Help needed...how to get rid of a "difficult" volunteer

Wywth

Annie1965 wrote: »

Basically he's only volunteering to get a reference.

Why not tell him he won't be getting one?

Simples :cool:

Takeaway_Addict

Be tougher with your boss, tell them that he's not good enough and next time he steps out of line he is gone and they should back you up

Whiteknight

Annie1965 wrote: »

Hi,
I've been a longtime lurker but have never felt the need to post before now.
I run a small charity shop in the south. All my volunteers are wonderful except for one. We took him on about 4 months ago despite reservations about his ability to do the job and he has done nothing but make my life a misery since. He is always late. And I mean always. While he was working the till money kept going missing, however we couldn't prove anything so we removed him from the till and put him in back of house duties.
He is lazy. He doesn't want to do the jobs asked of him and spends the vast majority of his time on his phone or doing non charity related stuff.
I have gotten rid of him twice for no shows/lateness however both times he has gone over my head and concocted a sob story so I have been forced to take him back.
I have had enough now. He is bringing the moral of the rest of my team down, they are fed up and so am I.
What on earth do I do with this person?

Many thanks for taking the time to read this.
Annie

Do you think that you could have a personal problem with him?

You mention that you the team are all wonderful except for him, not sure what the make up of the team is, are there other men who volunteer or is he the old one?

Two sides to every story he obviously wants to be at the store or he would not bother to go over your head to get his position back. You really need to speak to your boss and explain why you don't want him in to volunteer.

I once volunteered and I am sure the boss of that particular store would describe me as being disruptive and negatively effecting the moral of the store, I was nothing of the sort (as you would expect me to say) but one of the other volunteers took a dislike to me.

Of course he is only volunteering because he wants to gain something out of it

Mojisola

Annie1965 wrote: »

Hi,
He is always late. And I mean always.

While he was working the till money kept going missing, however we couldn't prove anything so we removed him from the till and put him in back of house duties.

He is lazy. He doesn't want to do the jobs asked of him and spends the vast majority of his time on his phone or doing non charity related stuff.

Whiteknight wrote: »

Do you think that you could have a personal problem with him?

These sound like good reasons for wanting to get rid of him, rather than "I don't like him" personal issues.

Savvy_Sue

I do think it could be worth doing a volunteer agreement, and outlining what happens if the volunteer doesn't stick to it. If we had a volunteer who was consistently late, we'd sit down and discuss with them what the problem was, and explain that if they couldn't be there on time, it would be better if they didn't volunteer in that way.

So your agreement might say something like:

I agree that I will arrive on time for my shifts, and stay until the end, unless there are exceptional circumstances. If I cannot arrive on time or have to leave early, I will let the shop manager know the day beforehand. I understand that poor timekeeping may lead to the termination of my volunteering.

I agree that while I am at the shop, I will concentrate on the work to be done there. I will not use my phone except in an emergency.

And so on. I'd be surprised if other shops don't have similar ...

But you also need a grievance procedure for the volunteers, so that if someone feels that the manager - or another volunteer - 'has it in for me', they know what to do about it.

whitewing

You could perhaps see what you'd need to do to get your superiors' agreement before you next attempt to terminate him. It can't be easy for you to be undermined, however, you would be silly to tell him to stop if there is even the slightest chance that he will again go over your head.

Annie1965_2

Hi everyone,
Thanks so much for all your input, replies and ideas. Here's an update on the situation...
I have spoken to my boss about how unhappy I am with the whole situation and while I am unable to go into the conversation here, suffice to say my boss has my back and does support me completely however we have to tread quite carefully.
The volunteer returned today. I sat him down and outlined what my expectations were, got his agreement in writing and have made it very clear to him that I am unwilling to entertain any further nonsense (for lack of a better word, didn't use that during the conversation though). I asked him if he had anything he would like to discuss and he replied he did not.
I have reduced his hours down to what we feel is both reasonable and have laid out his responsibilities and expected performance while he is volunteering.
I will keep you posted as to what happens over the next few weeks. He is either going to dig himself a hole very quickly or pull his socks up and rise to the challenge.
Incidentally, in response to the poster who asked about the male to female ratio of vols... My assistant manager is male, as are about a third of my volunteers. I have no issue with men, just with lazy time wasters who make my already very busy life use a bit harder.

Annie