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PR
34,5 Comparing HRM in the voluntary
and public sectors
Emma Parry, Clare Kelliher, Tim Mills and Shaun Tyson
588 Cranfield School of Management, Cranfield University, Cranfield, UK

Received August 2003

Accepted May 2004 Abstract
Purpose – This paper aims to examine the practice of human resource management (HRM) in
voluntary sector organisations providing substance misuse treatment services and to compare these
findings with similar organisations in the public sector.
Design/methodology/approach – HRM practices are examined using a survey of voluntary and
public sector drug and alcohol treatment provider organisations. The survey data are supported with a
number of case studies and qualitative interviews with the HR managers of such organisations.
Findings – The data show that in many areas practice is broadly similar in the voluntary and public
sectors. However, there are also a number of important differences, influenced by both their relative
financial positions and the value-led nature of the voluntary sector.
Originality/value – Recent estimates suggest that over half a million people are in paid employment
in the UK voluntary sector; however, relatively little is known about HRM within this sector. This
paper provides a valuable insight into HRM within this sector and highlights the similarities and
differences between this and the public sector.
Keywords Voluntary organizations, Public sector organizations, Human resource management,
Drug addiction, Health and medicine
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
Today the voluntary sector in the UK is a major provider of welfare and specialist
services. As a result of changes in government policy during the 1980s, based on the
principle of a “mixed economy of care”, voluntary sector organisations have become
increasingly important in the provision of health, social and housing services
(Cunningham, 2001). Recent estimates suggest that in the region of half a million
people are in paid employment in the voluntary sector (NCVO, 2004; Passey et al.,
2000), which represents approximately 2 per cent of the UK workforce (Jas et al., 2002).
Yet relatively little is known about the way in which human resources are managed in
this sector, since it has been the subject of relatively little empirical investigation. This
is surprising in the light of the sector’s growing significance as an employer and the
increased role of the voluntary sector in the provision of public sector services. Their
involvement in public sector services means that many voluntary sector organisations
now receive a large proportion of their funding from the state (NCVO, 2004; Whelan,
1999). Furthermore, since many of the services provided by the voluntary sector are
labour intensive and labour costs represent a significant proportion of total costs
Personnel Review (Passey et al., 2000; Zacharias, 2003), the management of human resources is likely to
Vol. 34 No. 5, 2005
pp. 588-602 be a key area of management. This paper is concerned with exploring the practice of
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0048-3486
human resource management (HRM) in one part of the voluntary sector, the provision
DOI 10.1108/00483480510612530 of drug and alcohol treatment services.
 The voluntary sector is sometimes referred to as a “third sector” in the economy, in HRM in the
addition to the private and statutory sectors (Hudson, 1999). However, there is a lack of voluntary and
consensus on what constitutes the voluntary sector (Blackmore, 2004), which is not
helped by the lack of a legal definition of what is a voluntary organisation (Butler and public sectors
Wilson, 1990). A number of writers have noted the range of terms used to describe
organisations in this sector, for example non-profit, charitable, independent, voluntary,
tax exempt and non and para governmental organisations (Osborne, 1997; Salamon 589
and Anheier, 1993). Remarking on a tendency to define the sector by what it is not,
rather than what it is, Blackmore (2004) proffers the view that the key characteristics of
organisations in the voluntary sector are that they are set up to promote a shared
interest; have an independent governance structure, and whilst they may generate
income, are not set up to make profits. These characteristics will be used for the basis
of our discussion of the voluntary sector in this paper. However, in practice in this
research all responding organisations were registered charities and so represent a
subset, albeit a large one, of the sector as a whole (Osborne and Hems, 1995). To
become a registered charity in the UK and to benefit from the associated tax
concessions, organisations have to be involved with a “charitable activity” –
education, relief of the poor, the advancement of religion and other services which are
considered to benefit the community. Significantly, there is a need for some notion of
public good in the services offered and hence mutual self-interest groups are excluded.
One way of classifying organisations is by reference to the way they control their
members, HRM being a part of that mechanism. Etzioni (1961, 1964) classified
organisations according to the kinds of power they use to control their members. Thus
he distinguished between coercive power (found in prisons or psychiatric hospitals for
example), utilitarian power (in commercial organisations, for example) and normative
power (found in voluntary associations, religious organisations and charities). He goes
on to suggest that organisations may have more than one predominant pattern of
control and there may be differences according to different levels in the hierarchy. Most
importantly for our research is the notion that the different patterns of power elicit
different types of attachment from organisation members. On this basis, coercive
power creates an alienating response, utilitarian power a more calculative or
instrumental attachment, and normative power a form of moral attachment.
The significance of the theory is that attachment to the organisation’s goals is
different to the motivation associated with tasks and duties of particular jobs. When
examining public sector organisations, given the variety of work they perform, we
might expect to find a utilitarian approach, producing a mixture of instrumental as
well as moral attachment, whilst with voluntary sector organisations we would expect
moral attachments to predominate. However, there are likely to be different
attachments to the organisations according to level of employee and by specific groups,
such as project workers, nurses, managers, etc. Changing contexts may also have an
effect. The complication of which policies are applied within these differing contexts is
therefore worth exploring, in particular the variations in the HR policies which are
adopted as a consequence of varying needs in organisations that deliver very similar
services.
At one level, management in the voluntary sector is unlikely to differ significantly
from management in either the public or private sectors. Voluntary sector
organisations, whilst not driven by the profit motive, are accountable to their
PR income providers and increasingly need to be “business-like” and cost-effective
34,5 (Armstrong, 1992). However, the context in which organisations in this sector operate
means that they do differ from the public and private sectors. The literature concerned
with examining management in this sector identifies a number of specific
characteristics which influence the management process. Armstrong (1992) suggests
that there are a number of fundamental differences which distinguish the voluntary
590 sector from the public and private sectors. First, organisations in the voluntary sector
tend to be strongly value-led and these values may influence the way in which people
are managed. Second, the people who choose to work for these organisations may do so
because they are committed to its cause and have formed a moral attachment which is
likely to have an impact on the culture of the organisation. On the one hand, this may
mean that employees are prepared to work for lower extrinsic rewards, because of the
existence of intrinsic ones (Zimmeck, 1998). Lloyd (1993) uses the term “ethos discount”
to represent the sacrifice that workers in this sector are prepared to make for partaking
in the charity ethos. On the other hand, it may mean that employees are more
concerned with how the organisation goes about its work. They may expect to be
involved in decision making (Cunningham, 2001) and may be resistant to change
(Tassie et al., 1996; Billis, 1993). Third, professional managers in voluntary
organisations are likely to be accountable to a number of interest groups (trustees,
providers of funds, voluntary workers and users of the service), and this may make it
difficult to develop a coherent strategy. Fourth, organisations in this sector may be
subject to complex decision-making processes and are often run by groups or
committees, making decision making a long and complex process. Finally, the range of
financial sources tends to be greater than in other sectors (Palmer, 2003) and funding
streams may be irregular and unpredictable, making long-term planning difficult.
Armstrong (1992) argues that the above factors may present a challenge for the active
management of human resources.
Theories of HRM suggest that approaches to the management of human resources
will be influenced by the context in which an organisation operates and the strategy
which it is pursuing (Tyson, 1997; Legge, 1995; Schuler and Jackson, 1987). Therefore,
the features outlined above will provide a context for HRM in the voluntary sector, as
will the non-profit nature of the sector (even though this could encompass a range of
strategies). As such, it could be argued that HRM in the voluntary sector is more likely
to be similar to the public rather than the private sector, due to the absence of the profit
motive and the similarities in employee attachment to organisations which exist for the
public good (producing a utilitarian or a moral response). Management of human
resources in the public sector is subject to direct and indirect political intervention,
brought about by the tripartite nature of the relationship among employer, employee
and government (Corby and White, 1999). Historically, public sector employment has
been influenced by the desire on the part of governments to be a “model employer”. In
practice, this has meant providing fair terms and conditions of employment, the
development of relationships with trade unions and the establishment of formal
procedures for dealing with grievance and discipline. Despite a number of more recent
developments throughout the public sector, including privatisation, imposition of
stricter budgetary controls and attempts at the reform of public sector services, many
of the distinctive features of public service employment have remained intact
(Winchester and Bach, 1995; Bach, 2002).
 For comparative purposes, the way in which human resources are managed in HRM in the
health and local authority services is of most relevance here, since drug and alcohol voluntary and
treatment services in the public sector are provided mainly by the NHS and to a lesser
extent by local authorities. Employment relations in the NHS have followed the public sectors
traditional model of public sector employment, characterised, amongst other features,
by a commitment to job security and fairness, with strong, centralised and complex
national bargaining structures (Corby and White, 1999). The NHS and local authorities, 591
like many other parts of the public sector, were subject to the disciplines of the market
and “new public management” during the Conservative Government era. Kessler et al.
(2000) argue that, although discretion over employment relations was a key area of
reform and choice has been opened up for managers of public sector services, change
has been less pervasive in NHS trusts and local authorities than in other parts of the
public sector.
More recently, the management of human resources has taken on a more strategic role
in the NHS and a number of initiatives have emanated from the NHS plan. These
initiatives place emphasis on the need to use human resources more effectively,
advocating policies akin to a modern day equivalent of a model employer. For example,
the “Improving Working Lives Standard” places emphasis on workplace conditions
(provision of childcare, tackling discrimination, accidents and sickness absence), training
and development and improving diversity. “Working Together – Learning Together”
makes a commitment to the provision of life long learning. The modernisation agenda for
the public sector has, however, been hampered by recruitment and retention problems,
not least in the NHS and local authorities. This has largely been as a result of low levels of
unemployment, high costs of housing, especially in London and the South East, along
with relatively unattractive pay and conditions (Bach, 2002).
The limited available evidence suggests that HRM in the voluntary sector has
traditionally lacked a sophisticated approach (Lloyd, 1993; Butler and Wilson, 1990).
Survey evidence shows employment tribunal cases being at a level almost double that
in the public and private sectors (Cunningham, 2000). In spite of staff costs amounting
to up to 70 per cent of total costs, people management had traditionally taken a back
seat to the management of fundraising activities and service delivery (Zacharias, 2003).
However, there is evidence to show that the management of human resources has been
an area of significant change in recent years (Palmer, 2003; Kellock Hay et al., 2001),
alongside a more general professionalisation of management in the voluntary sector
(Batsleer, 1995). This has, at least in part, been brought about by changes to the context
in which voluntary organisations operate (Butler and Wilson, 1990). Blackmore (2004)
argues that the relationship of the sector with government has shifted significantly
since the late 1990s onwards. The increased involvement of the voluntary sector in the
provision of public sector services has led to a greater reliance on public funding.
Evidence from the NCVO (2004) shows that typically for voluntary sector
organisations 37 per cent of income now comes from the public sector in the form of
government grants and contracts. This in turn has led to an accompanying need for
transparency and to demonstrate cost efficiency; competition for funding and a
so-called “contract culture” (Leat, 1993). Severe recruitment and retention problems
(Zacharias, 2003), common, for example, in the drug and alcohol treatment field, may
have also meant that employers have had to develop more sophisticated approaches to
the management of people.
PR As a result of the changes and the fact that voluntary sector organisations are not
34,5 driven by the profit motive, it might be expected that the voluntary sector would have
become more similar to the public sector in terms of its approach to HRM. Equally, it
has been posited that local authorities, as purchasers of services, may effectively
regulate the voluntary sector, by tying funding to the achievement of specified
performance criteria (Tonkiss and Passey, 1999). Thus, whilst the distinguishing
592 features of the voluntary sector remain and are likely to continue to influence the way
in which human resources are managed, recent developments would suggest that
practice will be drawn closer to the approach in the public sector.
This paper aims to examine HRM in the voluntary sector and make direct
comparisons with public sector organisations operating within a similar context. Data
will be presented from a project designed to examine the policies and practices of HRM
by providers of substance misuse services in Greater London. The findings are based
upon a survey of HRM practice within both public and voluntary sector provider
organisations. Organisations in this sector often have a volunteer workforce, which
raises a number of issues for HRM, not least as a result of the different motivations of
volunteers (Cunningham, 1999; Wilson and Pimm, 1996). Whilst, it is recognised that
the existence of “another workforce” will have implications for the way in which paid
employees are managed, for the purposes of this paper, we will focus on paid
employees in order to assist comparison with the public sector.

Background
The research reported in this paper was commissioned by the Greater London Alcohol
and Drugs Alliance (GLADA), a partnership of regional bodies that deal with alcohol
and drugs treatment provision within London. The Greater London Authority (GLA)
established GLADA to develop policy to ensure coordinated activity within the drugs
and alcohol sector in London. The research was commissioned in response to the UK
Government’s (1998) ten-year drug strategy “Tackling Drugs to Build a Better Britain”.
A key target of this strategy is to double the availability of drug treatment in the UK by
2008. This target requires both the expansion of the workforce and an improvement of
workforce competence.
As a move towards improving workforce competence, the Department of Heath
funded the Standing Conference on Drug Abuse (now DrugScope) and Alcohol Concern
to develop the Quality in Alcohol and Drugs Services (QuADS) – a set of
organisational standards for substance misuse service providers. These describe good
practice across a range of activities, including a range of requirements regarding
human resource practice. These requirements include the development of policies
regarding recruitment, training and equal opportunities and systematic processes for
identifying training needs. The QuADS were distributed to service providers in early
2002 so that they could carry out self-assessment against the standards. In addition,
the National Treatment Agency (NTA) was formed by the Government in April 2001 to
oversee the improvement of the quality of drug treatment. The NTA’s main objective is
to increase the availability, capacity and effectiveness of treatment for drug misuse in
England. As a part of this the NTA have committed themselves to develop and expand
the drug treatment workforce. This includes the provision of guidance with regard to
best practice and workforce development programmes that meet training needs.
 The drugs and alcohol treatment sector is therefore undergoing considerable HRM in the
change due to the increasing influence of the government on both policy and on voluntary and
funding. This, along with the fact that these services are provided by both voluntary
and public sector organisations, makes this a useful basis for an analysis of HRM public sectors
policy and practice in the voluntary sector and allows a direct comparison with HRM
practice in the public sector.
593
Methods
A survey was conducted of 238 providers of drug and alcohol services within Greater
London by means of postal questionnaire. These organisations were identified using a
database of substance misuse providers in London compiled by the London Drug and
Alcohol Network (LDAN). The questionnaire was designed to provide data on
workforce demographics (ethnicity, age, disability, etc.); recruitment and training
policies; workforce planning strategies and recruitment and retention deficits.
The survey was developed using an iterative process through consultations with a
number of provider organisations within the drugs and alcohol sector. These
consultations included discussion regarding human resource practices, difficulties and
issues within human resources. Following these consultations, a draft version of the
survey document was developed and circulated to the steering group and partners for
feedback. A number of changes were made to the questionnaire based on this feedback.
This questionnaire contained items regarding a range of human resource policies and
practice. The final version of the survey questionnaire was distributed to the
“manager” or “human resources department” of 238 providers of drugs and alcohol
services within Greater London. Questionnaires were completed and returned by post
during May and June 2002. In cases where a larger organisation governed a number of
smaller organisations and human resources were managed centrally, the questionnaire
was sent only to the main organisation. Where this was the case the HR managers of
these organisations were contacted first by telephone to check that HR practice was the
same across all of the constituent parts of the organisation.
The survey data were supported by qualitative interviews with the manager or HR
manager of four substance misuse provider organisations. The four organisations were
selected based upon their questionnaire responses to include both voluntary and public
sector organisations, and a range of organisation sizes and location. The organisations
included a large (over 30 staff) and a small (under 20 staff) voluntary and public sector
organisation and were located in four different areas of London. The interviewees were
asked to discuss in more detail issues covered in the questionnaire, namely recruitment
and retention, training and employee relations. They were also asked to provide
examples of how HR difficulties were addressed within their organisation. In addition,
these interviews were used as audits in that the organisations were asked to validate
their questionnaire responses and to provide documentary evidence of the policies that
they used. There are limitations associated with inferring how human resources are
managed as a result of asking managers themselves about their policies, practices and
the environment in which they operate. Other stakeholders such as employees may
view policies rather differently and the lack of data from other sources is a limitation
on these findings. However, the existence of standards such as QuADS in this sector
means that these policies and practices are at least subject to a form of external
verification.
PR Results
A total of 96 organisations returned the completed questionnaire, representing a 40 per
34,5 cent response rate; 33 per cent of the responses were from statutory or public sector
organisations, of which almost all (94 per cent) were NHS trusts; 60 per cent of the
completed questionnaires were from voluntary organisations, all of which were
registered charities. This is believed to be representative of the population of substance
594 misuse service providers in Greater London as a whole.
Below we present the results from the survey for both voluntary and statutory
organisations. By providing data on a number of areas of HRM we build a picture of
HR policy and practice in voluntary sector drug and alcohol misuse services. This is
then compared with statutory service providers. The results highlighted a number of
similarities, but also some important differences between drug and alcohol service
providers in the public and voluntary sectors.
The vast majority of respondents from the voluntary sector indicated that they
experienced recruitment problems (87.3 per cent). The most common reasons given for
these problems were a lack of candidates with appropriate experience (90 per cent), a
lack of candidates per se (84 per cent) and a lack of candidates with the necessary
technical skills (76 per cent) (Table I). However, only around a fifth of respondents in
the voluntary sector (21.1 per cent) indicated that they experienced high levels of
labour turnover. This would suggest that whilst there are difficulties recruiting, once
candidates are appointed they tend to be retained and thus recruitment difficulties are
not further exacerbated by high labour turnover.
The picture for the statutory sector was broadly similar. Recruitment difficulties
were experienced by nearly all responding organisations (96.6 per cent), recording an
even higher rate than in the voluntary sector. A chi-square analysis showed that the
difference between the two sectors was approaching significance (Pearson’s x 2 ¼ 2:86;
p ¼ 0:091Þ; but this should be viewed with some caution due to a small number of
public sector organisations reporting no difficulties. This difference may be due to the
fact that the NHS commonly employs qualitatively different staff to voluntary sector
organisations, since they require qualified nurses due to the medical requirements of
the service. As these workers need to be qualified, they are generally more difficult to
find. Again an insufficient number of applicants and applicants with a lack of
appropriate experience were the most common reasons cited for recruitment
difficulties. A lack of technical skills and salary match were less commonly cited in
public sector organisations, although this difference was not significant. In line with
the voluntary sector, high levels of labour turnover were reported by less than a

n Voluntary Statutory Pearson’s x 2 p

Lack of experience 86 90.4 93.1 0.61 0.44

Insufficient applicants 86 84.3 86.7 1.33 0.25
Lack of technical skills 77 76.1 48.1 1.58 0.21
Lack of managerial skills 79 53.1 42.3 0.51 0.43
Salary match 80 47.9 37.0 0.17 0.68
Table I. Location (accommodation problems) 75 27.3 37.0 0.88 0.35
Reasons behind Location (transport problems) 75 24.4 32.0 0.19 0.66
recruitment difficulties Too many applicants 76 8.7 11.5 0.08 0.77
quarter of statutory sector respondents. The proportion of organisations reporting HRM in the
high levels of labour turnover was shown to be similar in both the voluntary and public
sectors (voluntary sector ¼ 25 per cent; public sector ¼ 26 per cent; Pearson’s x 2 ¼
voluntary and
0:222; NS). Here it should be noted that the data represent the respondents’ opinions of public sectors
whether their turnover was high rather than a measure of actual turnover.
From the interview data there was general agreement among interviewees that the
available pool of qualified workers was very limited and that providers from the two 595
sectors compete for the same staff. Ideally, managers indicated that they would like to
recruit staff with existing professional qualifications and some substance misuse
experience, but in practice they commonly receive few applications and often have to
re-advertise before they find a suitable applicant.
The fact that almost half of voluntary organisations reported problems recruiting
due to the salary offered suggests that the financial rewards in the voluntary sector are
not sufficient to attract candidates. While the difference between voluntary and public
sector organisations with regard to recruitment difficulties due to salary match was not
significant, there was a general feeling from interviewees that rewards were better
within the public sector than the voluntary sector and it may be therefore that this
difference would be significant with a larger sample of organisations. Voluntary sector
managers spoke of some movement of staff from the voluntary sector into the public
sector and saw this as a consequence of the higher salaries and superior benefits
offered. Table II indicates the average salary for managers and project workers.
Compared to average wages nationally, these figures, particularly for managers, do not
compare well (New Earnings Survey, 2002). This situation is further accentuated by the
fact that all respondents were based in London where average wages are
comparatively high.
When compared to the public sector we can see that salaries are lower in the
voluntary sector. This is particularly pronounced for managers, where average salaries
are in the region of 23 per cent lower than in the public sector.
Turning to look at other elements of the reward package, Table III shows the range
of benefits offered. The responses show that the most common benefits offered by the
voluntary sector relate to various forms of enhanced leave arrangements, for example
additional compassionate, maternity and paternity leave are offered. These and other
benefits such as the facility for an advance on wages, paint a picture of a caring
employer, who may offer such arrangements as some form of mitigation for lower
average salaries. In comparison to the public sector, however, a number of significant
differences emerge. For example, whilst enhanced leave arrangements were common
here too, public sector organisations are significantly more likely to offer occupational
health (82 per cent) and vaccination programmes (77 per cent). Relocation expenses,
loans and medical screening were also offered by half or more of the public sector
organisations. Thus, in addition to offering better pay, this evidence suggests that the
public sector offers a more generous benefits package to their employees. This

Voluntary Statutory

Managers (£ average salary per annum) 27,531 35,705 Table II.

Project workers (£ average salary per annum) 21,021 22,182 Salaries 2002
PR
Vol. org. NHS trusts x2 p
34,5
Extra compassionate leave 73.6 63.6 0.43 0.51
Extra maternity leave 56.6 59.1 0.13 0.71
Extra paternity leave 50.9 54.5 0.00 0.96
Advance on wages 43.4 27.3 2.41 0.12
596 Extra leave prior to redundancy 30.2 45.5 0.02 0.90
Occupational health 28.3 81.8 37.82 0.00
Company loans 26.4 50.0 15.59 0.00
Vaccination programmes 24.5 77.3 25.22 0.00
EAPs 20.8 18.2 0.38 0.54
Subsidised meals 18.9 36.4 5.99 0.01
Relocation expenses 11.3 59.1 30.58 0.00
Medical screening 11.3 50.0 23.29 0.00
Life insurance 5.7 13.6 0.00 0.99
Residential accommodation 3.8 45.5 29.19 0.00
Table III. Crèche 1.9 27.3 25.51 0.00
Benefits Private health insurance 0 4.5 1.10 0.29

situation was echoed in the interview data. Interviewees suggested that it is impossible
for voluntary organisations to compete with the public sector in terms of rewards, and
as a result organisations regularly lose staff to the public sector.
There is some evidence that voluntary sector organisations have learnt to be
creative in the ways that they attract and retain employees and have developed
alternative strategies by which to encourage people to join and remain within their
workforce (Table IV).
These findings show that employers in the voluntary sector offer a reasonably high
degree of flexibility to employees. Part-time jobs were common and a majority of
employers operated with flexitime. Job sharing was also offered by more than a quarter
of employers. It may be that these employers have sought to offer flexible working
arrangements as a means to combat the relatively low wages and conditions that they
offer. When compared to the public sector, these employers offered a greater range of
flexible working arrangements. While a similar proportion offer flexitime, voluntary
organisations are significantly more likely to offer job share and part-time hours. This
would suggest that voluntary organisations are using more innovative methods of
attracting and retaining their staff, as they are unable to offer pay and benefits
equivalent to the public sector. A number of interviewees discussed the promotion of
“work-life balance” as a means of attracting and retaining employees. One manager
from a voluntary sector organisation explained that flexible working strategies

n Voluntary Statutory x2 p

Part-time 96 88.5 71.9 4.00 0.05

Flexitime 89 56.6 56.7 0.34 0.56
Job share 81 29.2 11.1 4.05 0.04
Table IV. Annualised hours 80 22.4 8.0 3.05 0.08
Flexible working Home/tele working 81 18.8 11.1 0.67 0.41
promote employee satisfaction and therefore encourage workers to remain within the HRM in the
organisation. voluntary and
Our findings show that the vast majority of voluntary organisations have a range of
formal recruitment and selection policies in place, ranging from the use of formalised public sectors
job descriptions and person specifications, to equal opportunities (Table V). This
picture is closely mirrored by the public sector and there are no significant differences
between the two sectors. Recruitment and selection policies and procedures are in place 597
across the substance misuse sector regardless of whether an organisation is in the
public or voluntary sector. However, differences emerged regarding policy on the
employment of ex-substance users and regarding the vetting of applicants. The
voluntary sector was significantly more likely to have a policy in place for the
employment of ex-substance users and the statutory sector was also more likely to
have a policy on the vetting (police or local authority) of applicants for suitability. It
should be noted, however, that this difference was not significant.
Table VI indicates the usage of training policies and procedures. As with
recruitment and selection policies, training policies and procedures are generally in
place within the voluntary sector. Most voluntary sector organisations had a written
training policy, annual training plans, a systematic process for assessing training
needs, and formal processes in place for employee induction and performance
appraisal. In this area there were no significant differences between the two sectors,
suggesting that the picture in the public sector is very similar to that in the voluntary
sector.
Respondents were also asked to indicate whether they had an equal opportunities
policy and formal grievance procedures in place. These policies are generally in place
across the substance misuse sector regardless of whether an organisation is in the
public or voluntary sector. The majority of organisations sampled in both sectors had

n Voluntary Statutory x2 p

Written recruitment/selection policy 90 92.7 100.00 2.45 0.11

Equal opportunities in recruitment/selection policy 85 98.1 100.00 0.61 0.44
Up to date job descriptions for all jobs 92 92.7 87.1 0.51 0.48
Candidate specifications for all jobs 90 100.00 96.7 1.68 0.20 Table V.
Policy re: employing ex-substance users 86 76.5 51.7 2.92 0.87 Recruitment and selection
Policy re: police/local authority vetting of applicants 87 69.2 82.8 2.07 0.15 policies

n Voluntary Statutory x2 p

Written training policy 89 64.3 66.7 0.96 0.62

Unwritten training policy 89 26.8 25.9 – –
Annual training plan 90 65.5 72.4 0.19 0.66
Adhere to plan 58 91.2 77.8 0.62 0.43
Formal induction of employees 91 98.2 96.7 0.14 0.71 Table VI.
Assess training needs systematically 90 79.2 74.2 0.12 0.43 Training policies and
Formal appraisal process 90 80.0 96.7 5.04 0.03 procedures
PR an equal opportunities policy (100 per cent in the voluntary sector and 96.7 per cent in
34,5 the public sector) and all (100 per cent) had formal grievance procedures.
The introduction of the QuADS standards has meant that all provider organisations
must have a number of human resources policies and procedures in place. In some
cases it is mandatory for organisations to be working towards compliance to these
standards in order to satisfy the requirements of their service agreements (and, as such,
598 maintain their funding). The development of the QuADS standards is in line with the
view that the purchasers of services (in this case the NTA) are attempting to regulate
the voluntary sector by tying funding to the achievement of specified performance
criteria (Tonkiss and Passey, 1999). It is likely that the introduction of QuADS will
have had a direct impact on the existence of formal policies and procedures within drug
treatment organisations as many of these have become a requirement.
However, the results indicate that less than 10 per cent of organisations in the
voluntary sector at the time of the survey were QuADs compliant and that equally only
just under a quarter achieved the Investors in People award (Table VII). By contrast,
more than a third of organisations in the public (statutory) sector were compliant with
the QuADS standards. Equally, almost a half of public sector organisations had
achieved Investors in People. These differences were highly significant. This is likely
to be due to the influence of political pressures on NHS trusts to conform to
government supported initiatives. Furthermore, the closer relationship between
government and the voluntary sector is relatively new and as such the degree of
influence is likely to be less well developed.
These results show training was well established within the voluntary sector
(Table VIII). Organisations had a separate budget for training (representing on average
3.1 per cent of payroll costs), offered sponsorship for employees to attend education
courses and offered similar amounts of off-the-job training to managers (6.2 days) and
practitioners (6.7 days) (Table IX). The situation was broadly similar in the public
sector regarding the existence of separate training budgets and the number of days
devoted to training. However, proportionately greater financial resources were
allocated to training in the public sector, although this difference was not significant.
A slightly higher proportion of organisations in the public sector offer sponsored
education courses, compared to those in the voluntary sector. It should be noted,
however, that this difference was not significant and that the majority of substance
misuse organisations regardless of sector offer this service to their employees.

Table VII. n Voluntary Statutory x2 p

Compliance with QuADS
and Investors in People QuADS compliant 80 9.8 36.0 9.13 0.00
standards Investors in People status 86 24.1 48.1 8.11 0.00

n Voluntary Statutory
Table VIII.
Time spent on training Managers 61 6.2 6.9
(days) Practitioners 62 6.7 6.7
Discussion and conclusions HRM in the
The objective of this paper was to provide a picture of human resource practice in the voluntary and
voluntary sector within the context of drug and alcohol treatment providers and to
make comparisons of HR policy and practice between voluntary and public sector public sectors
organisations. Making this comparison allowed us to examine our argument that as a
result of recent changes to the way in which the voluntary sector operates, HRM in the
sector would become more similar to the public sector. From the data available, these 599
findings present a relatively positive picture of HRM practice in the voluntary sector.
Although a lack of funds, together with the irregular nature of much of their funding,
means that voluntary organisations are unable to offer competitive terms and
conditions of employment, the vast majority of organisations have a range of formal
HR policies and procedures in place. It is, however, important to note that these data
refer largely to the existence or otherwise of HR policies, which may not necessarily be
revealing of actual HR practice. In comparison to the public sector we found not only
many similarities, but also some important differences.
In common with the public sector, voluntary sector organisations experienced
serious recruitment problems. Whilst this was in part attributed to a lack of suitable
candidates due to the competitive context of the London labour market, in this sector
the levels of pay and the benefits offered exacerbated the problem. A comparison of
salaries in this sector with welfare services generally indicated that salaries for
workers within voluntary sector drug and alcohol services were low (New Earnings
Survey, 2002). Salaries, particularly for managers, compared poorly and the range of
benefits offered in the voluntary sector was narrower. This finding lends some support
to the idea of an “ethos discount” (Lloyd, 1993) operating, whereby employees are
prepared to make sacrifices to work for an organisation with a charitable ethos due to
their moral attachment to the organisation, but the recruitment difficulties experienced
would suggest that the effect is limited.
We found evidence of organisations in the voluntary sector attempting to find
alternative solutions to these problems, both in terms of the benefits they offered and
the opportunities for flexible working. Most of these organisations offered part-time
work and more than half offered flexitime. Equally, job sharing, home working and
annualised hours were offered by a number of employers. The voluntary sector
compared well on flexible working practices, with more options available than in the
public sector. Interviewees explained that flexible working and the promotion of
work-life balance was one way of attracting and retaining workers, as an alternative to
higher levels of pay and superior benefits.
It is worthwhile to note that whilst the vast majority of voluntary sector
organisations indicated that they had experienced recruitment difficulties, difficulties

n Voluntary Statutory Test of significance p

Organisations with separate training/

development budget (per cent) 89 85.2 82.8 x 2: 0.77 0.38
Average proportion of total annual
payroll bill spent on training (per cent) 50 3.1 5.6 t: 1.49 0.14 Table IX.
Offer sponsored education courses 89 81.8 92.9 x 2: 2.30 0.13 Money spent on training
PR in retaining workers were less common. As we have discussed, people who choose to
34,5 work for a voluntary organisation may do so because they have a moral attachment
and are committed to its cause (Armstrong, 1992) and therefore may be willing to work
for lower extrinsic rewards because of the existence of intrinsic ones (Zimmeck, 1998).
Managers of voluntary organisations described how their workers were retained
despite relatively low wages and benefits because of the organisation’s ethos. One
600 manager commented that “voluntary organisations rely too much on their employees’
commitment to the cause”. The employment of ex-service users may be a deliberate
policy to secure staff that has a high level of commitment to the work.
In both sectors a range of HR policies and procedures were generally in place.
However, when the two sectors were compared according to their compliance to the
QuADS, the voluntary sector faired less well. A greater proportion of public sector
organisations had also achieved Investors in People. This may suggest that HR
practices were simply less well developed in the voluntary sector, but it may also be
that, due to political influence on public sector employment (Corby and White, 1999), a
higher proportion of public sector organisations had, at the time of the research, been
through the assessment process.
In relation to training, the two sectors provided similar amounts of off-the-job
training for employees in days per year, but the spend on training in the public sector
was significantly higher. As a proportion of their annual pay bill, the public sector
appeared to spend almost twice as much compared to the voluntary sector. However,
this difference is not significant (Table IX). Funding is a re-occurring problem within
voluntary services and as such impacts upon the amount available for training.
Managers of voluntary services indicated that finding money for training is
problematic, since it cannot be budgeted for in service contracts, unlike the public
sector. Thus, while the policies and procedures for effective training may have been in
place, in practice this area was restricted by the financial constraints facing these
organisations.
In this study there were large areas of similarity between the voluntary and public
sectors, especially with regard to policies and procedures. This supports the view that
management in the voluntary sector is unlikely to differ significantly from
management in other sectors where they are delivering similar services, since they
too are accountable to stakeholders and as such need to be managed in an effective way
(Armstrong, 1992). Additionally, at the outset of this paper we argued that, since
voluntary organisations are not driven by the profit motive and as a result of the
greater involvement of the voluntary sector in the provision of public sector services in
more recent times, HR practice in the voluntary sector would be similar to that in the
public sector. To a large extent our evidence suggests that this is so. Whilst not part of
the public sector, human resource practice in voluntary sector organisations is not
independent of government influence. The reliance of service providers on government
for a large part of their funding means that they need to be more transparent and
effective in the way they manage their organisations (Tonkiss and Passey, 1999).
Specifically for organisations providing drug and alcohol misuse services, they are
required to meet the conditions imposed by the NTA.
The areas of difference observed, such as remuneration and expenditure on training,
largely stem from the funding arrangements to which the voluntary sector is subject
(Palmer, 2003) and may be sustainable because of employee commitment to the
organisation’s cause (Lloyd, 1993; Zimmeck, 1998). It may also be that this research HRM in the
took place at a time when the voluntary sector was “catching up” with the statutory voluntary and
sector. In the drug and alcohol misuse field initiatives such as QuADs were a relatively
recent phenomenon and without direct political influence, it may be that voluntary public sectors
sector organisations were taking time to adjust to the new environment. However,
whilst the mixed economy of care persists, it is likely that governments will continue to
influence the management of these organisations and as a result increase the 601
similarities in the way in which human resources are managed in the public and
voluntary sectors. The findings presented here have shed some light on the policies
and practices in one part of the voluntary sector. We have also contributed to the
debate on how different types of organisations develop HR policy. The extent to which
these findings are generalisable beyond the provision of drug and alcohol services is
not clear, particularly given the diverse nature of the sector (Osborne, 1997). Other
parts of the voluntary sector, less involved with publicly funded work, may operate in
different ways. Further research is required to examine the ways in which human
resources are managed in other parts of the sector.

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