Engaging with vulnerable households is time-intense and requires effective ‘soft’ skills. Energy communities (ECs) should consider whether staff or volunteers are best suited to ‘personal’ work.
ECs must consider the pros and cons of both options, and perhaps settle on a mix that best suits their needs and capacities (including financial capacity). Either way, ECs must ensure that anyone engaging directly with households has appropriate training in the soft skills that will both build trust and facilitate gathering the information needed to take meaningful action.
Over the long term, maintaining consistent conduct and levels of service is critical to supporting vulnerable households. To build trust, ensure confidentiality and execute an effective intervention plan, it is ideal to have a single point of contact for each household, even though a broader team (spanning social assistants to technical experts) may eventually become involved. The point person should have comprehensive knowledge of energy poverty and the ways in which the EC can implement energy solidarity. Critically, they should also have specialised training in working with vulnerable people on sensitive issues.
Aspects to consider when assigning roles
| Staff | Volunteers |
| Experts, yes; neutral, no: ECsmay be keen to directly connect with vulnerable households in their communities to demonstrate energy solidarity. If, however, initial attempts to engage are perceived as an effort to ‘sell’ memberships or secure some type of investment, the target groups may immediately become wary. Or simply unable to consider participating. The same negative outcome may arise if the initial interaction is too heavily focused on technical details they may not understand. | ‘Neutral actors’ with no vested interest: Individuals clearly identified as volunteers have the advantage that people quickly understand they are not involved to sell anything or realise any personal gain. Rather, they are concerned individuals interested in strengthening their local community. As locals who are socially engaged, volunteers may have more success in initiating dialogues and opening doors. When recruited from among people who have experienced energy poverty, volunteers can connect with target audiences in more personal ways, helping to build trust and broaden networks. |
| Employment contracts support consistency: ECs typically attract employees who are fundamentally committed to the principles of a just, clean energy transition. The security of an employment contract can be a strong motivation for them to stay on board, particularly if they are also given opportunities for professional development. For ECs working with vulnerable people, staff stability can have enormous value in terms of providing a consistent level of service and deeper engagement. Typically, employment contracts also include a clause regarding the amount of time expected when an employee does take a decision to leave, which hopefully supports recruiting and training the replacement. | Volunteers are never completely ‘free’: An EC’s bottom line often plays a role in choosing to work with volunteers. But ECs must properly account for the staff time needed to recruit, train and keep volunteers organised and motivated. Staff need to support volunteers doing work in the field, for example, by being available to take calls or answer questions or to organise meetings at which they can share experiences. Keeping volunteers motivated may involve organising social events to show appreciation. Budgeting for costs related to administration and insurance coverage is also important. Finally, volunteers should never be ‘out of pocket’ for expenses related to their work. Direct costs for transportation, food, etc., should be paid up front or reimbursed upon submission of receipts. |
| Staff costs can be high: CEES Partners found that identifying and engaging with vulnerable households (and/or other agencies that can support connections) required a lot of time. When considering whether an energy solidarity measure is financially feasible, ECs must consider all aspects of personnel costs, including salary, social charges, and other legal obligations (e.g. insurance), as well as expenses employees incur that need to be reimbursed. | Risk of high and unexpected turnover: People who volunteer are typically highly committed to causes that align with their personal values. Some will dedicate substantial amounts of time over many years to a given association or organisation. ECs must keep in mind, however, that volunteers may decide to disengage at any time, for many different reasons. This reality may influence what roles to assign and the degree to which it makes sense to invest in training. |
| Keeping volunteers motivated: Volunteers often engage with an organisation because they see an opportunity to participate in making things better for people around them and their community. In short, they find the experience emotionally rewarding. In reality, ECs often need assistance with more mundane tasks such as updating databases, creating mailing lists, and preparing for or cleaning up after events. To keep volunteers engaged over the long term, ECs should seek to balance tasks, identify what skills volunteers have to offer and create opportunities for them to develop new skills. They should also be open to fresh ideas from volunteers. Conveying how even the ‘behind the scenes’ work is vital to practicing energy solidarity can keep motivation up. |
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