Volunteering in the Workplace:

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Contents

Introduction

• What is employee volunteerism?
• Why promote employee volunteerism?

Part One

• Opportunities for employees
• Motivation for company involvement
• Forms of employer support for volunteerism
  • i) Acknowledgement
  • ii) Promotion
  • iii) Encouragement
  • iv) Endorsement
  • v) Sponsorship

• Structures for employer support for volunteerism
• Success factors for employee volunteer programs

Part Two

• Selling the concept to business
• Making the connection
• Preparing your organization for employee volunteers
• Promoting employee volunteerism in your community

Summing Up

Appendices

• A - A Growing Movement: employee volunteering in Canadian communities
• B - Corporate Volunteer Councils in Canada
• C - The International Backdrop: an overview of employee volunteering in the United States and Great Britain
• D - Summary of Good Practice in Employee Volunteering
• E - Creating a Company Profile
• F - The Corporate Volunteer Fair: what, why and how
• G - The Corporate Volunteer Fair: a planning checklist

Recommended Reading

• I Resources on employee volunteerism
• II Popular books on management for the corporate sector

Acknowledgements

I would like to extend a very special thanks to four people: Joanne Cooper of the Volunteer Centre of Metropolitan Toronto, Keith Seel of the Calgary Corporate Volunteer Council, Martha Parker of the Volunteer Centre of Calgary, and Reva Cooper of the Volunteer Action Centre of Kitchener-Waterloo. In developing this resource, it was immensely useful to be able to tap into their vast experience in employee volunteerism and their vision of the future.

In addition, the following individuals provided critical comments on earlier drafts of this text and shared their thoughts on how to promote employee volunteerism: Lorraine Street of Volunteer Ontario; Violette Gingras of the Volunteer Bureau of Montreal; Sandra Murphy of the Volunteer Centre in St John's, Newfoundland; Leslie Maclean of the Saint John Volunteer Centre in New Brunswick; Marilyn Box of the Volunteer Centre of Ottawa-Carleton; Dale Cuthbertson of Volunteer Vancouver and Mel Moyer of the Voluntary Sector and Arts Management Program at York University. Their input resulted in a greatly improved text.

About this guide

Voluntary organizations today are caught in an ever-tightening spiral of increased demand for programs and services, reduced government support and increasing competition for private funds. Without a doubt, there is an even greater need for volunteers in these tough economic times. Organizations must be prepared to recruit and retain the most talented and dedicated volunteers if they want to ensure their viability and perhaps even their survival.

Employee volunteerism (also known as corporate volunteerism) is one way to meet the urgent need for volunteers. This involves a deliberate strategy by an employer to encourage employees to become more involved in their community as volunteers and to support them in those efforts. Since the majority of volunteers today are also members of the paid labour force, the workplace is now recognized as an important source for recruiting volunteers and a logical place to promote volunteerism.

This guide is intended for volunteer centres and other voluntary organizations at the local level. It examines:

• the advantages of promoting employee volunteerism in your community;
• the reasons why companies get involved and the potential benefits to their employees;
• the various ways in which companies of all types can encourage volunteerism among their employees; and
• the strategies that can be used to encourage employee volunteerism in your community and to attract employee volunteers to your organization.

The Introduction defines employee volunteerism and the reasons why this concept should be promoted. Part I looks at employee volunteerism from the perspective of the corporate sector. Part II offers suggestions on how voluntary organizations can successfully recruit and integrate employee volunteers. A series of appendices provide an overview of employee volunteerism both in Canada and internationally. Advice on managing an employee volunteer program and on organizing a corporate volunteer fair is also offered, along with an annotated list of the major resources in this field.

Efforts to promote the concept of employee volunteerism can pay dividends to your organization and the community as a whole. We hope that the information offered in this guide will give you an understanding of the concept of employee volunteerism that will help you put it to work in your community.

Introduction

1 What is employee volunteerism?

The term employee volunteerism denotes a deliberate effort by an employer to encourage employees to participate in volunteer activities and to support them in these efforts. It involves creating a work environment where volunteer activity is valued and encouraged — that is, a `volunteer-friendly' workplace.

When put into practice, employee volunteerism covers a broad range of strategies that companies can use to encourage volunteerism. It includes support to employees when they:

• donate their own time to an organization or community activity they have chosen themselves;
• donate time (either during working hours or after hours) to an organization or community activity that has been endorsed by their company; or
• donate time (usually during working hours) to a voluntary organiz ation or activity as a work commitment.

Because this is a relatively new field, the definitions of terms are not yet completely fixed. For example, `corporate volunteerism' is often used as a synonym for `employee volunteerism'. However, this term is also used to define a narrower concept whereby employees in the management and professional categories contribute company time to a voluntary organization as a work commitment. `Workplace volunteerism', on the other hand, is used to convey the same broad idea as `employee volunteerism', but it is used much less frequently.

The concept of employee volunteerism is almost always restricted to volunteer activity that benefits the community or society in general. It is rarely used to refer to employer support for the time that employees devote to professional associations, unions, business or trade associations, or Chambers of Commerce.

Employee volunteerism can be regarded as a basic business strategy for community involvement that complements financial donations, gifts-in-kind, `pro bono' services, and event sponsorship.

2 Why promote employee volunteerism?

Voluntary organizations face enormous challenges in the 1990s. They are under growing pressure to do more with less, while the needs of their clients are increasing. Although the public has become accustomed to high-quality service, in most cases the resources needed to meet those expectations are not growing at a fast enough pace to keep up with demand.

In the current era of fiscal restraint and cutbacks in government spending at all levels, the survival of services and programs Canadians depend on is being threatened. Voluntary organizations are being obliged to assume an even greater role in delivering services and in responding to their communi ties' needs and social problems.

As a result, the need for volunteers as a resource has become even more critical. Volunteers are needed to deliver services, to lend specific technical and professional expertise, to show leadership as board and committee members, and to build support for programs in the community.

Now more than ever, voluntary organizations and community agencies need volunteers who are committed and involved. They must tap new sources for potential volunteers in order to ensure an adequate supply of volunteers with appropriate skills and abilities.

In these times of rapid change and instability, the reality of volunteering is also changing. Old stereotypes of who will volunteer, what they do, and why they do it are no longer valid. Today, two thirds of Canada's volunteers are members of the paid work force, and most of them are employed full-time.

Given that people in paid jobs are more likely to volunteer than those who do not, the workplace is a logical place to promote volunteerism and recruit volunteers. Employee volunteerism should thus be seen as a viable way to inject new, creative energy into a community.

The workplace is a source of specialized advice and specific skills that may not be available anywhere else. Employee volunteers can offer a fresh perspective on community issues and challenges and can bring new talent to apply to problems.

The community in which we live dramatically affects the quality of our everyday lives. A secure and vibrant community, which attracts businesses and holds people because they want to live and work there, is in everyone's best interest.

An active voluntary sector is essential to a healthy community. For this reason, by increasing the pool of available volunteers, employee volunteerism benefits not only the local voluntary sector but also the community as a whole. Since the well-being of business is linked to the health of communities, the corporate sector also has a stake in ensuring that our communities are well served.

Part One

3 Opportunities for employees

Volunteering is no longer regarded as a purely unselfish activity. It is widely accepted today that volunteer activity fills a need in the lives of those who volunteer, as well as making a valuable contribution to the organizations it serves and the people it helps.

Employee volunteer programs offer employees a chance to grow both personally and professionally. Through volunteering, employees have opportunities to:

• help others and have an impact on community problems;
• increase their understanding of community needs and issues;
• use the skills and knowledge they already have in new settings;
• try out skills and use creativity that may be gathering dust in the workplace;
• learn new skills, broaden their experience and develop their careers;
• develop teamwork and leadership abilities;
• build a bridge to a new type of job or to retirement;
• meet new people;
• make professional or business contacts;
• balance their work life by getting involved in something they care about or by trying something new;
• find personal satisfaction and increase their sense of self- worth;
• improve their mental and physical health.

In short, employees are motivated to become involved as volunteers for most of the same reasons as other people do. Personal benefit is a critical factor in community involvement, for employees as for anyone else.

4 Motivation for company involvement

The first objective of any business is to make a product or to provide a service, in a way that maximizes profits. But many companies also have a sense of corporate social responsibility, a belief that they have a duty to make a positive contribution to the quality of life in the communities where they do business and their employees live.

The desire to be a good corporate citizen is a powerful motivating force in a company's decision to become involved in the community. This has been confirmed by the Conference Board Of Canada's 1986 study of employer practices and policies in employee volunteerism, as well as by case studies and other research in Great Britain and the United States.

When they support the wider community, companies' motivations range across a spectrum between self-interest and pure philanthropy. At the one end are sponsored events closely linked to public relations and commercial benefits. At the other end are charitable donations and gifts-in-kind, which may even be given anonymously. The balance will vary from one company to another.

In the case of employee volunteerism, motivation is likely to be a mixture of altruism and self-interest — and this should be viewed as perfectly natural. Just as individuals have needs that can be met through volunteer work, companies also have needs that can be met through encouraging their employees to volunteer.

Experience in Canada, the United States and Great Britain has shown that employee volunteering offers advantages for the companies that promote it.

Because these benefits are largely intangible, they are difficult to quantify. Nevertheless, many companies are convinced that their volunteer programs:

• improve their relations with the community in which they operate
• improve the way they are perceived by the public at large; and
• offer new channels for information about the community and the challenges it faces.

A company is much more likely to be successful in its community relations efforts if it has a good understanding of community issues and is sensitive to community needs. This knowledge can also give the company useful insights into its local markets.

Equally important to its public image is the company's self-image, since this has a direct impact on the motivation of its employees. Employee volunteer ism shows employees that their company values the contribution they make to the community. Employees may even consider it a perk to be able to find workplace support for their volunteer efforts and to be encouraged to get involved in issues they care about.

Through employee volunteerism, a company has the opportunity to:

• improve the morale of its employees
• build team spirit in the organization
• improve its ability to attract and keep high-quality employees
• have a positive impact on employee productivity.

Employee volunteer policies and programs can also be effective tools to help strengthen a company's work force at all levels. Since skills developed or honed in the voluntary sector will be brought back to the workplace, employee volunteerism offer new avenues for:

• training
• professional development
• career development

This can be particularly effective if a company wants to develop leadership skills in its employees, to give them opportunities to gain experience in decision-making or to build experience as teamworkers. A critical component of any company's success is the competence and commitment of its employees. Many companies view the people who work for them as their most important resource — a resource that must be managed effectively. In the current era of fast-paced technological change and increasing competi tion, the need to ensure a loyal and productive work force is even more important than it was in the past.

5 Forms of employer support for volunteerism

The support and encouragement that an employer gives to its employees' volunteer activity can take many different forms. There is great flexibility here, depending on the needs of the company and the intensity of its commitment to employee volunteerism. A variety of approaches can be chosen specifically to reinforce or complement one another.

This range of activities can be organized into five basic categories, but elements from these different categories can be combined to create a unique blend that may be the most appropriate strategy for a given company. In some ways, these different forms of employer support could be viewed as steps along a continuum.

The first form of employer support involves practices that acknowledge that employees are involved as volunteers and try to accommodate this reality whenever possible. This type of support is not necessarily formalized in a policy or a philosophy statement. The possibilities include:

• counting relevant volunteer work as experience when considering a candidate for a position or promotion;
• allowing leaves of absence without pay for volunteer work;
• allowing employees to adjust their work schedules to make it possible to carry out their volunteer work activities (where the demands of the job allow for flex-time);
• allowing employees access on their own time to facilities and equipment (such as computers, fax machines and meeting rooms) for their volunteer work activities.

With the second form, employer support is demonstrated in a more formal way. A key element is the recognition of employees who are involved with voluntary organizations and highlighting their activities and achievements. Examples are:

• sending a letter or memo to all employees in which the Ceo expresses his or her views on the value of volunteer participation;
• sending a thank-you note to employees during National Volunteer Week (or any time during the year);
• writing commendations or letters to employees concerning their volunteer activities;
• publishing articles or a regular column in company newsletters or magazines profiling the volunteer work of employees;
• organizing special lunches or receptions hosted by senior managers to recognize employees for their volunteer work;
• giving awards or some form of special recognition to one or more employees who have been nominated as outstanding volunteers;
• conducting a survey to find out about the volunteer activities of employees.

With the third form, support is offered through policies which encourage employees to volunteer in a more active way. Guidelines, procedures and criteria are required to ensure fairness in terms of the competing demands of the needs of the workplace and the volunteer needs of employees. Potential activities include:

• encouraging volunteer work as a legitimate way to gain skills and experience for professional or career development;
• encouraging executives and other staff to serve on boards of directors of voluntary organizations that they choose;
• offering pre-retirement seminars promoting volunteer work;
• permitting the posting of information on local voluntary organizations and volunteer positions in the community;
• featuring appeals in internal newsletters from employees on behalf of organizations they support;
• holding a volunteer fair on company premises or participating in a larger event in the community (that is, a display and information booth organized by a volunteer centre or a group of local voluntary organizations to inform employees about volunteer opportunities and services in the community);
• inviting speakers from voluntary organizations to address employees;
• allowing employees to use office communication channels for announcements to publicize events or volunteer opportunities in the association they work with (for example, through company newslet ters, bulletin boards or information in pay packets);
• referring employees on request to a local volunteer centre or agencies that refer or place volunteers;
• encouraging and supporting volunteer clubs and employee groups that are involved in the community;
• establishing formal volunteer programs for retired employees.

The fourth form involves the company working actively with voluntary groups to encourage employees to do volunteer work. Nevertheless, the choice of the voluntary organization and the volunteer activity would still rest exclusively with the individual employee. Examples are:

• making information about volunteer opportunities in the community available to employees on a regular basis through in-house publica tions, notices on bulletin boards, et al;
• liaison with the local volunteer centre on a regular basis or maintain ing a `clearing house' to make employees aware of volunteer jobs available in the community;
• allowing voluntary organizations to have direct access to employees and to recruit volunteers on the company's premises;
• developing a `skills bank' to record the skills and experience of employees who are interested in volunteer positions;
• allowing time off with pay to employees for volunteer activities of their choice during the regular working day (that is, a specific, pre- determined amount of time available on request, such as longer lunch breaks or early leaving);
• offering help in kind or free services to the organizations for which employees volunteer without requiring the organization to identify or publicize the source (for example, access to surplus furniture or equipment, access to specific services or technology);
• offering cash support to organizations for which employees volunteer (a popular model is the `community fund' program whereby grants are given to organizations as a form of recognition of outstanding volunteer work by employees)
• giving cash donations to match funds raised or time volunteered by an individual employee or team of employees for a given organization;
• supporting community projects that have been organized sponta neously by employees;
• publicizing the work of employee volunteers in a public way in the community.

The fifth form relates to very active forms of employee volunteerism whereby volunteer work is done under the auspices of the company which employs the individual. Here the company is the intermediary for the community involvement and provides direct support to a community organization, event or cause. By some definitions, this is true `corporate volunteerism'.

Activities in this category are often viewed as being part of the public relations function of the sponsoring company. They may be directly linked to the mandate of the company. Support for volunteer activities of employees is an integral part of the business strategy and, as such, tends to be `corporate- driven' rather than `employee-driven'.

Typically, this type of support involves selected types of volunteer involvement and specific organizations and requires highly structured involvement by the employer (that is, staff time is dedicated to the coordina tion of the employee volunteer program).

Types of support include:

• appeals to employees to volunteer for specific organizations;
• programs to recruit and refer volunteers into specific organizations in the community;
• invitations to employees to become involved in projects that are endorsed by the company;
• cash, goods or services are given to voluntary organizations for which employees volunteer with the employer clearly identified with the donations;
• professional assistance to identified voluntary organizations either on an ad hoc or a regular basis (in the past, this has generally involved only managerial, technical and professional staff);
• nomination of employees to serve on the board of a specific voluntary organization (in the past, this has often been limited to managerial and professional staff);
• employer-sanctioned `volunteer' time;

the best example would be the time that employees devote to a United Way campaign during working hours;

·company projects that take place in regular working hours

these are company-sanctioned projects or committee-chosen causes that have been endorsed by the company; they may be either one-shot or ongoing projects; and

·lending employees to a `company-sanctioned' voluntary organization at the employer's expense;

this is often in an area linked to the product or service provided by the company and is generally restricted to managers and professionals (for example, loaned executives programs); it is commonly used for developmental assign ments for staff in the early to middle stages of their career and for longer-term assignments for those in middle to advanced stages of their career; for the employees involved, this is a work commitment, since they are still accountable to their employer;

In the case of company-sanctioned projects, three different concepts are possible:

i) sponsorship:

examples include the United Way campaign (which ranks first in terms of sponsorship in Canada) and `adopt-a-charity' schemes;

ii) joint partnership projects done in collaboration with a voluntary organization:

a good example is a Meals on Wheels program run by a company;

iii) in-house projects where the company works totally on its own without the involvement of a voluntary organization, except perhaps as a beneficiary;

this is a model for community development that is common in the United States: adopt-a-school projects and tutoring of youth on company premises are popular examples.

6 Structures of employer support for volunteerism

Virtually anything that an employer does to promote the involvement of its employees in community service is beneficial in some way. Any form of support can foster a climate that shows that the employer values volunteer ism.

Some published material refers to an employer's efforts to accommodate the personal volunteer work of its employees (that is, `type I' as outlined above) as mere `tolerance' of volunteer activity. However, it seems more helpful to regard any kind of support as an important first step.

Once a company has taken the first step, it then becomes easier to introduce other forms of support for the volunteer work of its employees. It may well have laid the foundation of what will become an incremental, gradual process, building on existing activities. Even if a company is just beginning to move in this direction, many of its employees will already be involved as community volunteers.

Policies and practices to encourage and support volunteer activity by employees differ. Some companies will prefer to adopt a very formal approach with detailed policies and practices; others will prefer a less formal approach, at least at the beginning. Some of the businesses that are most active in promoting employee volunteering do not have formal policies and programs.

For some companies, their efforts depend heavily on input from the community organization or volunteer centre they work with; others have activities that are fully `owned' by the company or by a group of employees.

For employee volunteer programs to be successful, however, both the level of support for volunteerism and the shapes that support takes will depend on the corporate culture and the values of the managers and employees. For this reason, it is essential for a company to be fully aware of the views and attitudes of employees at all levels before it takes the initiative in this area. It is also important to be aware of the fact that some volunteers prefer to remain anonymous and will not welcome publicity in the workplace about their involvement.

Structures for organizing support for volunteer activity by employees vary from one company to another. Some have relatively unstructured and spontaneous activities; others have highly formalized programs.

Where support is formalized, there are two basic approaches that companies are now using to manage their efforts in support of employee volunteerism (these are not mutually exclusive; both approaches can also be used together):

• a staff member is assigned responsibility for this as part of his or her job (although usually this is only a small part, even in large corpora tions); generally, this staff person is in a community relations, public affairs or human resources unit;
• a team or committee of employees is given the task of planning and overseeing the company's employee volunteer program.

7 Success factors for employee volunteer programs

Key factors that influence the success of employee volunteer programs can be identified based on experience in employee volunteerism in Canada and other parts of the world (particularly, case studies and other research from the Usa and the Uk).

There is no magic formula for success. Each company moulds its efforts to fit its own priorities and culture — its particular way of doing business. The fact that a company is likely to view its efforts to promote employee volunteerism as an extension of its own uniqueness can work to the advantage a particular voluntary organization if it is aware of what the needs and interests of the company are.

The approach adopted must suit the needs and interests of both the employees and the employer. No two companies are the same, and there may even be differences between various branches of larger corporations. What is right for one company may not be the best choice for another.

The commitment of the Chief Executive Officer (Ceo) and senior managers, backed by strong support from middle managers, is vital. Without this, efforts will likely fail. The cause also needs a champion within the organization, ideally at the top level. However, there is a danger of losing momentum in the longer run if the force rests in a single individual.

At the same time, it is critical to ensure employee ownership of activities. A wide range of employees should then be actively involved in developing the policy and the precise types of support to be offered. As well, representatives from employee associations or unions should be invited to play a role.

For example, in assessing needs and interests, the company could develop a short questionnaire (which does not ask for names) to solicit ideas from employees. This would also be a good way to find out what employees are already doing as volunteers or are interested in doing. Then, once the employee volunteerism program begins, the company should encourage feedback and consult with employees on a regular basis.

Support for volunteer activities should be open to the entire workforce, rather than restricted to managers and professionals as has been the case with many companies in the past. Ideally, there should be no distinction between an hour of work from an executive and an hour from a receptionist. The program will also be enhanced if the company's `extended family', including spouses and children of employees as well as retirees, are invited to become involved.

In planning and starting up an employee volunteer program, certain steps are essential. At the beginning, the company will need to:

• establish a forum to present the idea and develop the plan;
• find activities that require few or no resources; and
• co-operate with key community organizations, in particular, the local volunteer centre.

As support for the idea of employee volunteerism becomes more entrenched in the organization, the company should:

• name a staff person as the contact point, preferably someone with excellent communications skills who is well connected within the organization; and
• determine the budget and the amount of staff support needed.

A more lasting relationship between the company and community organizations is likely to result where the company adopts formal policies to guide its actions. A reference to employee volunteerism could be included in a company's mission statement, philosophy statement and annual reports to show its commitment to supporting employees' volunteer activities.

Ideally, employee volunteerism and the company's community involvement should be regarded as part of the company's day-to-day business, an integral part of its activity rather than a special project or `program', as it too often still is. This means that the concept should be incorporated fully into the corporate culture and mainstream decision-making process. (This was the consensus of participants at a symposium on employee volunteerism held in Calgary in March 1993.)

The company must ensure that activities are undertaken by choice, whether these have been initiated by the employees themselves or in cooperation with management. Employees should never feel press-ganged into participating.

It is important to recognize that there is a point beyond which volunteer work is no longer entirely a matter of choice, of the employee's free will. Employer support for volunteerism may sometimes be perceived as coercive. (This can be a barrier to success, and voluntary organizations should keep that in mind when working with companies.)

It might be argued that this is the case when employees become involved:

• as a mandatory part of a career development plan or performance appraisal (for example, if employees are simply told that they are expected to give their service to particular voluntary groups or a special event);
• as a requirement for a new position or promotion; or
• as the result of aggressive solicitation by someone in a superior position.

Admittedly, the perception of coercion is a subtle one that will vary from one setting to another, depending on the corporate culture. In some organizations, employees might regard the examples mentioned above as perfectly normal; in other organizations they would be regarded as coercion and would be harmful to employee morale and staff relations.