Companies worldwide are stepping up efforts to be good corporate citizens. Employee volunteering is an important part of this, and is set to receive a boost as 2001 is designated the United Nations International Year of Volunteers

WHAT IS EMPLOYEE VOLUNTEERING?

Employee volunteering (EV) involves companies supporting and encouraging staff to volunteer for work on community projects or in individual organizations

EV may form part of a broader ‚corporate community involvement‘ strategy covering a wide range of activities such as donations, relations with suppliers, cause-related marketing and ethical business conduct

In the US, nine out of 10 companies encourage staff to volunteer. In the UK one in three large companies have EV schemes

A 1999 survey of 2’722 US corporations by the Points of Light Foundation highlighted how globalization has led to an expansion of EV – nearly one quarter of companies with international operations had established an EV program in a foreign country

According to the Points of Light survey an overwhelming 81 percent of the companies surveyed connected volunteering to their overall business strategies, compared to only 31 percent in 1992

THE PUBLIC’S VIEWS ON CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

For Environics International’s Millennium Poll on Corporate Social Responsibility, researchers interviewed over 25’000 ‚average citizens‘ in 23 countries on six continents. The interviews, conducted in May 1999, revealed that:

The factor most influencing the public impression of an individual company was perceived social responsibility (cited by 49 percent). Second was brand quality, corporate image and reputation (40 percent), followed by business fundamentals such as financial status, company size and strategy (32 percent)
People held companies most accountable for protecting employee health and safety, treating employees equally, never participating in bribery and corruption, protecting the environment, and never using child labor. These attributes were all ranked above making a profit and paying a fair share of taxes
20 percent of citizens worldwide had talked ‚many times‘ in the past year with friends or family about companies‘ behavior. A further 33 percent had discussed this ‚a few times‘ in the past year
‚Opinion leaders‘ – those with influence on other people’s opinions, and making up 20 percent of the total number interviewed – were more likely to have discussed corporate behavior with others, and to have punished a socially irresponsible company in the past year (for example by not buying one of its products or services). This suggests that companies will come under even greater public pressure in the future to deliver on their broader social responsibilities.

The 1999 Millennium Poll on Corporate Social Responsibility found that two in every three people want companies to go beyond their historical role of employing people and making a profit, and to contribute to broader societal goals as well. The poll of 25’000 ‚average citizens‘ in 23 countries worldwide also showed that more than half are paying close attention to the social behavior of companies. And with one in five consumers having in some way either rewarded or punished companies in the previous year based on perceived social performance – and almost as many having considered doing so – the pressure on business to move beyond a narrow preoccupation with the bottom-line is intensifying.

Encouraging company staff to become involved in volunteer work in the local community – employee volunteering (EV) – is one way in which business are meeting these demands, alongside other socially responsible initiatives such as ensuring good ethical environmental and labor practices. With the United Nations designating 2001 the International Year of Volunteers, the popularity of EV, and its adoption as company policy, is set to expand. So what exactly is the business case for EV, and how strong is it?

A classic win-win situation

Part an altruistic desire to put something back into the local community, part a straightforward business decision to gain competitive advantage over the rivals, the motivation for companies to get involved in EV has always reflected the concept of exchange and reciprocity that lies at the heart of all volunteering. Advocates talk of a classic win-win situation, with all parties – the company, the volunteer and the community – benefiting from engagement. For the volunteer, the benefits of EV include personal fulfilment, skills development, career enhancement, and strengthened personal relationships.

In one study IBM found its EV program ‚to foster better balanced individuals with a broader perspective on life,‘ who were ‚more confident and creative.‘ Another UK-based study highlighted the ‚broadened functional capability‘ that employees gained by applying skills in a more challenging environment. Specific skills gains reported by companies relate to communication, organization and time management, accountability and assessment reporting, planning, budgeting, and creative thinking. Essentially , EV offers employees skills through ‚exercise and use‘.

EV appears to have a subtle role to play in changing attitudes and dynamics within the workplace. Research from the US found that volunteers developed more understanding of their fellow workers, with EV providing a platform for people from different sites, departments and levels of seniority to work together. Employees also developed a greater respect for diversity, and a heightened sense of community and social obligation.

Other cited benefits were: A more innovative approach to responding to difficulties Enhancement of calculated risk-taking Heightened appreciation of benefits provided by the team Affirmation of personal capability and worth.

How the company and community benefit

For the company, the benefits include an enhanced public image, better motivated and trained staff, and increased profits. An evaluation in a major UK high-street bank found that 71 percent of managers felt the business had benefited from their employees involvement in terms of ‚increased profile in public areas,‘ ’new business generated,‘ and ‚improved reputation and community links‘.

Many companies are linking EV to staff training schemes. A survey from the Business in the Community consortium found that 86 percent of companies in the UK who support EV have linked their program explicitly to staff development. The results are encouraging. One small-scale study of seven companies found that 78 percent of staff believed that their performance had improved as a consequence of their volunteering, with 56 percent feeling the performance of the company had been enhanced.

A more strategic approach adopted by some companies has been to link their community involvement policy to specific business objectives. Employee volunteering has been used as a tool for achieving business goals such as the need to be seen as a caring employer, investing in the future workforce, and developing staff.

Research has also shown that there are a range of factors determining whether or not a company will become involved in EV, such as the implicit business culture of the company, the extent in which the business is ‚community facing‘, the need for a good local reputation, and the example of ist company peers.

EV has also been traditionally centered on the geographical communities important to the business, usually close to major centers of operation. Many companies may even target EV around specific concerns such as tackling social exclusion or developing awareness of the environment. The benefits of EV for the community have been less well documented, but are fairly straightforward. Groups, organizations and charities gain access to new volunteers with different experiences and skills (such as marketing and accountancy). The process of volunteering also creates social capital and improves the level of trust between company and community – sociologists such as Robert Putnam from Harvard have argued that this is important for the development of cohesive (and economically successful) societies. (….)

An essential business investment

EV offers an effective way for companies to present a more socially acceptable face while at the same time developing a more qualified and motivated workforce. But for the full potential of EV to be realized, certain things must happen. First, companies must be convinced of the business case for EV and there is no doubt that the pros and cons need to be documented and disseminated more widely. Business associations could play a valuable role here in helping companies to share their experiences of what works, and in providing models of good practice for replication elsewhere.

EV will also need to become more firmly embedded in the core business culture if it is to be sustainable in the long term. At present, as with other perceived ‚peripherals‘ such as advertising, the community affairs budget is one of the first to be cut in times of economic downturn. The challenge is to convince employers that EV is an essential business investment, not simply a charitable gift.

Yet the future for EV looks bright. The workplace has the potential to become one of the most important arenas for involving people in voluntary and community activities. Indeed, with the advent of the freelance economy and the protfolio career, EV may become an essential bridge between the worlds of paid employment, leisure and community life.

‚The process of volunteering
creates social capital and
improves the level of trust between company and community‘

Article in ‚THE NOVARTIS JOURNAL pathways‘ April 2001 By Dr. Justin Davis Smith director and Priya Lukka a research officer at the Institute for Volunteering Research, London