Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to analyze two important outcomes of individual skills-based volunteerism (ISB-V) among healthcare volunteers in Malaysia. The outcomes are: job performance and life satisfaction. This study has empirically tested the impact of individual dimensions of ISB-V along with their inter-relationships in explaining the life satisfaction and job performance. Besides, the effects of employer encouragement to the volunteers, demographic characteristics of volunteers, and self-esteem of volunteers on job performance and life satisfaction have been studied. The data were collected through a questionnaire distributed to 1000 volunteers of St. John Ambulance in Malaysia. Three hundred and sixty six volunteers responded by giving their feedback. The model was tested using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The main results of this study are: (1) Volunteer duration and nature of contact affects life satisfaction, (2) volunteer frequency has impact on volunteer duration, (3) self-esteem of volunteers has significant relationships with volunteer frequency, job performance and life satisfaction, (4) job performance of volunteers affect their life satisfaction and (5) current employment level has significant relationships with duration of volunteering, self esteem, employer encouragement and job performance of volunteers. The model in this study has been able to explain 39% of the variance in life satisfaction and 45% of the variance in job performance. The current study adds significantly to the body of knowledge on healthcare volunteerism.
Highlights
‘‘An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity’’ – Martin Luther King Jr
The fundamental questions addressed in this research are: (1) What is the relationship between the individual dimensions of individual skill-based volunteerism (ISB-V), job performance and life satisfaction? (2) How does employer encouragement and self-esteem of healthcare volunteers affect their job performance and life satisfaction?
Sustained volunteerism results in better mental well-being such as reduced stress and depression levels, enhanced self-esteem, improved job performance and overall life satisfaction of volunteers [11], [12], [47], [48]
Summary
‘‘An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity’’ – Martin Luther King Jr. We focus on individual skill-based volunteerism (ISB-V) and volunteers attached to St. John Ambulance Service of Malaysia. ISB-V can involve three parties: the individuals who are volunteers, non-profit organization or volunteer organization and the communities (nursing homes, children’s homes) that receive the volunteer services Volunteerism benefits both the giver and the recipient and this is especially true with ISB-V [8] and people who volunteer for reasons such as social interaction and self-satisfaction [9]. Research on skills transfer from volunteer work to paid employment has been conducted by Hybels (1978) and Schram (1985). They have argued that skills developed through volunteerism improve job opportunities and job performance of volunteers. We consider job performance as one of the outcomes of ISB-V
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