Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • 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
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • 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
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • 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 – and HR is certainly one of them – 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 – 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

Source: Chartered Management Institute

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


Avatar
Personnel Today

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

Five steps for organisations across the globe to...

8 Jun 2022

The Search for Talent: Six Major Employer Pitfalls

24 May 2022

Grants scheme set up to support women’s health...

16 May 2022

How music can help to ease anxiety at...

9 May 2022

OH will be key to navigating ‘second pandemic’...

14 Apr 2022

OH urged to be aware of abortion consultations...

8 Apr 2022

How coached eCBT is returning the workplace to...

8 Apr 2022

Why now is the time to plug the...

7 Apr 2022

Two-thirds of shift workers feel health affected by...

18 Mar 2022

TUC warns of April Covid risk assessment ‘confusion’

14 Mar 2022
  • NSPCC revamps its learning strategy with child wellbeing at its heart PROMOTED | The NSPCC’s mission is to prevent abuse and neglect...Read more
  • Diversity versus inclusion: Why the difference matters PROMOTED | It’s possible for an environment to be diverse, but not inclusive...Read more
  • Five steps for organisations across the globe to become more skills-driven PROMOTED | The shift in the world of work has been felt across the globe...Read more
  • The future of workforce development PROMOTED | Northumbria University and partners share insight...Read more
  • Strathclyde Business School expands its Degree Apprenticeship offer in England PROMOTED | The University of Strathclyde is expanding its programmes...Read more
  • The Search for Talent: Six Major Employer Pitfalls PROMOTED | The Great Resignation continues unabated...Read more
  • Navigating the widening “Skills Confidence Gap” in 2022, and beyond PROMOTED | Cornerstone OnDemand conducted a global study...Read more
  • Apprenticeships are the solution to your recruitment problems PROMOTED | Apprenticeships have the pulling power...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 2022

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2022 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • 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
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+