The Influence of Senior Leadership on Volunteer Retention in the Third Sector: A Comprehensive Analysis of Organisational Culture and Talent Management

This doctoral research project examines the influence of senior leadership on volunteer retention in the UK third sector, with particular attention to the roles of organisational culture, talent management, recognition, and training and development. Using an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design (QUAN → QUAL), the study draws on survey data from 276 volunteers across a range of UK charitable organisations, followed by qualitative analysis of open-text responses to explore lived experiences of leadership, support, feasibility, and exit. The findings demonstrate that, while leadership behaviours and organisational culture strongly influence volunteer engagement, they are weak predictors of long-term retention intentions. Instead, retention is more closely associated with practical organisational feasibility, particularly volunteers' access to training and development and their overall role sustainability, as well as personal and lifecycle factors external to the organisation. The study contests the engagement-focused retention assumptions commonly found in volunteer management literature and practice. This thesis makes an original contribution by reframing volunteer retention as a feasibility-based outcome rather than a direct extension of engagement or motivation. It proposes a diagnostic framework to support more ethical, realistic, and context-sensitive retention strategies within the UK third sector. This work was completed and formally examined as part of a Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA).