Volunteering does not only build one’s professional skills but also one’s interaction with not only employees from a particular institution but also clients served by the organization ( Peterson, 2004) . Although one might not be compensated for their services, the gains are indispensable in building one’s career. On a personal level, while volunteering, there were strengths and weaknesses inherent in the particular organization, most of which bettered my experience and others which when corrected will help in improving the future experience of volunteers, employees’ viewpoints as well as the services offered to the clients.
Some of the strengths of the organization I worked for are its inclusivity, respect as well as treating all employees equally, regardless of their cultural differences, religious backgrounds or aspects such as race that would otherwise be a ground for discrimination. The above elements positively influence stakeholders in that, employees and volunteers are likely to own the institution’s mission and vision statements and work hard for the organization’s primary objectives to be achieved ( Danowitz, et al., 2012) . Besides, this influences their motivation, hence their output. The clients served, in the end, enjoy good services as a result of a happy workforce. Also, due to the above, the organization’ management was able to implement its strategic management plans tactically.
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Another significant strength of the organization that I volunteered for is its flexibility in terms of what volunteers can do. The organization had different departments dealing with different undertakings. By allowing volunteers to work in various departments in accordance to where their skills are needed at the moment and not throughout their volunteering period, it is possible for the organization to utilize volunteer’s skills and services to the maximum. On the other hand, volunteers get to acquire essential skills that come in handy not only while working at the given organization but also in their career life.
One of the biggest weakness of the organization I worked for is less training sessions for volunteers as well as employees. This affected volunteers the most because workers are more acquainted to the given working environment. Although this requires resources that the organization might not have had at the moment, there are internal environmental factors that could have been utilized to ease the situation. Closely related to the above, fewer ways of appreciating employees is another weakness inherent in the organization. Although there were few approaches used such as word of mouth, other varied techniques, in conjunction with the above could be used to realize better outcomes in terms of motivating volunteers and even employees ( Harp et al., 2017) .
There are a few suggestions that would better volunteers' experience in the organization. First of all, proper planning should be done in future in term of allocation of funds to volunteer’s training. In the case that funds available are strained due to more significant undertakings, the most experienced senior employees could take up the role of training volunteers. Closely related to the above, volunteers should be well distributed in terms of working under experienced stuff. Although senior employees could be busier, they should create time to guide as well as asses how volunteers dispense their duties. This way, better interaction between volunteers and staff will ensure both parties do not only network but also learn indispensable skills from each other.
Another suggestion is that the organization in question should find a variety of ways to appreciate volunteers for their indispensable contribution towards the attainment of the organization’s goals and objectives ( Alfes et al., 2017) .
References
Alfes, K., Antunes, B., & Shantz, A. D. (2017). The management of volunteers–what can human resources do? A review and research agenda. The International Journal of Human Resource Management , 28 (1), 62-97.
Danowitz, M. A., Hanappi-Egger, E., & Mensi-Klarbach, H. (Eds.). (2012). Diversity in organizations: Concepts and practices . Macmillan International Higher Education.
Harp, E. R., Scherer, L. L., & Allen, J. A. (2017). Volunteer engagement and retention: Their relationship to community service self-efficacy. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly , 46 (2), 442-458.
Peterson, D. K. (2004). Benefits of participation in corporate volunteer programs: employees' perceptions. Personnel review , 33 (6), 615-627.
