Volunteerism a Win-Win in a Downturn

I attended the Volunteer Fairfax Service Awards last week, and it was clear there are many amazing people still out there volunteering their time, and worthy of significant recognition.  But trends show that volunteerism is down across the country.  Perhaps as we all work harder to try to sustain our jobs and support our families, we feel we have no room left for volunteerism.  

With a lot of organizations and individuals needing more support than ever right now, consider thinking of volunteerism as an opportunity.  Here are a few ways to do just that: 

Free Training - if you're an employer and cutting costs across your company, employee volunteerism can serve as an excellent supplement or substitute for expensive training sessions.  A good fitting volunteerism placement for your staff can give them new skills or help them refine their existing ones by exercising them in a different environment.  You can even work it into your training programs or performance metrics to encourage it more.  If you yourself are looking to grow your skills, volunteerism is a great place to do that, from food banks to nonprofit boards, each offers an opportunity to bring your skills to bear and to acquire new ones.

Great Free PR - Not only is volunteerism a great chance to build skills for your workforce, it can also be fantastic public relations for your organization.  Many consumers and clients hope to do work with organizations with value systems that connect with their own, and in a down economy, volunteerism is a great story.  You may inspire other companies or individuals to follow your lead, as well.

 

Job Hunting - if you're one of the many individuals that has lost your job in this tough economy, consider adding volunteerism to your repetoire while you search for you next opportunity.  Pair your volunteer efforts with your passions, and you'll find opportunities to demonstrate your skills to the organization, as well as to other volunteers and sponsors. Nonprofit organizations are often looking for people with business skills to support them, and could be a place where you can shine, network and land leads for your next job!  Volunteerism is also a great way to fill a gap in your resume with meaningful contributions.

Think about how you can integrate volunteerism into your plans or your business!

Emergency at Work - Are you ready?

Gustav, Hannah, Josephine...geesh.  As an East-coaster, of course I'm tracking the hurricanes and tropical storms coming across the Atlantic, devastating the Caribbean and Southern US.  It does beg the emergency preparedness discussion, as does the anniversary of September 11th.

With September being US National Preparedness Month, what do you have in your emergency kit?  Oh, wait, you don't have one?  What about your business?  Do you have your company prepared to respond to an emergency?  A great practice I've seen companies provide is an emergency kit for every employee.  Think the basics you need in any kind of emergency and attach it to their desk...then make sure they know about it (this is the communications part).  

I have a self-created kit in my car (water, jumper cables, one of those silver foil-looking blankets, a granola bar, a first-aid kit, a flashlight, a hand-crank radio, etc), although I somehow feel that my iPhone will be more helpful.   In some places I've worked, I've had a kit at work under my desk - something like this kit , in addition to a "Grab and Go" document that told me what to do in case of an emergency. At it's simplest, I've created stickers to go on employee ID badges that everyone always has on them (to get in and out of the building) with an emergency website and numbers for employees and families to call in emergencies.

The key part of this is to communicate why it's helpful, important, a good thing, to be prepared.  During times of no concern, employees are complacent and forget about what's available to them, so consider using September -- National Preparedness Month -- to remind them.  

Here are some ideas:

• Send out a weekly preparedness update during the month (email, display, seminar)
• Distribute emergency kits (or better yet, install them at employee's desks)
• Train employees in CPR, AEDs and First Aid and identify them to other employees
• Set up an emergency call center where employees and their families can call in, in the case of an incident
• Set up an emergency website for employees and/or the public about your business response in an emergency
• Identify emergency coordinators by floor in your building
• Connect emergency response to your business continuity plans

Got ideas?  Share them by commenting.