5 tips on how to improve the Volunteer & Staff experience

1. Prepare your staff/family/community to receive and live with volunteers

Explain to your staff that the volunteers are not a threat to their positions, and that the purpose is to have a cultural experience with people from all over the world. It’s not just the volunteer that learns new things during the exchange: the staff does too!

2. Encourage interactions between volunteers and staff

When volunteers and the staff/family/community are integrated together, the exchange is much richer. A family dinner to introduce the worldpacker to the group, for example, is a great opportunity!

3. Be open to differences

With the differences in customs and cultures, you and your staff should be open to the experience and treat the volunteers in a friendly and respectful way.

4. Respond to conflicts in a friendly way

In case of possible problems during the exchange, keep a friendly and non-aggressive stance: this is the key to solving any problem!

5. Experience is everything!

The worldpacker is not a formal worker at your property - and shouldn’t be made to feel like one. Remember that the platform promotes the exchange of win-win collaborative experiences, and not work relationships.

How to transform these tips into opportunities?

• Listen to the feedback of the travelers in a friendly and open way, quickly solving problems: remember that the volunteer is also partially a guest and can alert you to problems before a formal guest or a future volunteer does.
  
• Show interest in the general hobbies and skills of the volunteers: the exchange gets even better when you start to get to know your volunteer better. They could be an excellent musician, or a tech-master - and still help you with your day-to-day operations!