Volunteering: What’s in it for You?

There are hundreds of articles on the internet that will tell you the benefits of volunteering.  Many include numbered lists for why you should volunteer.  These are typically targeted towards physical labor volunteering or the kind that takes you overseas to some remote jungle location.  I thought I would give you my take on volunteering for a professional organization, what those benefits are, why I started, and why I’m still doing it.

Building Self-Esteem

I identify with this one.  Who doesn’t like to be thanked?  What about being thanked for something that seems really easy to you but is a big deal to someone else?  The types of tasks I perform for ATD are usually within my skillset. However, someone is always really grateful to receive assistance with the project.  Being helpful and using my skills feels good!

Moved by a Cause or Giving Back

Thank goodness for these folks!  There are those who feel that they were helped along the way by professionals in ATD or other professional organizations and they want to pay it forward.  Volunteering is a great way to do that.

Try out a New Skill or Leadership

Volunteering is the perfect place to attempt something new.  Maybe you are a software programmer, and you’d like to try project management.  Or you’d like to showcase your leadership skills but don’t have the opportunity in your current position.  These items will look great on your resume and LinkedIn profile.  Employers do notice!

Get out of Your Comfort Zone and Increase Social Skills

I have to admit this was me.  I didn’t want to volunteer, and I was intimidated by the people.  I started taking minutes at Board meetings and would barely make a sound.  Now I’m very knowledgeable about past processes and the bylaws.  You’ll be amazed by how little time It takes to become accustomed to a new role.  You weren’t comfortable driving a car the first time you tried it, were you?

Sense of Community and Networking

Sure, you can build community and network by just coming to meetings (in-person according to your comfort level).  This community-building works better and sticks if you volunteer.  When people work together toward a common goal, you develop a bond.  These are the people who will recommend you for a job or help you with your resume.  I’ve been recommended for jobs and helped and been helped with resumes and portfolios. These types of connections will build a community that you can call on in an emergency.

Job Prospects and Mentorship

I believe this is one of the more common reasons people even join ATD. That’s ok.  The sad part is that as soon as a job is found, they leave.  If you expect to find a mentor or someone who might be willing to give you a job at ATD, then shouldn’t you also want to be a mentor or someone who might give someone a job?  Volunteering as a mentor is a great way to volunteer.  Mentorship allows you to bond really well with one person and influence their life and career.

Volunteering is Good for the Community

Everyone benefits in a community when the volunteer pool is healthy.  At Greater Atlanta ATD, there are programs and initiatives in place to draw us together and help us work together.  We work with businesses, universities, and other philanthropic organizations.  All these connections make a stronger, healthier Atlanta.  Similarly, some are motivated by helping people and knowing they are making a difference for individuals.  ATD hosts programming to develop skill sets among all levels of learners. 

Enjoy the Work and Have Fun

Enjoy doing work for free?  Am I serious?  Yes, there are those out there who enjoy what they do so much that they will do it in their free time and donate to the common good.  I’m thinking of computer programmers who program and post free software on the internet for anyone to use.  They do it for the joy of figuring it out and making it work.  You should have fun at whatever volunteer work you choose.  The best volunteers find the most joy in what they are doing.

     Nora has been volunteering with the Greater Atlanta chapter of ATD since 2016. She believes everyone should volunteer if only to gain the knowledge of what it takes to provide the programming and services the chapter provides. It has been a wonderful and beneficial experience for Nora and she'd love to tell you more about it during one of her Volunteer Engagement calls.

As a community of Training & OD professionals, ATD Greater- Atlanta Chapter wants to help you be celebrated, enhance your professional brand, and continually elevate the perception of the profession. Additionally, we want to empower professionals to develop talent in the workplace and inspire best practices in others.

So what are some Best Practices for Employee Engagement? According to the 2022 Inspirus Trends & Forecasts Report  which uses the collective wisdom and thought leadership of its' members to reveal what is trending and how these trends will impact the future of industries . Let's take a peek!!

When focusing on Strategy for example, there seems to be a critical need for organizations to   find a balance between their on-site business needs and the needs of their employees (who desire remote flexibility). Still, while employers certainly need to consider employee needs and preferences, they must also ensure that they are adequately addressing business needs. Has your organization implemented any of these strategies for enticing employees back into the workplace, as needed, for business-critical tasks? 

• Craft a back-to-work strategy Offer a place of community
• Motivate by using rewards and recognition Communicate consistently, with transparency
• Focus on diversity equity and inclusion (DEI) to represent  all employees
• Incorporate change management strategies

Aligning HR priorities with ever-changing business goals in 2022 really boils down to focusing on the employees and their needs.

Written by: James Lovas

Dale Carnegie in his book How to Stop Worrying and Start Living wrote that one of the best ways to fight worry and find happiness is to "Find yourself and Be Yourself". He says "Never before, since the beginning of time, has there ever been anybody exactly like you; and never again throughout all the ages to come will there ever be anybody exactly like you again." (Carnegie 134). I found that a big part of being myself is embracing my love of learning and training. Through a few of my stories I hope to encourage you to embrace who you are.

Find Your Place of Peace

Back in 2019, I needed to find a new home. Finding the right place is stressful! My girlfriend Lindsey went with me on the apartment search and helped me understand that it's okay to be honest with myself about what I really liked. Snapping turtles!

The place I picked is right next to a park where I snapped that photo of a snapping turtle. The park is a wonderful place for long walks to exercise my mind, body, and soul. It was liberating to embrace my love of walking. Find the place where you find peace and you'll find rest for your soul.

Find your Happy Work

For me my Happy Work is learning. The summer before my high school senior year, I attended Georgia's Governors Honors Program, where along with several hundred of my peers I took summer classes for the pure joy of learning. I felt so free at not being graded on my work. I could be creative, I could stretch myself, and I could choose subjects just because they were interesting. I learned that learning could be a way of life, and that summer I decided to make it so! Find your Happy Work and a sense of accomplishment will be always be yours.

Find How You Love Serving Others

In the autumn of 2020, my colleagues presented on the importance of a growth mindset, the mentality that never complacently accepts the status quo but always seeks to improve. I said to myself, "That's me! That's what I've been doing since high school. I find learning and growth so viscerally satisfying that I want to help as many other people as I can grow into the best versions of themselves!" Thus I wrote my career mission statement, "to nurture others' strengths to equip them to solve fun and interesting problems." Find how you love serving others and you can make a true impact.

Grow Loving Relationships

In the summer of 2021 I read Keith Ferazzi's book Never Eat Alone. For Ferazzi, the best way to achieve your goals is to  grow respectful, loving relationships with as many relevant people as you can. His ideas were like rocket fuel for my efforts to pivot my career to learning and training. I've gotten to know my organization's leaders in the learning and training space, and through them have found some fun opportunities like:

• Mentoring and coaching junior employees
• Facilitating onboarding training
• Transferring to supporting our global learning strategy as my full-time role

I joined ATD Atlanta to meet as many people as I can in the learning and training space! Grow deep relationships with others and you too will grow.

Find How to Tell Your Story

Last year I completed the Dale Carnegie Course in leadership and public speaking. In each course session, the participants tell a two minute story from their own experience. The story must end with a call to action, a principle on how to live better. 

I love reading history books. Every two weeks I illustrate a principle on love and leadership with a story from history or popular culture on my blog, Whimsical Learning (jameslovas.com). I love reaching and inspiring people. That's why I wrote this post! Tell your authentic story to a wide audience, and you'll find your tribe. 

I'm looking forward to getting to know the ATD Atlanta community and hearing y'all's stories!

As a community of Training & OD professionals, ATD Greater Atlanta wants to help you be celebrated, enhance your professional brand, and continually elevate the perception of the profession. Additionally, we want to empower professionals to develop talent in the workplace and inspire best practices in others.

So, what are some Best Practices for Employee Engagement? The 2022 Inspirus Trends & Forecasts report uses the collective wisdom and thought leadership of its' members to reveal what is trending and how these trends will impact the future of industries. Let's take a peek!!

When focusing on Strategy for example, there seems to be a critical need for organizations to find a balance between their on-site business needs and the needs of their employees who desire remote flexibility. Still, while employers certainly need to consider employee needs and preferences, they must also ensure that they are adequately addressing business needs. Has your organization implemented any of these strategies for enticing employees back into the workplace, as needed, for business-critical tasks?

• Craft a back-to-work strategy 
• Offer a place of community
• Motivate by using rewards and recognition 
• Communicate consistently, with transparency
• Focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) to represent all employees
• Incorporate change management strategies

Aligning HR priorities with ever-changing business goals in 2022 really boils down to focusing on the employees and their needs.

I am humbled and excited to serve the chapter as the VP of the Strategic Partnerships committee this year. Our committee works with businesses, associations, and colleges & universities in the greater Atlanta area to create mutually beneficial partnerships and add value for you, our members. We have some exciting things in the works for 2022 and I would love to share some key highlights with you of what is to come!

We are partnering with the International Coaching Federation (ICF) for our members to attend ICF Atlanta events at a 50% discount of their non-member rate! In addition, we are partnering with NAAAHR, the Interaction Design Association of Atlanta (iXDA Atlanta), and the Southeast Association of Facilitators (SEAF) to bring complementary content to our programming this year. Keep your eyes open for details on programming content in the next few months as well as information on a fun networking event with NAAHR in late Spring/early Summer!

For our student members and young professionals, we have been working with colleges and universities to spread the word on opportunities for networking, job experience, and mentorship. We are currently collecting applications for our mentor program, which is a wonderful opportunity for students interested in the Talent Development field to be partnered with a more senior member of our chapter and learn. If you are interested in being a mentee or a mentor, you can find more information on our mentorship page.

Potential mentors, we need you too! This program is a great opportunity for our more experienced members to give back to our community, gain mentorship experience, and possibly even source new talent for your organization. In addition, we will be hiring an intern for the chapter later this year and holding an instructional design competition that will help you build your professional portfolio of work. More to come!

We have a lot planned for this coming year, more than I could possibly highlight here, but know that our small and mighty committee is working hard behind the scenes to help enable our talented Programming and Membership committees to bring world class experiences and resources to you. As a member, we invite you to share potential future partnerships you would like to see. And if you are part of a business, association, or college/university that would like to be a future partner or sponsor of our ATD Greater Atlanta Chapter, I would love to connect with you! 

Jennifer Schmelter

VP Strategic Partnerships

ATD Greater Atlanta

VP_StrategicPartners@atdatlanta.org

Author: allison baldwin, ATD Greater Atlanta - president elect

I started volunteering with ATD Greater Atlanta in 2017, and officially joined the chapter in 2018. Over the years, I’ve learned a lot, and gained valuable experiences throughout my leadership journey in the chapter. I’ve also been fortunate to have great people to learn from and lean on along the way.

How my journey started…

Back in 2018, I was asked to help plan the December chapter meeting. The December meeting serves as an end-of-year celebration for members and volunteers, so I was excited to help plan the event. I remember recruiting volunteers to help and determining the set-up for the food, professional headshots, presentations, and more.

During the chapter meeting, we watched Julie Padgett and her team sign off for the year and induct Dave Adelman and his team for 2019. And throughout the meeting volunteers were recognized for their work, including myself as Volunteer of the Month. At the end of the event, I was simply happy it went well and everyone had a good time. I had no idea that in three years, I'd be completing my year as President-elect for the chapter. I was approached to run for President-elect in August 2020.

At the time, I was like a lot of working parents, juggling kids and work at home due to COVID-19. On top of still adjusting to the circumstances, I was preparing to transition into an Instructional Design role at the end of the month. At this point in my ATD Atlanta journey, I was serving as the VP of Communities of Practice (CoP). While I wasn’t quite sure how I’d fit this huge, but distinguished, President-elect role into my schedule, I figured I could plug the experience and skill building into my career development, so I gave it a go.

Overall, the last 14 months on the path to Chapter President have been an adventure, to say the least. I’ve had the honor of working closely with and learning from our fearless Chapter President, Cornelius Dowdell. In addition to directly building a ton of leadership competencies, I’ve had opportunities to develop my facilitation skills for different audiences and meetings, collaborate with brilliant professionals in talent and development, and build relationships with quite a few of my fellow chapter members.

How my journey is going…

One of the great things about being President-elect is that you can make the role what you want it to be. Yes, there are certain initiatives you’re required to complete, but you have a year to learn how the organization operates, and experiment with methods that could work for your year as President. I decided to focus on helping enhance a couple of our current programs, like the ATD Atlanta Mentorship Program and Leadership Academy. I also kept a pulse on how our members were feeling about virtual versus in-person events and meeting.

For our mentorship program, I partnered with Buddy Schwenk to create a framework to align with the Association for Talent & Development (ATD) Talent & Development Capabilities Model , and we formed a committee to help plan and execute the program. At the end the program, eight out of ten mentees shared their journeys, challenges, and wins, which inspired many of us in attendance. Establishing the ATD Atlanta Mentorship Program as a signature event was one of our strategic goals for our leadership team in 2021, and we accomplished it thanks to the dedicated mentees, mentors, and planning committee. In addition to the overall program being successful, the framework Buddy and I created earned us Sharing our Success (SoS) recognition from ATD. The SOS recognition is promoted as a resource for other ATD chapters looking for ideas or best practices to use within their chapter.

Leadership Academy is the one chapter program the President-elect owns. My vision was to offer a leadership topic that translates across a variety of roles and experiences, plus find a facilitator to keep attendees engaged in a virtual environment. I collaborated with Master Trainer and chapter member, Jeff Welch, on the event, and he facilitated the leadership session Influencing for Results. From a planning perspective, the program was a winner.

This year's format was acknowledged by ATD as a blueprint for what an ATPD/CPTD-certified program looks like for our chapter. This means that next year, our chapter can offer continuing education units (CEU) for Leadership Academy¬—a great value-add for our members needing recertification credits. From an attendee perspective two of my goals for Leadership Academy were met. I was able to directly apply the topic to my role as an Instructional Designer, which led to a teach back for my team at work. The team identified an objective that impacts all of us within our projects and applied the influence strategy steps Jeff shared in his session. Additionally, three attendees from Leadership Academy joined the 2022 Executive Board, which met my goal of identifying volunteers for the chapter’s leadership pipeline.

I experimented with a few ad hoc ideas this year but, for me, one of the most impactful experiments was determining how I would host our strategic planning meetings for the incoming Executive Board. Since we are still in the midst of a pandemic, I decided to host the first strategic planning meeting, which is typically several hours, in a hybrid format. Out of the eleven attendees, six attended in person and five attended online.

We did encounter some technical issues, but everyone had the opportunity to attend the first meeting in the format they were most comfortable with. With lessons learned after experiencing the pros and cons of a hybrid meeting, we organically generated conversations about how we could solve for in-person versus online events and meetings in 2022.

What’s next…

Our current leadership team is wrapping up the year by coaching the new leaders and ensuring they have a smooth transition in January. Concurrently, I’m working closely with the 2022 Executive Board to get them onboarded and finalizing strategies and goals. I can confidently say that we are working hard to plan for another great year. We will continue working to improve member engagement and retention, provide relevant topics through our chapter programs….and I will be back in January to share what our members can look forward to from ATD Atlanta in 2022! I hope to see you on Friday, December 17th, at our end-of-year celebration!

Author: Stephanie Smith, ATD Greater Atlanta - VP of Technology

When I graduated high school, I knew exactly what I wanted to do – I was going to be a high school math teacher. I know, big nerd, right? This was greatly influenced by my high school Calculus teacher, who I really admired at the time. Little did I know, my career aspirations would take me down a much different path.

As I was figuring out my degree, I decided to dual major in both Math Education and Math.... "Just in case" I needed a backup for my education degree. What I learned was that if you feel like you need a backup plan, your original plan probably isn't the right one for you.

I graduated and landed a part time teaching job. The economy wasn't great, so I was lucky I found anything at the time. I quickly learned that teaching wasn't exactly for me, and I gained a whole new respect for all public educators. Thank you to all the teachers out there!

After that year, my position got eliminated so they could replace it with a coach. I went on a hunt for another teaching job, but because the economy was bad, I wasn't able to find anything. I ended up in the corporate world as an account manager at an insurance broker.

As I was there, I knew I wanted to go back to school to do something else (let's face it - everyone hates insurance). I decided to get my graduate degree in Instructional Design and Technology from the University of Georgia. It was a night program that I could complete while I still worked full time.

A lot of people wonder if you have to have a degree to become an Instructional Designer. Although I don’t think it is 100% necessary, I do believe it played a significant role in my transition. I learned about adult learning theories, the instructional design process, and development tools. I also learned how to give and receive feedback on the projects we all created, and how to work clients. All very valuable experiences.

Outside of getting my degree, I decided to do anything I could to “beef up” my resume and portfolio. One of the recommendations from my program was to join a local organization. That is when I first joined my local ATD chapter.

ATD opened up a ton of opportunities for me. I met a man named Robb Bingham who was speaking at a local event who also came and spoke to my class. I ended up connecting with him and doing some project-based contract jobs for him. That let me add some real work experience to my resume.

Not only that, I volunteered on the Marketing, Communications, and Technology team and completed eLearning projects pro-bono for the chapter. I ended up with an eLearning course that I created to help new members who joined the chapter, and it was published on the website. That helped me build out my portfolio.

Then I decided to get more involved, and I volunteered on the executive board as the VP of Technology. At this point, I had graduated and landed my first (entry level) job as a content developer at Delta Dental. I actually took a pay cut so I could get my foot in the door. But it was at our executive board planning meeting that I got to know Shelia Matthews. She was volunteering as the VP of Membership at the time, and she worked at UPS. She, essentially, got me a job at UPS as a contractor making double what I was making at Delta Dental.

My journey has taken me from Content Developer to an experienced and successful learning and development professional. A lot of my success has been from people I have met along the way, many who I met through the ATD Greater Atlanta Chapter.

Are you someone who is looking to change careers, or even just get more experience in the L&D field? If so, I would encourage you to not only join a local organization but get involved. There are so many opportunities just waiting for you. You just have to reach out and grab them.

Stephanie Smith

Stephanie is the current VP of Technology for the ATD Greater Atlanta chapter. She is also a Sales Enablement Curriculum Manager at Cardlytics. Connect with her on LinkedIn. 

Author: Zack Hudson, CPTD

Waiting is hard. I know that it is for me. We all have times in our life when we are suddenly waiting for direction. I think of this as a waiting room. You are just stuck there and it only becomes more frustrating as you see other people come and go while you just continue to wait for your name to be called. The time doesn’t have to be wasted. In fact, it can be a very productive time for you. Let’s look at a few things you can do while you wait.

Explore
Take the time while you wait to explore around you. I don’t mean physically, but mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Remove the times and moments where you may fill stressed and replace it with personal deep dives into those three areas. Think of this like an unexplored cave. There is stuff there left waiting to be found if you are willing to go deep enough. These times have been extremely insightful when I’ve taken the time to do this. I’ve discovered that I wasn’t as passionate about an item or subject as I thought that I was, found new passions, discovered that the things that I would get hung up on actually were not that big of a deal to begin with and found new ways that I could love and serve others.

So what if you’ve been exploring and you are still thirsting for direction and the next step? Get back in there and keep searching. Several years ago, I felt was in the waiting room and spent a large amount of time exploring my own cave. What I found were multiple tunnels that were leading somewhere. One could be labeled poor employee experiences, another a loss of friends that I enjoyed working with, another the joy of seeing someone get a promotion among others. They all lead to a beautiful cavern that was called culture and people development. The piece was in me the whole time, I just had to put all the pieces together. Once I did I left the waiting room and was off on a new mission.

Have no regrets about the time before the wait.
It would have been easy to look back at my time after the self-discovery of culture and people development and think that I had wasted a bunch of time beforehand. I certainly would have chosen a different degree in college and could have saved some people on their career path along the way. Don’t fall into this trap. Everything that you have done before today has led to this moment. It’s all valuable in some way. Had I gotten a different degree, I wouldn’t have had the honor to serve all the leaders that I do. Even the hurtful things and regrets in our past have something to teach us. Don’t be ashamed of your story or what you missed. Use it to write that next great chapter in your life.

It could be a hint that something great is coming
Speaking of the next great thing, I have found that the waiting room is often a signal that something great is about to happen. Both of our children came out of times of being in the waiting room. My current role as the leader of talent management, leadership development and career pathing for Kindred at Home came after a long wait in the waiting room. I never imagined that I would be the person I am today (in a good way!) when I was in those times of waiting. Hold true to these times of waiting. We don’t know the length of the wait but it can be time well spent.

The caterpillar must wait to become the butterfly. Use the time in the waiting room to transform to a better, rejuvenated and focused you.

Make a better tomorrow.

-ZH

Author:  Allison Baldwin, ATD Greater Atlanta President-elect

Mother's Day and Father's Day is around the corner, and parents all over the world are celebrated. If you're a lucky parent, you may get part of the day, or maybe the whole day to relax.

During the other 364 days of the year, you have a million things on your mind, at every moment of the day. And for new parents, re-entering the workforce after maternity or paternity leave can be challenging. At a minimum, we're managing our family, home, and extracurricular activities. For parents who are also career-oriented, how do we squeeze in additional time for our personal development?

We all know the workforce is competitive, and now with more teams working remotely, it's even more important to enhance your skills tool kit and stay connected with your peers and leaders. Spending time focusing and working through activities that build or improve your skillset and capabilities can help you achieve your career goals.

Your goals could include some of the following examples:

But when you're done working, helping the kids with their schoolwork, spending time with your spouse and catching up with other family members and friends, you may feel like there isn't much time left for anything else. Wherever you may be in your personal life or career, here are a few ways to help you find time for your own development:

On-the-Job Experiences

Block out an hour of your day to work on your development, specifically activities that will help you improve on an area in your role and/or develop a new skill you can use on work-related projects. If you are a direct report, you'll need to communicate your plan with your manager. They can help determine the best way to include time for development into your schedule. If you don't have an hour to spare each day, that's okay! Try to dedicate at least 30 minutes a day. As long as you are proactive and make the effort, that's a huge step!

Volunteer Opportunities

Join an Association in your field or a non-profit organization. Not only are you giving back to the community, if you choose to volunteer, there are a ton of opportunities for you to stretch yourself and build your portfolio. Plus, volunteering gives you a chance to network with people and build relationships based on topics you're passionate about. What a great way to socialize and have some "Me" time!

Resources and Tools

What if you don't have time for additional tasks at work or for volunteering? There are resources and tools available at your fingertips. Companies like Udemy offer affordable, self-paced courses on a variety of topics. Download apps like SoloLearn or SimpleMind to your phone or tablet, and learn at your leisure. You can also sign up for webinars, listen to podcasts, or read books that focus on your area(s) of interest.

Simply finding the the time to invest in your personal development is possible, you just have to find the method(s) that work best for you. If you're in the Talent & Development field, take a look at the ATD Talent Development Capability Model. It's a great resource to have as you prepare you for your next step in your career.

Happy Mother's Day, and Happy Father's Day, to all of my Talent & Development parents out there!

Allison Baldwin

ATD Greater Atlanta President-elect

Allison has over 10 years of experience in Learning & Development, and started in LMS Administration. She is now an Instructional Designer at the Home Depot and considers herself a life-long learner. She is also the 2021 President-Elect of ATD Greater Atlanta and hopes to encourage others to step out of their comfort zone as they grow in their careers. Allison is a proud wife and mother, Kennesaw State University Alumni, loves cooking and spending time outdoors.

Last month, ATD Greater Atlanta members were treated to the first of two CoP sessions on "How to Write for TD Publication." Many may not be aware that one of our own chapter members just recently received the distinction of being published in TD Magazine with his article “Is Your Talent Development Strategy On Target?”

In January of this year (2021), ATD Greater Atlanta Past President, Robb Bingham, was published in the Association for Talent Development’s TD Magazine. In the article, he shares experiences from the work he does with clients as a Learning Strategist; specifically, an introduction to the Converging Solutions’ Target Model which he developed over a decade ago.

In the article, he challenges learning leaders to recognize their role and responsibility as an advisor to business leaders in high-change (VUCA) environments such as those experienced by a majority of businesses, governments, schools and non-profits over the past year of COVID-complications.

Follow this link to read the digital copy of the article “Is Your Talent Development Strategy On Target?”

You can also learn more about Converging Solutions from their company website, check out a copy of a recent monthly newsletter, or receive a TARGET job aid like that featured in the article by subscribing to their newsletter here.

And while you are at it, be sure to sign up for Session Two of the CoP on "How to Write for TD Publication," scheduled for April 29th.