volunteer – EarthyRealist.com

What was the best year economically for the United States? What has been the best investment in the past 25 years? Well, it would depend on who you are asking.

Did you immediately invest in Bitcoin upon hearing about it? Did you purchase and payoff a home during the housing market boom (crash)? Did you buy and sell the right internet/tech related product during the dot com phenomenon?

Those who were money wise or just downright lucky, played their cards right and came out a winner.

Fast forward throughout the many recessions, presidential faces to place blame, to present pandemic history and we find ourselves separated by social distancing measures, yet needing one another the absolute most.

And believe it or not, one of the best investments you can make is getting the right people on your team. This has held to be true since the first ever entrepreneur needed someone around so that he could take his lunch break and still have doors open.

What makes a good hiree? Your first answer may be punctuality or even skill set. But do you really know what makes a person perform well?: How well they are treated by their employer.

It sounds simple, and it is but most don’t have the attitude of, “What can I do to make your life easier?” It’s more like, me, me, me. And that isn’t bad, we are self preserving by default.

But in order to get ahead in life especially the business world, we have to make room for other people’s feelings, emotions and comfortability. This means seeing ourselves as our employees/volunteers/hirees. Yes, you may have built the organization but bodies are needed to keep it running.

One of the best investments you can make is getting the right people on your team.

Ask for help by seeking out a volunteer and pay them in some form for their time.

3 Ways To Pay or Reward Your Volunteers:

Monetary – Legally a volunteer can receive no compensation, a volunteer can be paid expenses. Instead of hourly, a weekly stipend (payment) can be made. Or a lump sum paid at the end of their volunteer term. Be clear in a written statement and offer agreement of these details from the start.

Provide Private Organizational Lessons (Internal Company Skills) – Many actual companies set a 90 day probation period to see if an individual can meet the needs of the environment long term. During this time they are not only observed but they are taught much needed details about the business. By selecting a volunteer to be an apprentice they will strive to one day work for you.

Volunteer Recognition Certificate – Acknowledging your volunteers’ involvement and the difference they make to your organization demonstrates that you value their time and commitment. It should also provide what services they rendered and the total amount of hours completed. This record can be used as their professional or community service reference.

How to search for highly skilled volunteers:
Look online for volunteer matching sites and programs. Ask for a resume along with an application. The kindest person can hinder you if all they can help with is being nice. Volunteers are often associated with kind hearted people which is a wonderful thing but the more skillful a person the less micromanaging you will have to do. Purposeful professionalism is key.

Provide an agreement, rules list, or contract detailing the specific tasks the individual is being requested services for. Sick to your own rules. The individual recruited is not to perform errands or tasks outside of what has been assigned for them.

Remember, no matter what your company provides people will only take you as seriously as you take yourself.

Now, there are some nonprofits that get away with hiring paid volunteers and never actually hiring an employee. When building a company or leveraging an existing company, on site or virtual volunteers should last no longer than a summer (seasonally), six months possibly and at the longest a year.

By then, especially in the length of a year, you should have things together enough to start the actual hiring process. You will have developed skills as a potential employer and know the types of people who would work best for your company. Who you want to represent the brand you worked so diligently to create.

What you will learn from rewarding and paying others:
– How to grow your business.
– The types of individuals you work well with.
– That you can’t do everything on your own.
– Appreciating another human can make them perform better.