We have a controversial opinion: we don’t believe in volunteering.
At least, not the kind that allows organizations to avoid paying people for work they genuinely depend on.
In this episode of Management Muse, Cindi Baldi and Geoffrey Tumlin challenge the assumption that volunteer labor is always a win-win. We discuss how underpaying mission-driven employees can create long-term staffing problems, why critical work is difficult to build around people who aren’t formally accountable for it, and how organizations can unintentionally take advantage of the very people most committed to the mission.
If your organization depends on people giving more than they’re formally paid or accountable for, don’t miss this episode. It’s a useful challenge to the idea that goodwill can substitute for compensation, structure, and accountability.
Episode Highlights:
- When volunteering crosses the line into unpaid labor
- The hidden organizational cost of relying on volunteers
- What inflation exposes about organizations built on below-market wages
- What to watch out for with mission-driven employees
- Why “free” changes the expectations and accountability on both sides
- The rare case where a volunteer becomes indispensable
Watch This Episode on YouTube:
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Want to Go Deeper? Check Out Our Recommended Reading:
- Pallotta, Dan. Uncharitable, Brandeis University Press, Oct. 2022, https://a.co/d/03CkgwMe
- Ton, Zeynep. The Good Jobs Strategy, New Harvest, Jan. 2014, https://a.co/d/0iLwWUEz
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