Community Volunteering: Employees donating their time and talents Lecture # 7

Community Volunteering An initiative in which the corporation supports and encourages employees, retail partners, and/or franchise members to volunteer their time to support local community organizations and causes. Volunteer efforts may include employees volunteering their expertise, talents, ideas, and/or physical labor

Corporate support to CV Providing paid time off from work Matching services to help employees find opportunities of interest Recognition of services Organizing teams to support specific causes the corporation has targeted

CV vs. other CSR initiatives The only initiative that involves employees of a corporation personally volunteering at local organizations and for local cause efforts. A strategic approach appears to be the norm, where employees are encouraged to volunteer for causes that are currently supported by other corporate social initiatives, frequently connected to core business values and goals.

What CV does for employees “ community volunteering encourages corporations and individuals to contribute through their unique skills and creative abilities.” “ employees are giving away the one thing that is most genuinely theirs and that no one can take away.” “ the yearning people have to be connected to something special inside themselves and at the same time to something larger than themselves and their own self interest”

Corporate support for employee volunteering ranges from programs that simply encourage their employees to give back to their communities to those representing a significant financial investment and display of recognition and reward.

The ways to encourage CV 1. Promoting the ethic through corporate communications that encourages employees to volunteer in their community and that may provide information on resources to access in order to explore volunteer opportunities.

The ways to encourage CV 2. Suggesting specific causes and charities that the employee might want to consider and providing detailed information on how to get involved , often with causes and charities supported by other social initiatives.

The ways to encourage CV 3. Organizing volunteer teams for a specific cause or event for e.g. where employees can pain the inside of a child care facility for homeless children

The ways to encourage CV 4. Providing paid time off during the year to do volunteer work, with typical benefits ranging from offering two to five days of annual paid leave to do volunteer work on company time, to more vigorous programs that provide opportunities for an employee to spend a year on behalf of the company working in a developing country.

The ways to encourage CV 5. Awarding cash grants to charities where employees spend time volunteering ; grant amount are then often based on numbers of hours reported by employees. 6. Recognizing exemplary employee volunteers through gestures such as mention in internal newsletters, awards of service pins or plaques, and special presentations at department or annual company meetings.

Types of projects Community projects are the most common, include efforts such as building homes , collecting food for food banks, organizing teams for walk-a-thons, cleaning parks, reading to kids, mentoring youth at risk, volunteering in the classroom, visiting children in hospitals, spending time with seniors in a nursing home, teaching computer skills, befriending homeless people and handing out meals.

Types of projects Health and safety related projects where employees volunteer their time to activities such as screening kids for dental problems , leading youth physical activity programs, conducting a car seat safety check, handing out educational brochures on HIV/AIDS, driving seniors to get an annual flu shot, and teaching children on how to cross roads.

Types of projects Environmental volunteering might litter pickup, tree planting in areas destroyed by fires, seed propagation for high way beautification, weed control, clearing storm drains of debris.

Building genuine Relationships in the community Recipients of volunteer efforts recognize the spirit of commitment that a company has when volunteers show up personally to help their organization's cause. The relationship and community building opportunities for these sincere contributions are perhaps the strongest for this initiative . Anyone can write a check or provide space for cause promotional material but it takes real commitment and caring to give your employees rime away from the production lines or for people who have full time jobs to give some of their free time to support a cause.

What do you think this effort did for Engro?

Contributing to business goals Community volunteering can help organizations discover new business opportunities in undiscovered markets. By assisting communities in realizing the potential of what ever an organization has to offer, mat often lead to building new markets for the company.

Increasing Employee satisfaction and motivation “when you are part of something bigger than yourself, and when you see your efforts culminating into something tangible; it contributes to your self-esteem and changes you for the better” an employee at Hewlett Packard

Supporting other Corporate Initiatives Supporting employees to volunteer for causes that are a strategic focus for the organization can leverage the contributions already being made through other initiatives such as cause promotions and philanthropy Mixing community volunteering into the efforts makes the concept more real.

Enhancing Corporate Image Many companies are discovering that strong reputations for corporate social responsibility can be enhanced , even won through the generous actions of employees whose volunteer efforts bring them face-to-face with cause partners, citizens and neighbors in need.

Provide opportunities to showcase products and services This particular initiative lets employees penetrate a different market. Direct one to one communication gives employees a chance to showcase their products properly to the communities where they are providing their volunteer services.

Potential Concerns It can get expensive With so many employees , efforts may get spread over so many issues that we don’t really make an impact. When efforts among employees among employees are dispersed throughout the market, even the globe , how do we realize business benefits for the company as well? Being able to track efforts and outcomes for this initiative can be most difficult of all. It is particularly tough with this initiative to find the balance between publicizing our efforts and flaunting them.

Keys to Success Choose what feels most authentic to the brand or business. Anything that is forced or undertaken merely as a marketing initiative will fail with stakeholders. Make sure there is a connection between the effort and the core of the company.

Keys to Success Include promotional strategies to reach the employees and community one is serving. Develop and implement measurement systems in order to determine what is working and what is not.

When to consider CV? When current social initiatives would benefit from a volunteer component When a group of employees express an interest in a specific cause that has strong connections with business and corporate citizenship When a community need emerges When technological advances make it easier to march employees to volunteer opportunities When a strong community organization approaches a business for support When a volunteer effort might open new markets or provide opportunities for new product development and research

Developing a CV plan Develop guidelines for employee involvement. Determine types and levels of employee support. Develop and internal communication plan. Develop a recognition plan. Develop an external communications plan. Develop a plan for tracking and assessment.