Corporate volunteering: A rising trend

There is a growing trend in organisations: corporate volunteering programs are appearing within businesses of all shapes and sizes, as those same businesses strive to impact their communities positively, portray their organisation favourably and enhance employee satisfaction.

But what is meant by corporate volunteering? And what benefits accrue for organisations and their employees that put corporate volunteering in place.

What is Corporate Volunteering?

Corporate volunteering programs can be described as a form of corporate social responsibility.

Corporate volunteering involves an organisation actively encouraging its employees to support a not-for-profit, charity or community-based groups. That encouragement can include acknowledging the contribution an employee is making to a particular group, providing time-release for employees to volunteer, or even allowing employees to use an organisation’s resources to support a particular charity or group.

Corporate volunteering programs can range from a single employee offering support to a specific community organisation of their choice, through to a more formal program which represents a significant partnership between a business and a recipient organisation.

What are the Benefits of Corporate Volunteering?

There are a range of benefits for both organisations and employees who participate in corporate volunteering programs.

Those organisations that engage in corporate volunteering programs often report enhanced employee satisfaction, engagement and retention and a more positive corporate image in the business community.

Equally, however, there are considerable benefits for employees themselves. Many who participate cite the opportunity for increased knowledge and skills as key to their involvement. At the same time as being able to assist an organisation that does great work for the community, they are exposed to a new context and the learning that takes place in that context can be enormous.

Engaging in corporate volunteering programs outside of an individual’s usual environment allows volunteers to develop their leadership and management and improve their communication skills. Participants of corporate volunteering programs report that that not only to do they receive a sense of personal achievement, they achieve increased personal and professional growth through their involvement.

Corporate volunteering programs provide employees with an opportunity to "give back" to the community. While many employees are keen offer their knowledge and expertise, they are often time poor and being able to volunteer, particularly during work time, supports them in being able to "give back".

Getting Started?

Any business considering formal corporate volunteering programs will need to undertake a level of due diligence to maximize the success of a program and to minimise risk.

A number of dimensions need to be considered, including alignment of the business’s policy and procedures with that of the volunteer organisation. And then there are insurance issues, along with occupational health and safety matters to be considered.

Careful due diligence in selecting a partner volunteer organisation will ensure that corporate volunteering offers a raft of benefits for a business and its employees, as well as significant advantages for the partner volunteer organisation.

Gary Martin FAIM is Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of the Australian Institute of Management in Western Australia. He is a learning and development specialist with extensive experience in the design and delivery of programs in Western Australian and internationally. He is currently an Emeritus Professor of Murdoch University and Zhejiang University of Technology (Zhejiang Province, China), as well as an Honorary Professor at Guangdong University of Business Studies (Guangdong Province, China).