Summary
When reflecting upon the volunteer management policies recommended by Sport Canada, Sport England, New Zealand Sport and Recreation, and the Australian Sports Commission, each country‟s policies vary in the level of involvement. The Canadian Sport Policy mentions the need for volunteer commitment, though it does not provide a program or guidelines to develop volunteer resources. With the 2012 London Olympics fast approaching, Sport England has provided volunteer initiatives within the Sport England Strategy 2008-2011, and has developed a partnership with Volunteer England to develop their volunteer program in the years leading up to the Olympics. New Zealand Sport and Recreation developed Finding and keeping volunteers: What the research tells us, an initiative in 2006 to assess volunteer management programs and make various plans for future development. The ASC is by far the most involved of the four countries as illustrated by their Volunteer Management Program. This program assesses the current need for sport volunteers and makes strides to provide sport organizations with a solid foundation to build effective and efficient sport programs that are based on volunteer management and human resource research and practices. In comparison, Sport Canada seems to be the farthest behind in the development of a volunteer management program for sport, which may in turn affect the ability for sport to be delivered in the future.
When reviewing the literature, the area of human resource management has been exhausted in corporate settings, with many „best practices‟ suggested, though there is still much debate regarding transference of these practices from one organization to another, and the support for the effectiveness of HRM programs as a blanket solution in itself is varied. Consensus shows that HRM programs are valued (though just cannot be relied on entirely to solve every problem), and much of this provides a foundation for HRM practices to be applied to volunteers in nonprofit organizations.
Sport has long relied on volunteers for the delivery of events and activities at all levels, ranging from community sport through to the national sport organizations. With that said, there has been very little research and practical applications of HRM practices to volunteers (until recently). This is an important step in strengthening the sport program in Canada going forward towards achieving the goals outlined by Sport Canada in the Canadian Sport Policy.