.

5. Who are the customers?
Internal:
Every staff member -- seeking to serve them by delivering correct messages and making the place a fun place to work. The receptionist must have a friendly, positive greeting for each person when they come in the door.

External:
All current and prospective clients: The receptionist seeks to know them all, keep up on their current business needs, and keep records of what they want and make sure they are followed up with.

Put the answers to these questions together in a few-sentence objective statement for your position. Start your objective statement with the words, "To contribute to the patient care of ABC Adult Day Care Center by . . . " An example of the position above would be the following:

Position Objective: To contribute to the quality patient care of ABC Adult Care Center by assuming the primary responsibility for front-line contact with every vender, customer and employee. This will be done by building confidence and trust with each person who calls and visits ABC Care Center, communicating to all internal and external customers that they are very important to us and that we value their service. The receptionist will seek to build a trusting relationship with each patient, vendor, customer and employee in such a way to ensure long-term satisfaction and to optimize the chances of add-on business and of the positive referral of new business to ABC Adult Care Center.

Step Two: Roles and responsibilities: After you have written the position objective, outline the roles and responsibilities of the position. The following questions are helpful to develop the roles, authority and duties.

• Position Title:
• Responsible to:
• Positing objective:
• List of Key Work Areas:
• Under each of the categories (areas), list subcategories of duties.

Sample Volunteer Position Charter

Position Title: Volunteer Receptionists

Responsible to: Administrator

Key Objective:
To contribute to the quality patient care of ABC Adult Day Care Center by assuming the primary responsibility for front-line contact with every vender, customer and employee. This will be done by building confidence and trust with each person who calls and visits ABC Adult Care Center, communicating to all internal and external customers that they are very important to us and that we value their service. The receptionist will seek to build a trusting relationship with each customer and employee in such a way to ensure long-term satisfaction and to optimize the opportunities of new patients and of the positive referral of new patients to ABC Adult Day Care Center.

Key Work Areas:

General Duties (same for all volunteers)

1. Attend all volunteer staff meetings
2. Fill out weekly staff report
3. Turn in expense vouchers
4. Coordinate schedule with supervisor
5. Be at the receptionist desk 15 minutes early for a once-a-week four hour volunteer shift.

Greeting

1. Great each visitor, staff member and volunteer as they enter the building
2. Offer visitors a cup of coffee
3. Seek to help visitors by answering questions and directing them toward their desired need
4. Have all visitors sign guest log

Answer the phone

1. Answer before the third ring
2. Take messages -- always writing down the phone number
3. Set up priority for answering the phone (who answers when the receptionist is on the phone?)
4. Set up system of delivering phone messages
5. Monitor the answering machine

Filing and mailL

1. Update all files
2. Open mail and distribute
3. Record and file all receipts for volunteer expenditures

Coffee Time

1. Prepare conference room for volunteer and staff 10:00 or 3:00 coffee break Pick up "goodies" for breaks