The Critical Role of Volunteers in the Success of Glastonbury Festival

This report delves into the crucial role of volunteers at the Glastonbury Festival, examining their impact on the event's success. It begins with an introduction to the festival and its reliance on volunteers, emphasizing their importance in various tasks and community engagement. The report explores the benefits of utilizing volunteers, including cost savings, skill contributions, and increased community ownership. It then addresses the importance of volunteer motivation, discussing factors that can lead to demotivation and strategies for encouraging volunteer participation. The report highlights the need for effective human resource management, including strategies like seeking buy-in, encouraging contributions, providing training, and maintaining open communication. The conclusion emphasizes the value of volunteers and the importance of implementing strategies to ensure their continued involvement and satisfaction, ultimately contributing to the long-term success and popularity of the Glastonbury Festival. The report references academic sources to support its findings and recommendations.

ROLE OF VOLUNTEERS IN GLASTONBURY EVENT
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INTRODUCTION
Glastonbury Festival is a five-day festival which takes place near Pilton (Somerset). At summer
most of the peoples visited in Glastonbury festivals which are from different- different countries
like - USA and EUROPE. One most important part of Glastonbury Festival is Contemporary
performing arts.in the last years it achieved the largest growth from a small music festival.
Almost in every year number of attendees of Glastonbury festival are increased. The first
Glastonbury festival was organized in a village of Pilton, which situated in the UK. Michael and
Jean Eavis held first Glastonbury festival. This festival took place on the biggest level in which
more than 1000 activities arranged on different 17 stages( Jamison.2014).It organized in the mid
of June at the same farm. In this event volunteering, placements have a critical juncture. It makes
staffing for the UK as it based upon use of unpaid workforce. Glastonbury event works
collaboratively with Oxfam, which considered as the largest recruiter, and event helper. It occurs
different events like- hosts dance, circus, and comedy. In Glastonbury festivals, there are some
members of media for showing its coverage on various channels, which will ultimately enhance
their popularity and also the number of attendees of this festival.
TASK 1:-
(1)
As everyone wants a healthy and suitable environment where people can work without any
conflicts. In this regarding the question is arises who will make this possible? Only volunteers
can. Volunteers are very necessary for creating a healthy environment volunteers are devoting
their precious time and efforts in every day or night (Reynolds, 2013). Proper utilization of

community resources can be done only with the help of volunteers. Most of the peoples think
that volunteers are only as helpers, who spent their most of the time on their smartphones, and
organize files (Devito,2016). Volunteers play a major role like:-
1. Handling day to day tasks
2. Raising funds
3. Taking other financial decisions
4. Controlling all the functions of the organization.
In the absence of volunteers, some organizations cannot exist .but; the most important thing is
that all boards and committees consist of volunteers. All larger business organizations like -
Salvation Army or An American Red Cross, have continuously survived more than 90 years
because of including a large part of their workforce is volunteers. As the business firm is
growing day by day and hire paid staff, yet they depend mostly on volunteers to perform all their
necessary task. Volunteers have very talent in which most of them experienced professionals,
medical doctors, financial planners or engineers. In 1999, in the US more than 9.0 million
volunteers were full-time employees working in different organizations. Due to changing an
economy, more emphasis is placed on hiring volunteers. An independent sector of US states that
more than 50 to 60 % likely to be a volunteer rather than be a high school graduate. All this
increase demand volunteers in many of the new professionalism organizations. Thus, at today in
many of the volunteer corporations consists of young and dynamic professionals, retired workers
and management personnel. Volunteers are now working at different organizations as their
leading role. So, we can say that volunteers in the US preferred more because of having their
more benefits.

(2)
It can be possible that organization are not aware about the advantages if volunteers in an event.
But, volunteers are crucial to the success of its event. Might the organisation think that they are
not reliable, but they can be reliable just only need to give them proper guidance and training. It
considered that it is a long time process to train volunteers, and there is also not surety from them
to work there. It is the great fear for every employer that volunteers leave the job after taking
training from their organization. That is a problem why most of the employer does not hire
volunteers right now. It is quite easy for them to do their work with the help of paid staff.
Despite, all these things there are various benefits of using volunteer staff which is following:-
1. Volunteers save money: - The most significant advantage of using volunteer as a team is
that they can become the reason of lifesaver of someone by saving their money. The dollar
value in 1997 for the volunteer was $13.72 per hour (Clayton,2016). Many of different
organizations like Red Cross almost do their functioning by volunteer labor and by doing
this, it is performing the very useful task without spending more money on their operation's.
2. Volunteers bring needed skills: - Most of the volunteers have their unique skills like
advertising, professionalism or computer programming that an organization required
occasionally. A volunteer who has the capability of spent his whole time with organization
can be a perfect staff member for that organization.
3. Volunteers bring renewed energy and excitement: - Volunteers in an organization can be a
fresh perspective or enthusiasm for the work. All this proves helpful for revitalize staff, and
can be useful in moving a project in the best direction.
4. Volunteers increase community ownership: - There were a significant number of
community members which participated in a project, the easier thing for them to gain

support for their work. Perhaps, by using volunteers in various community organization can
feel sure that all its goals were in time with what a community wants, not just only what
their organization members thinks they want.
TASK 3:-
(1)
It is necessary for any business organization to encourage the volunteers so that they can be
the part of this organization and can help in achieving its business goals. Motivation is a
key factor in any of the organization, in the absence of motivation organization cannot
become so successful in achieving their long-term objectives. It is the duty of every
organization to identify the needs of their staff members and fulfill them to feel them more
satisfy. In Glastonbury event, the most focus should be done to convince volunteers and
giving them proper motivation which gives them a feeling of the precious member of that
organization. There are many reasons which lead lack motivation in among all the
volunteers:
1. Not being asked: - It is the most powerful idea which demotivates volunteers that they
do not receive any importance from their organization.They are feeling uncomfortable
in working that type of environment which leads their low performance below the
expectations. (Sardo,2016)
2. Fear of being used as a token: - When volunteers think that they are only just here to
work, and their skills exploited here than it arises a terrible feeling in the mind of
volunteer and they never agree to become a part of any other corporate firm.

3. Lack of personal time: - The organization should give personal time to every volunteer
so that they can feel connected with the social environment. In an absence of personal
time, volunteers distract from their work, and they were not able to perform as
expectation.
4. Lack of knowledge about volunteer opportunities: - Most of the volunteers were there
who are not aware of their chances. So, it is the duty of the organization to inform them
about all available opportunities for benefits of volunteers.
5. The absence of benefits: - In the absence of advantages for all volunteers they are not
feeling motivated, they are not utilizing their full capacity. So, for the benefit of the
organization, it is necessary to give some benefits to their employees so that they can
feel motivated.
6. Not feeling connected to the mainstream community: - When volunteers think that they
are not the part of this community, this will arise a feeling of loneliness. So, for an
organization, every member should be equal, and they should maintain proper
coordination between them.
(2)
In past time, employees treated only as a production factor, but now they considered as human
resources of an organization. Human resources are viewing as the critical assets of the
organization. So, it is necessary to have a proper management of their human resources. HR
Manager is responsible for developing all the strategies for maintaining the human resource. So,
HR manager should develop those strategies which motivate volunteers to utilize their full
capability.

1. Seek buy- in - It should be necessary for an organization to involve all his volunteers’
members in fixing their business goals and taking the important decision. All this arises a
feeling of attachment to the organization and with all its members. All this enhance
volunteers work performance
2. Encourage contributions: - If the management gives volunteer staff to give their
contributions in working with the organization, it will provide them with an important
feeling which enhances their worth of a job. Giving responsibility to volunteer members
enables them to face challenges and work hard.
3. Keep employees informed: - When a volunteer feels he is not aware of anything which
happened in their department, this will give them a feeling of “not necessary" in the
organization. It ensures that all the required information should be circulated to all the
members of an organization so that they can keep updated themselves.
4. Help in fulfilling career goals: - It is necessary that HR should develop activities which
help volunteers in achieving their career goals. Giving volunteers opportunities to
enhance their skills helps the organization in motivating the volunteers.
5. Provide training: - For motivating volunteers, it is necessary to give them proper training
which builds their skills and can aware about their strength and weaknesses. Training
helps volunteer to fill the gap between lack of competencies and their productivity after
identifying training needs.
6. Communicate often: - It is necessary for an organization that open communication should
be there to all the volunteers’ members, its management, and other paid members. This
will lead high performance, and they feel highly involved in all the activities.

CONCLUSION:-
As we have studied, it is concluded that volunteers should be more focused for an
organization. They are the only way of getting success in all the tasks of the organization.
So. Volunteers should be honored in the same way as other paid members honored. If
management were doing so, they would seem more favorable in the future. An HR of the
organization should build all those strategies which save the future of an organization,
and this can do only after developing strategies regarding the volunteer’s benefits. These
strategies should be for every volunteer who will provide alternate benefit to the business
organization by fulfilling all their objectives. Motivation should be there during every
task of the organization this will lead high performance and better result. All these things
help firm in improving their goodwill in the market and can survive for the extended time
on the market. For the success of Glastonbury event, it is necessary to provide a
satisfaction which builds popularity and its value which enhance their number of
attendees.

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at a Summer Festival. Science Communication,38(2), 251-260.
Clayton, D. (2016). Volunteers’ knowledge activities at UK music festivals: a hermeneutic-
phenomenological exploration of individuals’ experiences.Journal of Knowledge Management, 20(1), 162-
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Events Professionals. Kogan Page Publishers.
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