Human resource management practices to support sport event volunteers

This paper presents the findings of a study that explored the relationship between two specific elements of HRM (perceived organizational support ( POS ) and perceived supervisor support ( PSS )) and the affective commitment ( AC ) and satisfaction of volunteers involved in a community cycling event. The findings indicate that volunteers' satisfaction can be attributed more to the informal support (or lack thereof) provided by their supervisor ( PSS ) than the formal procedures implemented by the organization ( POS ). Volunteers' AC however, can be attributed more to POS than PSS . These results suggest that for some volunteers the supervisor may embody the organization; the support provided by the supervisor on the day of an event can become more important than support provided by the organization prior to the event. A poor supervisor's performance in providing the requisite support may therefore impact more on a volunteer's satisfaction than any failings (or otherwise) of the overall HRM system.