Bill Calcutt

Utilising the NSW State Emergency Service in a multi-site case study, Bill Calcutt’s Masters research has provided a better understanding of the primary motives for formal volunteering in Australian emergency services. His research applied the Schwartz Theory of Basic Human Values and associated
Portrait Values Questionnaire survey to determine the shared and contrasting values of a large state- wide emergency service volunteer workforce.

Values are powerful motivators, with shared values reinforcing volunteer commitment and retention, and conflicting values contributing to volunteer turnover. Bill’s findings show statistically significant variations in values preferences within the existing emergency service volunteer workforce by gender and generation, with females expressing a stronger preference for altruistic (other-oriented) values, and males and younger volunteers expressing a stronger preference for egoistic (self-oriented) values. This affirms the crucial role of values as primary motives for emergency service volunteering, and the values differences revealed by Bill’s research have important implications for how the divergent values needs of distinct sections of the volunteer workforce can be acknowledged and accommodated.

Bill presented his research as a Three Minute Thesis at the CRC’s Research Advisory Forum’s in 2017 and 2019. He now works as a private consultant.