Inducting and training Generation Y volunteers: a sport event case study

Volunteers are becoming increasingly prolific within special event workforces, and a significant proportion of contemporary volunteer workforces are comprised of young people. With such a young, diverse workforce, effective and efficient human resources (HR) management is essential in facilitating successful events. Management of volunteers is grounded within the field of human resource development (HRD) where training, developing and educating HR are key considerations. Effective HRD is critical to the survival and success of events such as the Australian Northern University Games addressed in this paper. All volunteers at this event, predominantly Generation Y, undertook pre-event induction training and training for their roles. This paper critically examines the induction and training delivered to NUG volunteers. It is argued that although boundaries between induction and training were blurred, more distinct processes and better alignment with the needs of Generation Y volunteers could have benefited the overall outcome of volunteer training at the NUG. Implications for the future management and training of Generation Y volunteers are discussed.