A recent Ethical Corporation report has examined the evolving nature of relationships between the business and voluntary sectors. According to the report, these relationships are no longer about uni-directional requests for and donations of money and time, but about creating partnerships to facilitate a two-way transfer of skills and expertise.
These partnerships are strengthening as employer-supported volunteering continues to gain momentum. More businesses are starting to recognize the potential for community investment programs to act as platforms on which employees can hone their skills, while contributing to the overall social value of the organization.
The emphasis in this area is on a different model of volunteering, one that aims to make use of an employee’s core capabilities and recognizes that teaching someone to create a PowerPoint is just as valuable as volunteering with a playgroup at a local school.
This means employers have to find effective ways to match their employee’s competencies with the needs of the charities and community groups they help support. Microsoft has developed an “opportunity matching tool” online database in order to do this, which allows employees to log in and list their skills and interests against the specific skill requests posted by NGOs. The company also gives up to three paid days of leave to support and incentivise volunteering among their staff.
Employer-supported volunteering seems to benefit everyone involved. Research shows that job seekers increasingly list interest in a company’s social values as a key factor when considering potential employers. A healthy volunteer program could be an important point of recruitment for perspective employees and a tool for personal and professional development for existing ones.
For businesses, community investment programs can act as an avenue for employee skill development. IBM runs a Corporate Service Corps through which groups of employees spend up to a month in a small business or NGO to develop a particular project, boosting talent and leadership skills in the process.
For the community partner, the Service Corps, and projects like them, provide tailor made solutions to individual problems.
For more information on employer-supported volunteering please see Volunteering England.