Why Volunteering is Good Business

June 17, 2015 By

According to  Statics Canada in 2010, volunteer hours across Canada was the equivalent to over 1 Million full time jobs, or approximately 2 Billion “working” hours.  With a majority of these hours being donated to charity and Not For Profit Organizations.  It is estimated that almost 70% of all Canadians will give their time to volunteer at some point or another.

All that said, the most expensive commodity a business/person has is their time, but what is the cost of  community relations, company moral, loyalty and retention.  In the end these can be priceless in the eyes of business.  Research shows that when Business and volunteerism combine, the entire community wins.  When volunteering is being put to work, in varying degrees, as a strategic asset to help achieve business goals, including managing and changing culture, strengthening the brand, building external relationships, and improving employee engagement.  Outside of these several other benefits can be attributed to the combination of business and volunteering, including

  • Skill Development
  • Leadership Training
  •  Increased Performance and Productivity
  • Community and Social Awareness
  • Outside Networking
  • Expression of Values
  • Increase Collaboration

The list potential benefits is only as big as your imagination.  People by nature tend to flock to similar values, and by linking your brand, your employees, or just your time to something local and meaningful, speaks at a greater volume then money can buy.  However, there is one important caveat to making volunteerism work for any business.  It is simple, the relationship between business and any charity or not for profit needs to be true and without falsehood.  The partnership needs to be genuine to the businesses morals, values and must truly benefit all those involved to achieve the desired outcomes.

We live in a time and age were information is at our finger tips, and finding the right organization is as easy as understanding what would be a good fit for you, your business, your employees and your community.  To return to the 2010 Statistics Canada Report on Volunteering, they found that the bulk of total volunteer hours (66%) were given to five types of non-profit and charitable organizations: those involved in sports and recreation had the largest share (19% of total hours), followed by social services (18%), religion (15%) education and research (9%) and health (5%).

Its never too early or too late to get involved in something… the only question is when?

 

Filed Under: Life, My Story, Newsletter, Time Tagged With: , ,

Accountability

November 10, 2014 By

According to the on-line Merriam Webster Dictionary accountability is defined as this…ACCOUNTABILITY – the quality or state of being accountable; especially, an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions.  So what do they say is accountable … ACCOUNTABLE – required to explain actions or decisions to someone,  required to be responsible for something.

Seems easy enough!  Yeah Right!

So  with all that said, How does one actually become more accountable to what ever it is they are wanting to be more accountable to?  I have no idea… so to the internet I go…

Here’s what WikiHow had to say on the subject.

Being accountable can be a scary, yet essential thing, especially if you are on the front lines, in business, in ministry, or in any aspect of life. Allowing other people to be involved in your life, “letting others in”, so to speak, can help you be a better leader and person, and help implement a more productive, happy life. There are several things you can do to be accountable:

8 Steps on how to become more accountable….

  1. Think of someone you know who you admire and you believe will speak truth into your life. ~
  2. Communicate with that person via phone, internet, or in person, and set up a time to talk. ~
  3. Bounce your ideas off the other person, honestly telling them what is on your heart. ~
  4. Humbly share any weaknesses or faults you may have that have or could hinder progress.~
  5. Listen to anything they have to say, even if it is constructive criticism, and decide what part of their advice you will follow. ~
  6. Meet with them in a week or two to follow-up on what was discussed. ~
  7. Evaluate whether any improvements have been made, any advice was taken, or what could be done differently. ~
  8. Own out loud with another person your five personal strengths and five growing edge behaviors, Then commit with that same person to practice at least two behaviors that will lead to change(s).

Sounds simple enough… It sounds like a term I’ve heard of many times “Peer Coach”.  I have had the pleasure of listening to Verne Harnish speak on a few occasions.  His insights and belief of the importance of having a peer Coach has helped not only himself, but business’s grow.  Here’s some information to check out his take on the importance of Peer Coaching.

Who will be YOUR peer coach, and help YOU become more accountable??

“Accountability separates the wishers in life from the action-takers that care enough about their future to account for their daily actions.”  – John Di Lemme

 

Filed Under: Learning, Life Tagged With: , ,

Had to Share

October 30, 2014 By

I saw this this Morning, and because it rang so true  to me, I felt the need to post it as proof to the the concept that as mothers, wives, and women in general … we are not alone …We are not alone in our daily struggles, our feelings or even our thoughts.  Thank you Lisa Morguess for putting into words how so many of us feel.

 

Motherhood: The Big Fat “F*@k” You

BY

I lost it this morning.  Really lost it.

After the kids were all dressed for school, breakfast eaten, teeth brushed, backpacks packed, I turned on the TV.  I have a rule that the kids can only watch certain channels.  There is so much crap on TV – shows geared towards teens and preteens, shows that showcase kids calling other people “idiot” and “stupid” and generally behaving obnoxiously – and in all seriousness, I have a hard enough time keeping my kids under control without exposing them to those kinds of influences and role models.  So the rule is, Mom sets the channel, and you don’t change it without permission.  Annabelle never, ever, ever sticks to this rule.  The moment I walk out of the room, she’s got the remote in her hand, channel-surfing, looking for some obnoxious show featuring smart-ass teenagers.  It happened this morning.  Within thirty seconds of my turning the TV on to Nick Jr. – really for Finn – Annabelle is changing the channel.  “Leave the TV alone, Annabelle,” I said.  I left the room.  A few minutes later, on my way to the kitchen, I saw her there, remote in hand, channel surfing again.  And I lost it.

Screaming and yelling ensued.  Swearing.  “I’VE TOLD YOU A THOUSAND TIMES TO LEAVE THE TV ALONE!!” I shouted.  “GO TO YOUR ROOM!  GO SIT IN YOUR ROOM UNTIL IT’S TIME TO LEAVE FOR SCHOOL.  NOW!!!”  She just stood there staring at me, not moving a muscle.  “GO!!”  I yelled.  All the kids froze in their tracks while I chased – literally chased – Annabelle into her room.  She beat me by a half a second and locked the door against me.  Locked the door!  “I’m going to kill her!”  I muttered.  “MOM!  Are you really going to kill Annabelle?  Did you really just say that?!”  Daisy shrieked.  “OPEN THIS GODDAMN DOOR!”  I yelled.  Annabelle unlocked the door.  “Don’t you ever lock the door against me again!  Do you hear me?!” I yelled at her.

Michael’s trying to calm me.  “Leave me alone!”  I yelled at him.  “I do EVERYTHING for you people – including YOU! – and you all treat me like shit!  Every last one of you!”

I know.  All this over an eight-year old changing the channel on the TV.  But really, of course it’s not just about that.  That was just the straw that broke the camel’s back this morning.  It was my eight-year old changing the channel after I told her not to – again.  It was dealing with Finn tantruming his way through breakfast – again.  It was Joey throwing a dramatic tantrum and copping a major attitude last night when I said no, he could not have an Instagram account (he’s ten, for crying out loud!).  It’s the bickering and tattling all the time.  It’s the “I want, I want, I want” all the time, and the lack of willingness to do much of anything I ask.  Ask somebody to set the table for dinner?  Tell them to clean up their room?  Oh myGOD!  You would think I’m asking them to pull their own fingernails out!  It’s my husband being gone so much of the time and me feeling utterly alone, like I’m dealing with all of this single handedly.

I’m not excusing my losing it this morning.  I’m ashamed.  I wish I held it together better, I really, really do.  And lest I start to sound like my own mother who seemed to believe that her kids were responsible for her happiness/unhappiness but she, the adult, was not responsible for theirs, let me just say that I know kids are kids, they don’t actually mean anything personal by their behavior – I know that, I really do.

Sometimes motherhood just feels like a big, fat Fuck You, though.  This is why people say that motherhood is a hard job.  Not because it’s especially intellectually challenging or physically demanding – I mean it is those things, but there are certainly other pursuits that require for far more intellectual and/or physical output than motherhood.  Not because it requires a great deal of bravery – of course, it does call for that, too, but certainly not as much as being a soldier or a police officer, for instance.  No, it’s not those things.  It’s because it’s so fucking emotionally taxing.  It’s because it’s so incredibly thankless so much of the time.  It’s because I feel like I’ve sacrificed so much of myself for them, and they don’t appreciate it.  It’s because I do and do and do for them, constantly, and it often seems like all I get in return is complaining that it’s not enough – or just outright ignored.  I’m not looking for accolades or awards or fanfare.  I’m not even looking for “thank you.”  It would just be nice to get a little cooperation.  A little respect for the rules – rules which aren’t onerous or unreasonable for crap’s sake!

And, you know, it’s hard to admit these things.  Everyone wants to talk about how great motherhood is, how fulfilling it is.  Sometimes it is.  And often, it’s not.  I’m not even sure why I’m writing about it this morning – opening myself up to criticism and judgment, exposing the flaws in the pretty picture.  I don’t want to feel alone, I guess.

After I got back from dropping the kids off at school this morning, I discovered that Annabelle had left her lunch at home.  Who do you think packed the baby and Finn back into the truck to drive her lunch to school?

Because that’s what moms do.

See more posts at http://www.scarymommy.com/

Filed Under: Family, Kids, Life, Real Life Tagged With: ,
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