Volunteerism is prevalent in the military, and service members are often asked to volunteer their time and skills to ‘additional duties’.  As in the military, volunteering is a great way to continue your professional development. Here are a few reasons why you should consider volunteering or accepting a new challenge at work.

1. Grow Relationships

Work is about people – they are the most important resource in any project. Coworkers provide great ideas. Relationship is all about successfully binding collaborative effort and people together. Volunteering to solve a problem or working on a new task will allow you to interact with other folks you may not know very well or have never met. You may get to work with staff from other departments, while gaining appreciation and understanding for their work and the organization at large.

Don’t just look at new challenges and volunteer experiences with regard to time or number of tasks it will take. You need to also look at the benefits of building new relationships. These associations may be beneficial for more than the current effort. They may provide tremendous benefit in the future.

2. Grow Your Professional Value to the Organization

You cannot count on your job forever. Very few people get to stay with the same organization for an entire career. The market and associated change inevitably lead to continued reorganization.  In today’s environment, everyone is considered replaceable. Therefore, don’t disregard opportunities to become more valuable to the organization.  More than job security, your volunteering and acceptance of new challenges make the organization more valuable. The return on your invested time leads to self-improvement and the enlightenment of those around you, enhancing the organization. Everyone knows and loves an employee that cares as much about others’ success as their own. Giving credit and celebrating collaborative success helps the organization remain motivated, viable and goal-focused.

3. Grow your skills

A new challenge is a neatly packaged professional development experience. Inevitably, you will gain new skills. You do not have to accept every opportunity or request for volunteering, as there are many opportunities available… you can be selective. More than an exchange of your time for money, volunteering enables you to gain professional value through developing additional skills while on the job.

4. Grow your Job Satisfaction

Some go to work for a paycheck. Others are there because they love the work. If you feel like you are marking time, take a new challenge as soon as possible  Nothing is worse than enduring the same old boring tasks, day-in and day-out. Volunteering for a new challenge at work will give you energy and perhaps enable others to grow, as well. If you like the volunteer work you have performed, you may be able to carve out a new role for yourself.

Are there some new challenges that lay ahead in your organization? Perhaps there is a role for you to grow and learn new skills, make new relationships and enhance your personal job satisfaction.

Remember, high performers and achievers willingly volunteer, all the time.

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Jay Hicks is an author, instructor and consultant. With a special kinship for military personnel, Jay provides guidance on successful civilian career transition and has co-authored “The Transitioning Military Series”. He is the co-founder of Gr8Transitions4U, where advocating the value of hiring military personnel is the key focus. More about Jay and his passion can be found at Gr8Transitions4U.com.