Voluntary sector responses to increased resourcing challenges

Drug treatment services in the UK have recently undergone significant expansion, alongside the introduction of a set of quality standards, which included the management of people. Consequently, voluntary organisations in this sector have been faced with the dual challenges of meeting these standards and simultaneously attracting and retaining additional staff in an already tight labour market. This paper aims to examine the response of voluntary sector organisations to these pressures within the wider context of the so‐called “contract culture”, whereby, in order to remain competitive, organisations have experienced continuous pressure on labour costs.

This paper reports findings from a large‐scale nation‐wide survey and interviews with HR Managers.

The results showed that these organisations had a range of “good practice” HR policies in place and had made some progress in achieving the quality standards, although many struggled to recruit and retain suitable staff. The consequences of these findings are discussed in relation to the literature on both recruitment and retention and HRM in the voluntary sector.

The paper has practical implications for resourcing practice within the wider voluntary sector.

The authors have provided a contribution to an under researched field through the examination of the challenges facing voluntary sector drug treatment providers in recent years.