Volunteering in organizations: A new task for human resource development?

Volunteering is increasingly viewed as crucial for personal and organizational growth. Employers value volunteer experience, and scholarships frequently require proof of volunteering, underscoring its importance for skill development and career progress. This paper investigates the proposition that volunteering can be a valuable addition to human resource (HR) development. It begins by defining volunteering within an HR context and analyzing the advantages and challenges it presents to employees and organizations. The article then investigates the motivational structure of volunteering, which is shown to be driven by multiple motives, often overlapping with those in paid jobs. This finding indicates that similar psychological factors influence volunteering and paid work. The positive spillover effects of corporate volunteering in profit and non-profit organizations enhance its desirability. However, its implications for human resource development remain underexplored. Considering volunteering from an HR perspective allows organizations to better understand how voluntary engagement can contribute to skill development, value alignment, and long-term employability. Thus, this perspective enables a more strategic integration of volunteering into learning and development agendas, also to integrate volunteering in internal structures and culture. To preserve the voluntary nature of voluntary activities and avoid instrumentalization, a humanistic approach centered on empathy and unconditional appreciation for volunteers is recommended. Organizations should seek volunteering experience from job candidates while actively supporting and facilitating volunteer opportunities, taking responsibility for a robust system. peerReviewed publishedVersion

志愿服务（volunteering）如今愈发被视为个人与组织成长的关键推动力。雇主十分看重志愿服务经历，且奖学金申请往往要求提供志愿服务证明，这凸显了志愿服务对技能提升与职业发展的重要意义。本文旨在验证"志愿服务可成为人力资源（human resource, HR）发展的重要补充"这一命题。本文首先在人力资源语境下界定志愿服务的内涵，并剖析其对员工与组织分别带来的优势与挑战。随后本文探究志愿服务的动机结构，研究发现其受多重动机驱动，且这些动机往往与有偿工作中的动机存在重叠。该发现表明，相似的心理因素同时影响志愿服务与有偿工作。营利组织与非营利组织中的企业志愿服务所产生的正向溢出效应，进一步提升了其受认可度。但目前学界对志愿服务之于人力资源发展的影响仍挖掘不足。从人力资源视角审视志愿服务，可帮助组织更好地理解志愿参与如何助力员工技能提升、价值契合与长期就业能力培养。因此，该视角可推动组织将志愿服务更具策略性地融入学习与发展议程，同时将志愿服务嵌入内部架构与组织文化之中。为保留志愿活动的自愿属性并避免工具化倾向，本文建议采用以共情与对志愿者的无条件认可为核心的人本主义路径。组织应在招聘求职者时考量其志愿服务经历，同时积极支持并推动志愿服务机会的落地，并为构建完善的相关体系承担相应责任。经同行评审的正式发表版本