5 ways volunteering is good for business
Giving your time for volunteering could be the start of something special… for your business, too
Volunteering brings a feel-good factor to the people taking part, as well as the obvious boost it offers to those who benefit from their efforts. But what is less widely acknowledged is the fact that volunteering is good for business, as well as the people who make it work.
We’ve distilled the benefits of voluntary work down to five distinct ways in which you can prosper by giving yourself the chance to take some time out to help:
1. Motivation is infectious
Giving yourself the chance to refocus your efforts to achieve something beyond your normal role is an excellent way to boost your morale.
You’ll experience a burst of enthusiasm from supporting a cause which you believe in… but this isn’t all. Not only will your renewed motivation carry through to your work, it will also rub off on any colleagues or peers who haven’t volunteered. Even non-participants can find themselves invigorated by the fresh sense of purpose displayed by those around them.
2. Volunteering helps build resilience
Whether we’re talking about the physical effect of a day’s gardening or DIY, or the emotional boost that helping others can bring, volunteering can do all of us a power of good.
Ultimately, improving wellbeing leads to being more resilient and healthier — with your business standing to reap the benefit of an eventual reduction in absenteeism and presenteeism (‘struggling by’ unproductively at work when unfit to be there).
3. You can pick up new skills
We’re not saying that everyone will enjoy practical benefit by dusting up your gardening skills or fine-tuning your DIY abilities. Yes, some skills which you might build while volunteering will be directly transferable to your work — but of far greater significance is the improvement in personal development which may come from the new challenges you take on.
If you’re involved in mentoring you might find you have an aptitude for training, for example. Or you may simply gain the confidence to think on your feet more effectively or find that you’re better than you thought at organising others. You could come back a better adviser than you were before.
4. Cost-effective team-building
Some of us have paid good money for exercises aimed at improving team spirit by throwing colleagues together to solve problems through collaboration. Volunteering accurately reproduces this scenario without the expense — and helping good causes engenders a greater sense of purpose than building a bridge out of plastic blocks or launching an imaginary product.
5. Enhancing reputations
Volunteering to help a good cause, be it local or national, can only enhance your business’s standing in the eyes of its neighbours and potential clients. This makes it easier to acquire and retain clients.
You can volunteer at any time of the year — there really is no limit to the opportunities available. And by embedding volunteering into your culture, a lot of people stand to benefit… and so does your business.
