Marilyn K. Lesmeister, Ph.D., Volunteer Development
Volunteers from the Workplace
The workplace is an excellent place to promote volunteerism and recruit volunteers.
Whether it is a small, local business, or large, national corporation, employees can be a source of “volunteer power” in any community. Employee volunteers are often equipped with specialized skills, information, and a fresh perspective to help address community issues and challenges (Lautenschlager, 1993). There can be benefits to the individual employee, to the employer, the corporation and the community.
| “Live and work to make a difference, to make things better, even the smallest things. Give full consideration to the rights and interests of others. No business is successful, even if it flourishes, in a society that does not care for or about its people.” - Eugene C. Dorsey |
What is Employee Volunteering?
As a relatively new and growing field, the terms related to volunteering through one’s workplace have not been firmly established. You may hear the terms employee volunteering, corporate volunteering, employer-supported volunteering, and workplace volunteering used simultaneously. While there are distinct differences between them, the basic idea is that “employees perform work in the community with some form of support and/or encouragement from their employer” (Graff, 2004). The definitions of four key terms, follow:
Employee volunteering refers to employees who participate in volunteer activities through their workplace. Employers encourage, support these activities, and create a ‘volunteer friendly’ workplace – an environment where volunteer activity is valued and recognized. It is usually employee-driven and directed, and done on employees’ own time.
Corporate volunteering is a formal or organized process that a company uses to encourage and support its employees and retirees to volunteer.
Some retirees enjoy ongoing contact with friends and colleagues, so they may become part of the corporate volunteer program. The company extends good relationships to the community through its current employees and retirees.
Employer-Supported volunteering refers to a “continuum” of employer support for employee volunteer activities and community involvement. Generally, volunteer initiatives are incorporated into the workplace and involve various levels of employer involvement (Graff, 2004).
Workplace Volunteering refers to a company’s voluntary support of their employees’ volunteer activities and community involvement. According to the National Work-Life Alliance (2002), an ideal workplace volunteer program should contain elements of both employee volunteering and corporate volunteering. The following chart highlights the differences between the two:
| EMPLOYEE /RETIREE VOLUNTEERING
| CORPORATE VOLUNTEERING |
| Done on employee(s) own time
| Happens during business hours |
| Opportunity for employees to work together | Might be an opportunity for employees to do volunteer work together
|
| Sometimes facilitated by the company; sometimes facilitated by the employee(s)
| Generally facilitated by the company with clear objectives for the event/project |
| Top down or bottom up, NOT on company time
| Top down or bottom up, IS on company time |
| Can be encouraged, promoted, recognized and/or enabled by the company
| Is encouraged, promoted, recognized and/or enabled by the company |
Source: National Work-Life Alliance (2002)
Volunteer programs in the workplace are most successful when they are based on “integrating the priorities of the company, the interests of the employees, and the needs of the community” (Points of Light Foundation, 1996). These programs help businesses become leaders in their communities. While addressing the needs of the community, employee volunteers are feeling the rewards of community involvement, the corporation receives recognition, and the base of volunteers in the organization, grows.
| "A good company delivers excellent products and services, and a great company does all that and strives to make the world a better place." - William Ford Jr., Chairman, Ford Motor Co. |
Recruiting Participation in an Employee Volunteer Program
Building strong relationships is important in order to develop an effective partnership between an employee volunteer program and a non-profit or community organization. Some volunteer programs may be corporate-sponsored while others may be employee-driven. (Merrill Associates, 2001)
Volunteers who represent a corporation can be recruited from the current employee base, employee families, retirees, foundation members, advisory members, and community clientele.
When encouraging employee participation in a volunteer program beware of “overselling the program” (Peterson, 2004). Employees will not respond well to feeling pressured to participate and may end up not seeing the opportunity as “voluntary.”
Conclusion
Employee volunteer programs benefit the corporation, employees, the community, and local non-profit organizations. Employees, the corporation, or a non-profit organization can initiate these programs. Employee volunteer programs can be successful as long as there is a shared vision, mutual goals, valued work, with visibility and real benefits.
Implications for Extension Programs
- There is a larger pool of potential volunteers than you imagined.
- Employee volunteers can become a source of skill and expertise for special Extension programs.
- Extension faculty will spend more time building networks and community relationships.
- Extension faculty may spend less time on management of educational programs.
- As local or national businesses partner with Extension, they also understand their value and will be more likely to support county, state and national funding
For More Information
See EDIS publication FCS 9235.
References
Graff, L. (2004). Making a Business Case for Employer-Supported Volunteerism, Volunteer Canada.
Lautenschlager, J. (1993). Volunteering in the Workplace: How to Promote Employee Volunteerism, Voluntary Action Directorate, Department of Canadian Heritage.
Merrill Associates: Strengthening Leaders, Organizations and Communities. (2001). Building Relationships to Engage Corporate Volunteers. Retrieved May 6, 2005.
National Work-Life Alliance. (2002). A Work-Life Tool: Leadership Development Through Corporate Volunteerism: An Innovative Approach to Developing Innovative Leaders. Retrieved May 18, 2005.
Points of Light Foundation. (1996). Developing a Corporate Volunteer Program. Washington D.C.
Peterson, D. K. (2004). Recruitment strategies for Encouraging Participation in Corporate Volunteer Programs. Journal of Business Ethics, 49, 371-386.
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