Volunteer Engagement Primer

PEMAC's Volunteers: A Legacy of Excellence in Maintenance, Reliability and Asset Management

Since its inception in 1990, PEMAC members have volunteered their time, shared knowledge and established PEMAC as a leader in excellence in the areas or Maintenance, Reliability and Asset Management in Canada and within the global community. 

The knowledge, best practices and excellence generated by ongoing PEMAC volunteer efforts delivers value for,

• Individuals who volunteer (skill, knowledge and leadership development opportunities via volunteering)
• Organizations (members bring knowledge, practices and solutions to organizational practice)
• The public (excellence in service delivery)

With the costs of poorly managed infrastructure and assets being into the billions, a membership at PEMAC is a nominal cost to contribute to the development and dissemination of profession-leading solutions by engaging in PEMAC's initiatives as a volunteer. By contributing to these initiatives as a member, you become part of the solution by sharing your knowledge, enhancing your career and improving reliability, maintenance and asset management practices for organizations and ultimately the public they serve

PEMAC encourages professionals in the field to consider the significant benefits of membership as a low-cost, but high return method of advancing personal, professional and organizational excellence. Benefits of engaging with PEMAC includes the opportunity to join our proud community of volunteers working to advance the profession, the association and each member's personal and professional journey.

PEMAC welcomes and invites those who share the aims of PEMAC to consider membership and ultimately engagement in our profession-influencing volunteer initiatives.

Learn more about becoming a PEMAC member as a first step toward building your personal and professional goals by contributing to the work of the association.

Backgrounder: Establishment of PEMAC's Formal Volunteer Program

After over 30-years of informal volunteering, PEMAC established of its formal volunteer program in June 2022. Envisioned as being a member-informed program from inception, it is structured on an ongoing cycle of member feedback and continuous improvement; using these approaches, PEMAC proudly offers a responsive and tailored Volunteer Program that directly reflects our member’s stated wishes and needs as well as best-practices in the field of Volunteer Management.

Strategic Positioning: The Board of Directors viewed the establishment of a formal volunteer program as a means to accomplish its Strategic goals and objectives by,

• Growing the capacity of the association to support our vision
• Broaden community engagement through “connect, learn and contribute”
• Gross Revenue by engaging new members to volunteer and existing volunteers to renew
• Documenting the number of volunteers who participate
• Retention. Percentage of Members who renew their membership
• Documenting the number of hours contributed by members outside of PEMAC education

The Volunteer Program also indirectly supports the achievement of a range of other Strategic Goals and Objectives via the participation of PEMAC volunteers on a range of initiatives.

Operational Positioning: On an operational level, having a formal volunteer program facilitates the following,

• Reaching-out to- and recruiting of- new members to contribute to PEMAC's knowledge and best practice development
• Diversification of ideas, perspectives and knowledge being contributed to PEMAC initiatives
• Formalization of processes and practices so all volunteers are treated with consistency and fairness in accessing volunteer assignments, regardless of experience level
• The documentation of skills, competencies and activities of members who engage on PEMAC initiatives
• Advancement of the association's work with greater efficiency and standardization
• The recruitment, identification, and grooming of future PEMAC leaders
• Optimal member engagement experiences by offering a cogent and consistent engagement process across the association
• Articulation of staff, steward, and member responsibilities through the Volunteer Life Cycle on assignments
• Insurance coverage of volunteers under PEMAC's Liability Insurance - all must go through the pre-assignment steps to be covered
• PEMAC's protection under the terms of its own liability insurance

PEMAC's Volunteer Engagement Program accomplishes its strategic and operational purposes by,

• Synthesizing PEMAC's strategic directions, feedback from staff and volunteers and research on best practices in engagement and retention to create, maintain and improve engagement practices that facilitate the advancement of PEMAC's goals and objectives
• Creating a culture of engagement and recognition organization-wide to facilitate a strong value proposition to engage individuals in PEMAC and its initiatives
• Creating, maintaining and improving a member-informed program structure and standards for member engagement
• Supporting and training Initiative Champions to plan, develop and lead new and existing volunteer-based initiatives
• Recruiting, documenting and supporting PEMAC members through the Volunteer Life Cycle of an assignment(s)
• Orienting and supporting PEMAC members toward engagement with the association
• Member retention and enhancement via well-coordinated engagement practices and recognition

The Volunteer Handbook contains critical information for members about the volunteer program and how volunteering works at PEMAC.

PEMAC's Volunteer Engagement Program

Vision Statement:

An innovative, diverse, member-driven network of professionals working together to promote excellence in maintenance, reliability, and asset management through volunteering.

What our Volunteers say about volunteering at PEMAC

"I like to learn a lot and am exposed to leading practices which can be shared with others. The networking is valuable. There is a great opportunity for different industries to learn from each other- what may work well in one organization, may just need minor tweaks to work in another organization. Innovation can happen when working together across industries." 

"I like making things happen- creating value by connecting and coming together to share and come up with solutions I love learning and contributing and that is what PEMAC stands for."

"I love working together as a group. The team never looked at me as a newbie to asset management and my opinions were [valued]. There are times when we have different opinions but we always found a solution."

The Volunteer Program Supports the Development of Initiative Suggestions:

Members are invited to suggest new initiatives and projects using the Suggestion Form located at the bottom of the "Strategic Plan" page. Suggestions go through a vetting process to ensure alignment with PEMAC's Strategic Goals and Objectives. If a suggestion is approved, the  member who submitted the suggestion may opt to lead any future developmental or implementation work and ultimately, participate on the initiative. To learn about the suggestion process in more detail, see the Initiative Handbook.

The Volunteer Program supports existing initiatives that require volunteers:

When a PEMAC committee, chapter, program or project identifies a need for volunteers for short-, medium- or longer-term roles, they plan the initiative with the VES, and then submit a "Volunteer Request Form." 

The person who submits the Volunteer Request Form is known as the Volunteer Steward. The Volunteer Steward leads and supports member engagement on PEMAC initiatives. All Volunteer Stewards are oriented to the PEMAC standards and practices for member engagement by the Volunteer Engagement Specialist (VES). The Volunteer Steward and the VES work closely through the Volunteer Life Cycle of the assignment to coordinate and share information so that all member engagements are as successful and productive as possible.

 When the VES receives a Volunteer Request Form, they work with the Volunteer Steward to create a role description that is then posted to the 'Current Volunteer Opportunities' section of the 'Contribute' drop-down on the Member Home page so members can review and apply. 

Those who apply for a role will complete the appropriate Volunteer Engagement Process so the right candidates can get documented and assigned. See the flow chart below to see how the engagement process works pre- and during- assignments.

Volunteer Engagement Process

Introduction to Volunteer Services Video

Learn more about why and how to volunteer with PEMAC.