The professionalization of volunteer management: a case study of the Volunteers Department of the Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein

Abstract

Voluntary work turns from a welfare action into a process that requires innovations in order to have efficient results, which leads to professional management, and follows organizational and strategic criteria. This study aims to understand how volunteer management is carried out by a case study performed in the Volunteer Department of Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein. This is an exploratory and qualitative research. Interviews, observations and documents were used on data collection. We interviewed one coordinator and six volunteers. We used data analysis and the categorical technique to analyze information. Results indicate that volunteering cannot be independent within the hospital, although autonomy is necessary to implement actions that bring results to the hospital. Volunteers should act in a manner that conforms to hospital rules, thus, all of their actions need to concur with the hospital’s principles and goals. Volunteering management is more than people management, participatory management, results or assistance aspects; it involves broader elements and traditional management processes along with volunteering characteristics. Volunteering management professionalization is essential to improvement, innovation and instruments search, hence it can be accountable and still manage all volunteering dynamics.