Graduate Research Papers

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Open Access Graduate Research Paper

Abstract

The use and efficacy of motivational factors in attracting and retaining employees has become an increasingly important concern within the realm of leisure-service management. Authors of leading text on managing leisure-service organizations have affirmed this dilemma, stating that more research is needed on how to attract, retain, supervise, and motivate employees (Henderson & Bialeschki, 1993; Hoff, Ellis & Crossley, 1988). In recent decades, this need has become particularly true with respect to the motives of seasonal and part-time volunteers (DeGraaf & Edginton, 1992). The field of outdoor recreation/resource management is of no exception. Thus, the purpose of this study was to describe the motivational factors among seasonal (summer) volunteers within an outdoor recreation/resource management setting. Subjects for this study were 1,723 seasonal volunteers who performed internships with the Student Conservation Association during the summer of 2008. Of these 1,723 individuals, usable data were obtained from 603 for a response rate of 35 percent. In particular, the development of a more thorough conceptualization regarding the attraction, retention, and motivation of these individuals was the objective of this study.

In order to accomplish this task, mean differences between motivation and hygiene factors, based on Herzberg's motivation/hygiene theory, were compared to the independent variables of sex, age, school status, major of study, job setting, number of years with the SCA, and willingness to volunteer with the SCA in future years. To examine how the independent variables influenced the dependent variables, the motives for volunteering were presented in descending order of their means. If a statistically significant difference was identified, Scheffe's post hoc analysis was performed. Findings revealed that increasing my knowledge, enjoying the outdoors, having new experiences, protecting the environment, and gaining work experience were important items to consider in the attraction, retention, and motivation of seasonal (summer) volunteers in the field of outdoor recreation/resource management.

Year of Submission

2008

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Division of Leisure, Youth and Human Services

First Advisor

Kathleen Scholl

Comments

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Date Original

2008

Object Description

1 PDF file (145 pages)

Language

en

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