We chatted with Becky, who works for Deutsche Bank, to find out more about her employee volunteering experience which has been supported by Volunteering Works.
What is your employee volunteer role?
I usually have bi-weekly calls with the young person I coach who is a year 13 student.
She wanted to focus on getting a part time job, improving her CV and a little advice on university. There are not many people in her family who went to university, so we discussed my experience, and I gave some advice.
She also wanted advice on personal finance which is something I am passionate about. I didn’t have these types of conversations when I was at school, so I think it’s important to pass this on to someone else while they are young. For example, information on making investments and knowing about lifetime ISA’s which the student would now be eligible for.
What is the most enjoyable part of volunteering?
I really enjoy passing on my knowledge to someone at this age – I often wish I had these conversations when I was younger.
Also hearing about the student’s progress and seeing her confidence growing has been rewarding. For example, she managed to get a part time job in a café after we had spoken about her CV and interview skills.
What are the key skills you’ve used and developd as an employee volunteer?
I’d say communication has been the main skill I’ve used – clear communication has been important to get the most from each session. The sessions are only fortnightly for 25 minutes, early morning, so it’s been good that we have connected quite quickly.
I’ve developed how to explain things better… especially to someone who has only basic knowledge on the topics we were discussing. I have sometimes mentored internally in the past however they would often already have some knowledge and experience in the area. So, this time it was about knowing where to pitch to for someone with less knowledge.
Can you tell us about your employers volunteering initiatives?
Deustche Bank are brilliant with their CSR initiatives.
It’s fantastic to work for an organisation that invests in it’s local community. With the changes in the workforce and the values of the younger generations coming into workplaces, CSR is seen as a priority. I am proud of the impact Deutsche Bank’s volunteer programmes have.
How would you sum up your employee volunteer experience?
This volunteer role has been a really worthwhile thing to do, and a nice break from the regular day-to-day job to do this on a regular basis. Thanks for having me involved!
Although I have mentored at work before, this has been the first-time volunteering to coach someone externally.
I would definitely consider doing something like this again in the future.
Get in touch to find out more about how we can help your employee volunteering programme.