What most people get wrong about volunteering through work | Aaron Hurst

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When looking for greater fulfillment in life, people often look to volunteer opportunities offered through work.Giving back to the community is valuable work. But to find the right volunteer fit, it's important to think about how much time you have, the experience you want, and the growth you're looking for.To get the most fulfillment out of your volunteer experience, focus on the organization. If you wouldn't want to work there, it might not be the right fit for you.
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AARON HURST
Aaron Hurst is a globally recognized entrepreneur who works to create communities that are empowered to realize their potential. He is the CEO of Imperative, a B Corp advocating for Purpose-Oriented Workers and supporting the organizations that embrace them. Hurst is the author of The Purpose Economy (2014) and a regular advisor and thought partner for many global brands.
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TRANSCRIPT:
AARON HURST: So, a lot of people looking to be more fulfilled in their lives and work look to volunteering, doing service out in the community, as a way to do that. And it is a terrific way to do it. I want to share a little advice with you, though, about how to approach that, given the work I've done with tens of thousands of people and with leading companies around the world building corporate volunteer programs because I think most people get volunteering wrong. It can't truly be a supplement for getting fulfillment at work. A lot of companies, a lot of individuals, say, look, I'm not fulfilled at work. I'll volunteer and get that need met outside of work. And this is really the wrong approach because we spend the majority of our time at work.
And we've seen our research. If you're not fulfilled in work, you're not going to be fulfilled in your life overall. So the first step I recommend is before you jump into volunteering, think about what could you be doing today to make your current work more fulfilling? How could you be boosting your fulfillment? And part of that might be thinking about, how could I volunteer internally? How could I help with sustainability? How can I help mentor people who are younger than I am in the organization? How could I help do the work that's meaningful to me inside the organization? Because that's actually going to be much more gratifying for you most of the time than doing volunteer work.
That said, it's still incredibly valuable to do work in the community. But there's so many different ways to volunteer. And a lot of people who are new to volunteering just sort of jump on whatever they hear in a company email, what they see a company doing, instead of really being thoughtful about what is it that matters to them and what's going to be a fulfilling volunteer experience for them.
There's a number of dimensions to volunteering that I just want to go through to help you think through what might be the right fit for you at this time. One of the most important and challenging parts about volunteering is making the time to volunteer. So as you're thinking about volunteering, really think about how much time do you have and what kind of time is that? And this is both a question of what time during the day or during the week can you do it? It's how much time? And is that time that you can do from your desk at work, or is this time where you're actually able to go out and be in the community? This is a really important variable because it really narrows what you can do in terms of volunteering.
The second piece, which really I recommend, you know, thinking about somewhat in contrast to the first piece around how much time do you have, is really about what do you want to get out of the volunteering? Because a lot of times when you just think about how much time you have, you're doing that based on the assumption that you're going to get a certain value out of volunteering. But if you actually think about all the different ways volunteering can help you, you may find you have more time than you thought. So what are the things you want to get out of volunteering? What are the relationships that you want to build? And that could be with existing co-workers. It could be people in your field. It could be with people in the community. What are the relationships you want to build?
And those might be to help your career. They might be to be more connected to your community. What is the impact that you actually want to make? What would make you fe...
For the full transcript, check out bigthink.com/videos/volunteer...

[@rosie6]

Volunteering is amazing but put urself first❤if you are too tired and stressed out you can’t really help other s

[@utetopia1620]

I stopped watching when he said "if you're not fulfilled at work, you're not going to be fulfilled in your life" Your work is not the be all and end all. It's a means to an end. Your life fulfilment comes not from work, but from family, friends, and lifestyle.

[@Kelberi]

yup. This guy is all smoke, he cannot even control his image and weight, let alone talk sense.

[@nokoolaid]

The reverse is probably more true. if you're not fulfilled in your life, you won't be at work.

[@jameswhite3415]

James L There are exceptions. Like I thinks it’s perfectly reasonable for a neurosurgeon to get their fulfillment from saving life’s/thinking they are doing good

[@nokoolaid]

@@jameswhite3415 I suppose, but that's a small number of people and it's not objective, but then again, fulfillment isn't objective. The vast majority of folks aren't in that bucket.

[@jameswhite3415]

James L We are in such a buzzare time technology wise though. Technological progress keeps accelerating and changing life’s. if these trends continue jobs days are numbered.

[@malcolmthebear]

This is nice advice if you're lucky enough to have a job that already gives you SOME fulfillment beyond a paycheck. Many of us aren't so lucky. How does a fast food peon employee struggling to pay for basic necessities apply this lesson?

[@TheOneWhoMightBe]

Volunteering at work for work is basically working for free.

[@RichLuciano1]

That is why they call it volunteering

[@shannonchuprevich3021]

He does bring it into perspective.

[@JohnnyMRey]

Woah... I just volunteered at work with the mind set of meeting more people within the organization.

[@pwade4061]

Of course everyone should strive to feel fulfilled at work, but certain jobs/companies are so full of soul sucking, profit driven BS that you’re not going to get fulfillment internally. I started volunteering this year with a community gardening organization because I needed something completely different in my life than the daily grind and I like doing some physical labor for a change.

[@FriendOfNightknight122]

I've been at such a thing once, i could not work in a shed turning tubes open and closing them. What's the point to that? You tell the people in their it's for the factory but nobody ever sees anyone from the "factory" and these people have been doing the same thing in school. I don't think that's a respectfull way to handle humans at all.

[@BrainsApplied]

I think this is quite a good analysis. One of the best I've seen lately on this channel :)

[@Eusantdac]

Ya, no. I tried working from within and all that did was get management angry because all they care about is profit and nothing else. Hence, I quit my paid work and now I volunteer at two homeless shelters. It's much more fullfiling and makes me happy at the end of the day, instead of working for multi-national corporations, making them richer.

[@maciej9280]

great you do that, good luck paying your rent, unless you get another income from somewhere, its unfortunately not an option for most people

[@OffTheGrid_OnTheSpectrum]

This isn't what most people get wrong about volunteering. This is what RICH people get wrong about volunteering.

[@fatemehfatehi4573]

This sentence makes me go Yes.

[@aussiejubes]

All you goody-two-shoes going on about how volunteer work should be an utterly selfless thing that's done entirely for others without a thought for self (get real there's no way you're volunteering doing something you hate that makes you miserable by choice, you martyrs), quit with your black & white thinking. What this is saying is valid. You can & should look for volunteer that fulfils & satisfies you & there's no reason at all that jars with the selfless ideal of volunteerism. You can both be of service & do something you'll enjoy & want to continue doing in the long term, which seems to me to be the smart way to go about it for everyone involved. Longevity saves organisations from having to lose & retrain people, especially organisations that deal directly with vulnerable people who would suffer from a high turnover of volunteers.

[@saleekaslam8776]

Mapplapatti

[@alg11297]

This guy makes a living creating corporate volunteering programs. Isn't that kind of an oxymoron?

[@enzosperandio9481]

alg11297 exactly what I was thinking

[@maisondecouture]

agencies full of paid workers, looking for people who want to work for free...

[@Angels-3xist]

They overthink it.

[@sakuradeva555]

So I should do extra work at work for free??? No thank you corporations are already stealing my soul.

[@nickfoxy]

Who on earth gives this video a thumbs down?. It’s the most sensible advice I have heard in decades having done loads of community volunteering. A great video, well done.

[@markkravitz4678]

👋👍 If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door. The main man @evenkingsfall (his insta) says the key is you have to THINK BIG to WIN BIG! Always keep that mindframe! Don't stop the hard work 🔥

[@RichLuciano1]

If you're in charge of some part of volunteering, don't except people to do things by the book or your way. If you harp on things (e.g., timelines, processes, 100% effort) they won't return next time. It's not like a job were they have to be on time and precise or else! If you are not in leadership. Have fun, and try to do it your way. If that's not good enough, give up on that project. Tomorrow is another day to find a great place that is looking for volunteers.

[@KM-zn3lx]

Richard place I volunteer at is so precise and I just feel stressed by it. Too many things to know and no pay. I thought it would be more joyful but I just feel like I'm an unpaid staff member.

[@maisondecouture]

@@KM-zn3lx and that's what you are.

[@blue_tetris]

To the CEO of a company, the difference in pay between an employee and a volunteer is almost negligible.

[@markprice1614]

I don't know why but this entire piece seems like a "what can volunteering do for....ME" thing. Pretty sure that volunteering isn't supposed to be about me.

[@nokoolaid]

Aaron needs to study Pareto.

[@RVFreeDa]

Work is the problem!

[@stevebetance116]

Brown nosing much...

[@AvatarOfBhaal]

Unsubbed due to random nonsense which isn't applicable to most being advertised as such. Not entirely sure what "Brains Applied" assumes to be good analysis? Is analysis just giving a broad opinion now days?