Corporate Volunteering: Give and Take

In modern business, finding customers and making money won’t guarantee success. Successful businesses also have to have a good relationship with their community. The internet is littered with examples of public relations fiascos.

Ecological sustainability, employee relations, and corporate citizenship are key to long-term mainstream acceptance. But these things come at a cost. It can be hard to balance social responsibility with shareholder profit demands.

Even for a human resources officer with good intentions, it’s easy to forget about the community and focus only on the “business” element of the job. If charity gets in the way of productivity, after all, your job could be on the line.

Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_Navy_030614-N-3692H-502_Elena_Callwood_and_Machinist%27s_Mate_1st_Class_Brian_Rogers_volunteer_their_time_to_help_out_during_the_15th_annual_Clean_the_Bay_Day.jpg

Road or beach clean-up: One way to give back.

If you’d like your business to do more for the community, but are worried about misallocating resources, here are some facts that can help you persuade the powers-that-be, plus some tips to make sure that your program doesn’t suck:

Employees who volunteer have a better attitude towards their normal work. This is a documented fact that’s hard to deny. For example, they’re more likely to actually go to work, even if they have an excuse not to.

Employees who volunteer have a stronger commitment to the company. Also a well-researched fact. For example, they’re more likely to agree that they’re “proud to tell [their] friends what organization [they] work for.”

Employees who volunteer might be dodging their regular commitments. If they’re not interested in work, they might be volunteering in order to get away from it. Follow up with volunteers, and make sure that they’re still engaged in their regular jobs.

Employees who volunteer outside of the company program might feel like their contributions aren’t appreciated. Develop programs that recognize and reward any volunteering, whether it’s through the company or through another organization.

Corporate volunteers sometimes don’t meet the needs of the charities they support. Don’t push a charity into accepting your help. You may end up doing something boring or pointless, which wastes time and resources, and can be disenfranchising for your employee volunteers.

Don’t forget about day-to-day operations! Seriously. Don’t get so involved in something else that you forget to do your job. Really. Just don’t. It won’t end well.

Sources: Ken, A. (2003). The social case for corporate volunteering. Australian Journal on Volunteering 8:1. 57–62. ; de Gilder, D. (2005). Effects of an Employee Volunteering Program on the Work Force: The ABN-AMRO Case. Journal of Business Ethics 61. 143–152. ; Herzig, C. (2006). Corporate Volunteering in Germany: survey and empirical evidence. Int. J. Business Environment 1:1. 51–9.

[PAUL_FOOTER]

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