Learning by Volunteering

Last month at The CIPD North Staffs and South Cheshire AGM I was proud to receive the GEM award in June for my contribution to the Branch and with this in mind I wanted to share my thoughts on how I combine being a Branch volunteer with my work life.

So how did I get started? Well in what my grandma would refer to as a moment of not being backwards in coming forwards I approached Heather (our Branch Chair) about delivering an event on Inclusive Leadership and she agreed and one year later I am still here!

One reason has been about finding my tribe – getting to know my fellow Committee members has been a real joy and I am so grateful to be part of such a friendly and informed bunch. There is a genuine sense of wanting to do the right thing for our Branch members and I hope you all feel this when you come to our events.

My role very specifically involves pulling together the newsletter, capturing feedback on our events and posting on our Linked In page amongst anything else I manage to get myself involved in. With this in mind here are some top tips and reflections on what I have learned in my time as a volunteer:

·       Really think about what you want to do – I am a big believer in doing things that bring you joy and there are a multitude of roles you could get involved in. Choose carefully and use it as opportunity to share or enhance your skills. The sharing is particularly important – in the future I am going to be working on the newsletter with Hannah and that is a chance to pass on my skills and knowledge.

·       Play to your strengths – I work in L&D so naturally I have a skill in organising events and collating feedback. In addition, I also have worked in communications in the past so the newsletter sits naturally with that skills set. In addition,

·       both of these are activities I am passionate about which helps when thinking about how we can innovate what we do.

·       Be Realistic – This is about what you can do and what you can’t do. It’s easy to get swallowed up in everything that is going on. Really think about where you can add value and sometimes you won’t be able to attend or support every event – remember it’s okay to say so! In my day job I would be talking about non negotiables – figure out what these are and stick to them!

·       It’s Not a Solo Activity – As I have stressed above the Committee is a team and my role in the newsletter is to collate and curate rather than write the whole thing. Have a look at this newsletter and you will see it is made up of contributions all across the team. The key is to be organised and involve people in what you are doing.

·       Move On – There are two aspects to this for me. One is the need to continually innovate – anyone who knows me will know I am all about statistics and an evidence-based approach. Reflect and review and think about what’s working and what’s not and do more of the former. And the second is if it doesn’t work it’s okay – do something else. There is no shame in having tried!

·       Listen – to everything and everyone. What’s been done before, what are people talking about, what are the hot topics, what are the skills that everyone else in the Branch has? This is about being responsive to our Branch members and also helps you identify where you can add real value.

Hope that gives you a flavour – I can’t recommend it enough!

And of course, if you would like to volunteer at our Branch please don’t hesitate to get in touch via our socials below:
Linked In The CIPD Branch in North Staffs & South Cheshire: Overview | LinkedIn