Business advice: Want your organisation to have a real social impact?

Here are the advantages and challenges to bear in mind when it comes to volunteering

At the start of June it was Volunteers’ Week, and this got me thinking about my own experiences of volunteering as well as the business advice I’ve been giving many owners and founders. 

Businesses are increasingly looking to having a social impact, and I’m sometimes asked about the benefits and challenges that are associated with offering volunteering opportunities for staff members. 

Many businesses, large and small, have placed staff on furlough over the last few months too, and it’s allowed businesses owners and founders to think about what they want to get out of their staff members, and it’s allowed staff members to think about what they really want from their career.

Having a social impact: short term v long term

While in the early 2000s it was all the rage to do team building sessions where you would go into a school and paint a wall or do some gardening work, things have moved on.

These activities may provide some value in the short term, but there was usually no long term social impact.

In a future article, I’ll look at the best ways to implement volunteering and CSR within your business or organisation, but in this article, I’ll be highlighting the benefits and challenges that are associated with volunteering.

Business advice: The benefits of volunteering

It gives you a feeling of self-worth

While I was unemployed after university, before I found a career path, volunteering gave me a feeling of self-worth- a feeling that I could provide something useful that people appreciated and recognised.

After the last few turbulent months, and especially for those staff that have been on furlough, volunteering could provide a real boost for those within your business or organisation.

It can support your business or organisation going forward

Volunteering provides a great opportunity for all sides to win. As well as the support you are providing for the charity or project, your staff can develop their skillsets and possibly pick up new skills, which will not only benefit them but will also benefit your business.

It can provide a real insight into different sectors, local charities and the local community

There are lots of different options when it comes to volunteering, including local and national projects as well as opportunities in different sectors.

If you are volunteering within a different sector to your business this will give you an insight into the varying skills needed, and might highlight new opportunities you could explore.

Similarly, volunteering at a local level can help you get more engaged with the local community so you can understand some of the issues they face. 

As I’ve outlined above, there can be real benefits from volunteering, but there can be some real challenges with this too- and I’ll outline them now.

Business advice: The challenges of volunteering

You need to be clear about the time your staff have available

From my experience of running my small charity Kit Us Out, if someone wants to volunteer we tend to ask a lot of them.

It’s the same with lots of other smaller charities and initiatives too, so it’s important to be clear from the outset about your parameters. That means managing expectations around things like the amount of time your staff have available, and how often they can commit that time.

Volunteers need to enjoy what they’re doing

As I mentioned in my first point above, setting expectations is vital from the outset.

If your staff are feeling overstretched and taken advantage of, either by your business or by the charity or project you are volunteering for, they won’t enjoy what they’re doing and will lose the motivation. This could ultimately affect their approach to working within your business too.

Keeping volunteers motivated can be difficult

As we saw with the Coronavirus pandemic, when the government asked for 250,000 volunteers to support the NHS, over 750,000 applied. It’s a great testament to the UK’s attitude towards volunteering, but it could be argued that this initiative was poorly managed though, as there was a lack of understanding over how much volunteering was actually needed.

100,000s of volunteers weren’t used at all, and it’s likely that many of those will have lost the motivation to apply for future volunteering opportunities as a result.

My experience from the London 2012 Olympics though, where I was a Games Maker volunteer, shows how you can really get volunteering projects right.

Without my (albeit limited) volunteering experiences there I would never have done anything in sport, but the motivation it gave me led to me setting up my charity Kit Us Out.

It shows, therefore, that while keeping volunteers (especially huge numbers) motivated can be difficult, the rewards can surprise you.

I’d be interested to hear your experiences too though.

When it comes to businesses and organisations supporting staff volunteering activities, what other benefits and challenges do you believe there are?