Abstract
The voluntary sector has an important role in the development of society and economy. Regardless an increasing demand for volunteers due to a quantifiable growth of this sector, every three out of four charities are struggling to recruit new volunteers. In the recruitment process, applicant attraction, as the earliest stage, is designed to increase the number of people who shall apply for jobs posted by the respective organisation. Only a handful studies have focused on the methods of applicant attraction within paid organisations, and no studies have shed light on this initial stage of recruitment within the voluntary sector. Neither understanding what elements can work to attract individuals who might consider signing up for voluntary work.
In response to this gap in the literature, this study sheds light on the domain of applicant attraction in the voluntary sector by focusing on the relationship between fairness perceptions of the recruitment process, recruitment attributions, trust in the organisation, and voluntary intentions. Drawing on the social exchange theory (SET), we propose that fairness perceptions influence the way people attribute the purpose behind the volunteer recruitment. Specifically, high perceptions of fair recruitment will link with commitment-focused attributions, whilst low perceptions will link with control-focused attributions. These attributions then impact on the trust levels, that determine the intensions to participate in voluntary work.
As mixed-method research, this study consists of two parallel studies undertaken during the peak period of Covid-19, when the lockdown was strictly enforced across the UK. The first study is qualitative. Data for the qualitative study was collected from volunteers who worked or are currently working for a non-profit organisation. 26 unstructured-interviews undertaken via WhatsApp as part of the qualitative study revealed volunteers’ perceptions of recruitment in their organisation. The second study is quantitative, which was administrated online. 252 volunteers in various fields, such as sport, culture, and many more, participated in. The findings supported the hypotheses proposed in this research.