Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Spotlight on: volunteering

by Personnel Today 21 Feb 2006
by Personnel Today 21 Feb 2006

If HR managers are keen to climb the career ladder, they must show how their attitude, application and abilities can make a real difference to the business as a whole.

In many environments â€“ and HR is certainly one of them â€“ managers have to be able to work with individuals who work at different speeds and share different values and interests. HR managers need to consider the ‘broader picture’ and have the ability to communicate, influence and deliver results that affect the long-term strategic direction of their business. So how can these skills be developed?

One answer is through training and development. Qualifications certainly help as they can challenge and benchmark individuals. But they do so against defined criteria. So, as someone wanting to progress within HR, how can you develop, yet still stand out from the crowd?

A study published by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) and Volun-tary Service Overseas (VSO), reveals that voluntary work can help you improve the skills needed to further your career and, at the same time, give you experience in wider business areas.

But just undertaking voluntary activity is not enough. Some employers still believe it is a distraction, with only one in 10 volunteers involved in a programme through work. So it is important to be able to position the skills that you learn to demonstrate how they directly apply to your day-to-day work.

After all, most HR managers would say that recruiting someone depends on how they present themselves and their experience. So practise what you preach. In the same way that you look for evidence of competency when recruiting, think about how you can highlight and present the skills you learn.

In practical terms, this may involve recording activity in a workbook for your continuous professional development or assessment by potential employers. But you need to make it relevant. If you are volunteering for a local charity, for example, consider how the skills you develop relate to the budgetary element of your role.

CMI’s research also identified alignment between skills gaps in organisations and those being developed through voluntary work. Almost all respondents said they were now more capable of handling different cultures, and about half claimed that volunteering developed problem-solving abilities.

These newly acquired skills could also make you more employable. Many organisations are short of skills such as diversity management, or communication and conflict management â€“ all of which can be developed through voluntary work.

There is a clear argument to support voluntary activity as a route to improving the skills you, and your employer, need. In today’s flatter organisations, we are all aware that the concepts of a ‘linear career structure’ or a ‘job for life’ are becoming anachronistic, but you can be proactive in managing your career development.

HR managers should recognise that by sharing and publicising their skills, not only can they play a significant role within the wider community, but they can also influence their future career and contribute to their company’s success.

Top 5 skills developed by volunteers



  1. Communications
  2. Influencing and persuading
  3. Project management
  4. Managing change
  5. Coaching and mentoring

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Source: Chartered Management Institute

Jo Causon is the director of marketing and corporate affairs at the Chartered Management Institute.


Personnel Today

Personnel Today articles are written by an expert team of award-winning journalists who have been covering HR and L&D for many years. Some of our content is attributed to "Personnel Today" for a number of reasons, including: when numerous authors are associated with writing or editing a piece; or when the author is unknown (particularly for older articles).

previous post
Almost half of all staff want to work fewer hours
next post
Career pressures force women to delay having children

You may also like

Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders receive 400% pay rise

4 Jul 2025

FCA to extend misconduct rules beyond banks

2 Jul 2025

‘Decisive action’ needed to boost workers’ pensions

2 Jul 2025

Business leaders’ drop in confidence impacts headcount

2 Jul 2025

Why we need to rethink soft skills in...

1 Jul 2025

Five misconceptions about hiring refugees

20 Jun 2025

Forward features list 2025 – submitting content to...

23 Nov 2024

Features list 2021 – submitting content to Personnel...

1 Sep 2020

Large firms have no plans to bring all...

26 Aug 2020

A typical work-from-home lunch: crisps

24 Aug 2020

  • Empowering working parents and productivity during the summer holidays SPONSORED | Businesses play a...Read more
  • AI is here. Your workforce should be ready. SPONSORED | From content creation...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+