Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Recruitment & retention
    • Wellbeing
    • Occupational Health
    • 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

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Recruitment & retention
    • Wellbeing
    • Occupational Health
    • 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

Latest News

Volunteer work undervalued by employers, report reveals

by Personnel Today 15 Nov 2001
by Personnel Today 15 Nov 2001

Employers
are failing to recognise the skills that job candidates develop when they
return from voluntary work overseas, claims a report.

The
research, by Demos and VSO, shows that despite the current skills shortages many
job applicants are being overlooked by employers when they return from
volunteer work abroad.

Employers
often view time out of the UK as wasted when it actually develops a range of
skills including communication, adaptability and strategic thinking, claims the
report.

Report
author Gillian Thomas said, "Most employers overlook these skills because
they don’t see volunteering as career building. It’s seen a personal matter and
it’s not really looked upon as a working activity.

"We
also found that overseas experience isn’t considered to be as valuable as UK
experience."

Volunteering
abroad also develops awareness of global issues, cultural idiosyncrasies,
language skills, religious understanding and the ability to adapt to a new
environments, claims the report. On returning to the UK, ex-volunteers have
more advanced inter-personnel and budgeting skills than their contemporaries,
but still end up getting caught in a skills trap. They often take reduced
responsibility and remuneration.

Thomas
said, "The public sector seemed to be more positive about volunteering,
but less able to integrate it into their organisations. There were even cases
of people being demoted on their return."

She
explained that HR should be encouraging staff to consider volunteering as part
of their career development. She said, "There is a real opportunity for HR
to be more flexible in the way people progress but also in letting people
explain the skills they have learned and incorporate that into appraisals.

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.

"HR
is making great progress in looking at ways of making people’s careers more
flexible but not seeing volunteering as a part of this. Employers must stop
seeing careers as just linear because these people can have an enormous impact
on the skills shortage."

By Ross Wigham

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
TUC renews tax credit demand as unemployment rises
next post
Public sector employers must ensure ethnicity is monitored

You may also like

Free childcare expansion beset with recruitment challenges

1 Sep 2025

Business confidence grows to post-Budget peak

1 Sep 2025

Warship deal with Norway secures 4,000 jobs

1 Sep 2025

Decision to sack man for Michael Jackson noises...

29 Aug 2025

P&O Ferries boss who steered 800 sackings steps...

29 Aug 2025

UK large companies’ succession planning is weak –...

29 Aug 2025

Gender bonus bias widens pay gap, says Brightmine

29 Aug 2025

Bankers learn of redundancy in email gaffe asking...

29 Aug 2025

Cabin crew manager with ‘flirty banter’ loses discrimination...

29 Aug 2025

Council clerk sacked after trying to ensure his...

29 Aug 2025

  • Work smart – stay well: Avoid unnecessary pain with centred ergonomics SPONSORED | If you often notice...Read more
  • Elevate your L&D strategy at the World of Learning 2025 SPONSORED | This October...Read more
  • How to employ a global workforce from the UK (webinar) WEBINAR | With an unpredictable...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
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
    • Recruitment & retention
    • Wellbeing
    • Occupational Health
    • 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