Policies are guidelines or criteria that are considered for the achievement of objectives in an organisation. A volunteer policy provides the organisation with a consistent method of addressing volunteer engagement across the organisation. It helps to ensure that everyone involved in the organisation understands and values volunteer engagement. Ideally, the volunteer policy should be developed together with staff and volunteers and reviewed regularly.

A good policy also shows that the organisation takes volunteer engagement seriously and manages it professionally, and that volunteer engagement is planned as part of the whole organisation's activities, rather than as an ad hoc activity that lies outside the main organisation.

Before writing a policy, find out why you want to involve volunteers in your organisation. Does your organisation rely on volunteers to deliver its services? Can volunteers improve the services provided by paid staff?

This list is for guidance only. You should adapt your volunteer policy to the needs of your organisation. Any statements you make in your volunteer policy should also be backed up by appropriate policies and procedures.

A responsible person should be appointed to oversee the implementation of the policy. Policies should be reviewed regularly, at least once a year, to see if they need to be revised in response to feedback or changes in the organisation.

Here are some examples:

• Behavioural guidelines are a set of practical rules that aim to regulate people's behaviour towards each other in order to achieve harmonious coexistence. Adherence to these standards of conduct is a condition of employment. Employees who do not comply with these standards may be subject to disciplinary action such as dismissal.
• The Anti-Bullying and Harassment Policy recognises the right of all employees to have their personal dignity respected. The prevention of bullying is the responsibility of each individual. It is the responsibility of managers and Board members to address bullying and staff and Board members will express their disapproval when they encounter bullying. A model anti-bullying and harassment policy is provided in Annex 1.
• Loyalty policies refer to employees' duties of loyalty to the association and the employer. Employee behaviour must inspire trust and not bring the association into disrepute, as must loyalty, honesty and fidelity.
• Confidentiality Policy is a statement of the principles and guidelines for protecting the personal information of persons who are customers, suppliers or others. All information in an employee's file must be kept confidential by the Chief Executive Officer, supervisor and manager. This information may only be disclosed to those persons authorised to receive it. Confidential information received by employees in the course of their employment shall not be used by an employee to further private interests.

Procedure is a term that refers to the action of proceeding, which means to act in a certain way. The concept, on the other hand, is linked to a method or a way of executing something.

A procedure, in this sense, consists of following certain predefined steps in order to carry out a task efficiently. Its objective should be unique and easily identifiable, although there may be different procedures for the same purpose, each with different structures and steps, and each offering more or less efficiency.

If the policies set out the organisation's guidelines, "what is to be done", the second step will be the elaboration of certain procedures that provide guidance on "how it is to be done".The existence of a volunteering policy, and even the development of certain action procedures, facilitates the task of coordination for the volunteers, as they have an orientation or guide for their work.

Examples of procedures for conducting future activities (based on the policies of the previous section) are:

• Procedures for rules of conduct. The Board of Directors must promote the dissemination, knowledge and compliance with the rules of conduct and establish the appropriate channels of communication so that any employee can request or provide information on compliance with the rules, while ensuring the confidentiality of complaints handled at all times. Information on the level of compliance with the standards of conduct should be established.

• Anti-Bullying and harassment procedure. In the first instance, staff should be trained in the prevention of bullying. Staff should immediately report the situation to the management team and identify the situation. Initially, both the complainant and the alleged harasser or bully will be offered the opportunity to resolve the conflict through direct mediation. If no agreement is reached, the procedure will continue. The procedure is urgent and confidential. Once the procedure has been initiated, a meeting is held with the persons involved in the case. After information has been obtained and a personal written statement has been made, the parties will be informed of the conclusions and/or proposed remedial action. A model anti-bullying and harassment procedure is provided in Annex 2.

• Loyalty procedure. Before building staff loyalty, it is important to identify who the organisation has. Their profiles, their contributions and their level of commitment. On the other hand, employee loyalty requires taking into account the time and resources invested in training and education. Therefore, to build loyalty, it is essential to value employees as the most important links in the partnership. Managers' responsibilities to workers include compensation and socio-economic benefits, opportunities for growth and career development, motivation and job security, and the appropriateness of interpersonal relationships. Loyalty building techniques include work climate assessment, motivation and personal satisfaction surveys, employee questionnaires and interviews.

• Confidentiality procedures. Employees must learn about privacy and the handling of confidential information and sign an Acknowledgement of Privacy and Confidentiality of Information form before they begin employment with the association. Managers should ensure that new employees sign a Privacy and Confidentiality of Information Acknowledgement Form before they start at the Association. Human resources staff should place these forms in employee files.