Welcoming volunteers: A case study on supporting hospitable behaviours in hospitals

Abstract

Hospitality has been researched in many settings across domestic, commercial and not-for-profit organizations. The role of volunteers in hospital settings has become more important in recent years. This study investigates how management can foster and maintain hospitable behaviour by host volunteers and what factors facilitate or hinder hospitable behaviour. The case study took place in a public hospital in the northern part of the Netherlands and used academic literature from hospitality, volunteering and organizational (safety) culture fields. Sixteen interviews were conducted with hospital management, volunteer managers and the volunteers themselves. Thematic analysis was used based on themes derived from the literature and emerging from the interviews. Findings show that hospitable behaviour, particularly in welcoming gestures, is often taken for granted, that managers and volunteers each have their own interpretation of hospitality and that there are three different levels and goals for hospitality within the hospital organization: strategic, tactical and operational hospitality. Due to different motives, expectations and interpretations of hospitality at those three levels, ‘hospitension’ can arise. The systems and structures of the hospital also provide a self-reinforcing culture of (in)hospitality. These are all areas on which hospital management can have an impact, providing opportunities for further research.