Recruiting Commissioners

[WB Bear]

Recruitment is an ago old question in Scouting. I am aware of the steps in identifying the characteristics for Commissioners and I am also familiar with BSA guide on Selecting Quality Leaders. I am wondering some of methods that some of you have found to be successful in recruiting and retaining Commissioners?

[1st Mate]

The first time I served as a District Commissioner was about 16 years ago. WE had at the time about 4 active unit commissioners. I contacted several prominent local citizens and invited them to a pizza and brain storming session and promised them that I was not going to try and recruit them to do anything.
.
About 9 people showed up: The pastor of a local church, the fire chief, the county sheriff, the head of HR for a major employer, the mayor, a former mayor, The president of Rotary, an Eagle Scout from the troop I served as Scoutmaster a few years previous, and a few friends.

I explained to them what unit commissioning was and how it could impact the quality of scouting in our District. I described the characteristics I was looking for (positive attitudes, good communicators, a willingness to serve the community). I then asked each to think of people they knew (in their families, in the workplace, in their neighborhood, at their kids' school, at their church) who would fit this description.

So that everyone felt comfortable doing this we had them write the names on slips of paper and throw them in a bucket. We then transfered the names to a flip chart, We had about thirty names, and then we discussed each one.

LESSON 1! Never invite a priest or minister to do this. He was looking for the same kind of people I was looking for!! :)

After we discussed the list we came down to about 25 people we thought were worth pursuing. We asked our adhoc committee member to select people they knew and to personally invite them to attend an orientation meeting to "learn about an opportuinity to serve the youth in our community" they were not to mention scouting yet.

Then we asked the adhoc committee to be greeters at the orientation meeting. After that their work for us was done.

We had 18 people show up for the meeting and after our presentation 15 of them joined scouting as unit commissioners. We then began training them for 90 minutes each week for a month and then started them on unit visits.

Unfortunately my wife and I were transfered through her work within weeks of our new commissioner force getting started. So I did not get a chance to see the thing through.

The new DC did not have the tools to keep al the new folks going and about half quit the first year. Others I am told sayed quite a while and one bewcame the District Chairman about 5 years later and is now on the council committee.

So all in all I would have to say that this method worked extremely well. It is of course almost identical to the BSA's recommended selection process.

It does however take a salesperson to make it work at this level. You need a DC and ADCs with a lot of enthusiasm and willing to train new recruits quickly and correctly, and then maintain close communications.

However the biggest key to the success of this plan was the invitation from the adhoc committee, When someone you respect tells you that they feel you can make an impact in the community and they would like to come and consider doing this...it makes a huge impactg on the person being invited.

Then when we started our orientation meeting we were able to point to our greeters and say " The men and women you see before you were asked to consider, out of the hundreds and hundreds of people they knew, who would be the best to help make the scouting program a success in our community. And out of everyone they know, they felt that no one would be able to do a better job than you!"


That is motivation!

[FRUSTRATED SCOUTMASTER]

I agree with the approach that !st Mate has talked about.
But. I will go one step further. We in our District have started to ask former Scoutmasters and Cub Leaders to serve as Unit Commissioners. I myself was recruited after I stepped down as a Scoutmaster. Our DE recruited me heavilly.
The experiences and expertise that former Leaders have is an invalueable tool to the District and Council.
I know that when I go to visit my units, I am going there as somebody that Troop and or Pack already knows. I can relate to the concerns that they are having and offer them REAL SOLUTIONS and not BOOK SOLUTIONS to these concerns. The Troops and packs do not look at me as an outsider who is going to tell them what to do.
So, if you are looking for really good UC's, try to encourage former SM's and Cub Leaders to be part of the Commissioner Service.
Finally, I did not know the importance of the Commissioner Service until I became one.

Bob Klimas
Unit Commissioner
Concord District
Central N.C. Council:)

[1st Mate]

While past unit leaders are one source of commissioners there are some pitfalls you need to be aware of when recruiting from that source.

Often times there is a good reason why the person is a "former" leader. (and I have no way of knowing if Frustrated Scoutmaster falls into this nor am I suggesting that) But often former leaders are former because...they are frustrated with the job and quit (not the best attitude to have when counseling others with the same responsibilities, Did not do a good job and were replaced (not the best to be sharing skills with others), overburdened themselves and got burned out (not the best set of leadership skills to bring to a commissioners job). Just don't like today's scouting program and want to make it like "the good old days" (they should be allowed to retire and enjoy their memories).

Keep in mind that commissioners deal with every adult position. There is no need to expect that a scoutmaster will make a good commissioner because scoutmasters will listen to him. If he was a scoutmaster who did not interact well with the unit committee chair he will not be an effective commissioner simply because he used to be a scoutmaster.

What one has done in scouting will only aid them as a commissioner if they understand and are willing to share how to do it the scouting way. For that skill a person simply needs to be able to understand the program, correctly evaluate the situation, and share the appropriate resources to help support the units needs in that area.

My experience has been that the best commissioners come from people with no experience in scouting or people who have a broad experience in several positions in scouting. For instance I have found that someone who spent a few years as a den leader, a year as cubmaster and couple years on the troop committee make for better a commissioner than someone who spent 7 years in one position.

[FRUSTRATED SCOUTMASTER]

!st Mate:

Your comments about former Scoutmasters not being good Commissioners are way out of line.
You need to know ALL the facts before you make the accusations that you made.

Our DE is very selective in who he wants to serve as a Commissioner.

One needs to have the Willingness to serve, a Dedication to the Scouting Program, and Adhereance to the Scout Oath and Law. and above all be a Counselor and Friend to all the Units that he or she serves.

Each individual and situation is different BUT blanket statements should not be implied until you have walked in some else's shoes or know their situation.

Again, is it better to have someone with knowledge and experience in the program or someone who knows nothing about Scouting and butts into a Troop or Cub Program and does not know what they are talking about?

Just my thoughts and comments.

Bob Klimas
Unit Commissioner
Concord District
Central NC Council:mad:

[1st Mate]

I too am opposed to blanket statements and generalizations Frustrated Scoutmaster, which was why I posted that just because someone has served as a scoutmaster they should not automatically be considered good commissioner material.
("We in our District have started to ask former Scoutmasters and Cub Leaders to serve as Unit Commissioners.")
My point was to consider the person based NOT on what office they held, but on their ability to learn and share the official scouting program and its resources, rather than their "personal" methods or philosophies.

The chances of a former scoutmaster being a good commissioner are not as high as with a person selected for having the traits and chararcteristics needed for for the job regardless of their scouting background, would you not agree?

Out of curiosity...why is your DE selecting unit commissoners? That is not his/her responsibility. The District Commissioner and Assistant District Commissioners are charged with that duty.

[WB Bear]

Since I started this thread, I have been watching it. 1st Mate did have some valid points about using “past” leaders. Sometimes there is a reason why someone is a “past leader” and that question needs to be looked at closely before putting them into a Commissioners position. I have experienced both the good and the bad of that. The experience and expertise is a very valuable resource. I believe it is important to have this experience in a Commissioner after all the Commissioner is a representative of BSA to the unit, not the District or Council.

I do disagree with Frustrated SM regarding the giving of real answers as opposed to the book answers. It is imperative that representatives of BSA follow the book.

[FRUSTRATED SCOUTMASTER]

WB BEAR:

I do follow all BSA Rules and regulations when giving advice.
The "real" answers that I referred to was explaining the procedures and regulations to my units in a more simple and direct way. Sometimes a BSA Policy can be misinterpretated and cause problems down the line.
By giving a "real " answer to a question or concern that a Unit may have, I try to avoid a problem rather than create a problem.
I will go to our Council for guidance also, in getting an answer to a unit's concerns. Therefore, the "real" answers that I provide are put into the
KISS PRINCIPLE to help my units succeed.
That is what I am trying to do, Make my units the best that they can be in our District.

Bob Klimas
Unit Commissioner
Concord District
Central NC Council

[1st Mate]

I am sorry Bob, but I do not understand your explanation. Could you give an example of a BSA policy that is too difficult to understand without giving a simplified translation from a commissioner.

Thanks in advance.

[FRUSTRATED SCOUTMASTER]

!st Mate:

The perfect example is the new Centennial Quality Unit Award.
The Directions on how to fill out the form very vague and the interpretation on how to meet the goals were also vague.
We recently had a Council Commisioners meeting to try to understand this.
There were many interpretations from the Council Execs, the District DE's, and Unit Commissioners. So if we were confused about the award, what about all the Units?
I finally asked if there was any info on the BSA Website and they said yes.
I went there myself and found a guide that answered most of the questions.
Many units did not fill out the form for 2007 because of confusion in this matter.
I researched the matter after our meeting and now think that I can explain in simple terms that the Units can understand and help them strive to achieve this award.

Bob Klimas
Unit Commissioner
Concord, N.C.
Central NC Council

[WB Bear]

Frustrated SM, the point I was trying to make and I am sorry if I offended you was that we have to stick to the rules. There is a lot of leeway in the BSA program on many things and often that leeway gets applied to the basis of the program. Again I apologize.

I do agree that sometimes answers are needed to be put into a language that can be understood. I know the problem with units and the Centennial Award. It was confusing at first, I guess just like anything new. It was real each to pass the forms out and tell people to fill them out. But then when you are faced with it, it’s a different story.

The Centennial Awards program is awesome. I am impressed and pleased that you took it upon yourself to seek out the information on how to fill the forms out so you could present it to the units. The answers you found were the book answers and also the real answers.

[1st Mate]

Are there policies involved in the Centennial award? The question I had was regarding the statement that Sometimes a BSA Policy can be misinterpretated and cause problems down the line. and that such confusion required the commmissioner to translate.

My question remains Bob, can you share a BSA policy that fits such a scenario? Thanks,

[Apache Bob]

Wait a minute. You all have gotten off the main subject.
How to get new Unit Commissioners.
The District Commissioner and the Assistant District Commissioners are the ones to recruit new Commissioners. If the DE doesn't like who you recruit then he/she should go to the District Committee and work to get a new District Commissioner. Who runs your District? A DE or you Scouters.
Enough said.
Back to getting new Unit Commissioners. Any more thoughts?