Abstract
A volunteer who is not performing to the standard required by the organisation poses a problem for the volunteer co-ordinator or manager. It has been suggested that there is a reluctance to monitor and provide feedback to volunteers on performance. Concerns of those charged with the responsibility of managing volunteers include the emotional difficulty associated with giving negative feedback and an awareness that sometimes poor performance leads to dismissal or departure of a volunteer when early intervention may prevent this. There is extensive research on performance feedback in the workplace which, has found it to be both a complex process and valuable tool in the management of performance, if used skillfully. The experience of those who manage volunteers is also a valuable source of information on this difficult task. This paper reviews the literature on the use of feedback and introduces some current research in Western Australia.