The idea of using volunteering as a way to develop leadership seems to be growing. I know that City Action has been working with Barclays to place volunteers into trustee, mentoring and finance project roles as part of their Leadership Development Programme. Also, the Civil Service fast stream now offer a one year placement with a charity to some participants as part of the scheme. Many organisations are using similar partnerships to further develop their staff that are already in leadership roles.
Last Thursday I attended the launch of a piece of research, carried out by Corporate Citizenship on behalf of ACEVO looking at how private sector leaders can strengthen leadership in the third sector through cross-sector partnerships.
The research highlighted the numerous benefits that come from such initiatives for both the charity and the business. Brian Bannister, Head of Communications at PwC gave a vivid and enlightening account of what he has gained from a 6 week secondment to Barnardos in the North West where he was working with Wendy Shepherd a Project Manager, who Brian described as a truly inspirational leader.
It was clear to see that Brian had benefited immensely from the experience. Not only did he leave the secondment feeling a strong sense of loyalty to PwC, he also changed his perspective towards managing staff (everything he now does is based on the ‘Wendy test’). Brian’s experience of working on a small, under-funded project has strengthened his innovation skills, and his ability to motive staff when times are tough or uncertain, which is especially relevant in the current economic climate.
From Brian’s description it sounded as if Wendy also gained a lot from the PwC staff, not least observing how PwC colleagues challenged ideas in a professional way, and project management – in particular full cost recovery in terms of preparing tenders.
There definitely seems to be a lot of scope for this model to grow, and hopefully it will in many businesses. In PwC it lies within Human Resources and not Community Affairs, however, it could be a really good way for organisations to strengthen relationships between these two departments.
