18 January 2011
Internal communication playing greater role in organizational volunteer schemes
An increasing number of organizations are building long-term commitments to corporate social responsibility (CSR), and IC practitioners are leading the charge.
Once limited to corporate philanthropy and, for some businesses, a required adherence to environmental legislation, employee volunteer programs are being increasingly implemented by corporations that want to do more than just write a check.
A recent sustainability study by Green Research, that analyzes the staffing and spending plans and high-priority initiatives of top sustainability executives at some of the world’s leading companies, found that 80 percent of major corporations are planning to invest significantly in employee engagement in 2012.
And while engaging employees via sustainability efforts isn’t necessarily a new trend, the results of a recent global Melcrum poll confirms that CSR initiatives have started gaining a foothold at mainstream companies.
When asked: "Is your organization planning to introduce a volunteering scheme this year?" nearly one in five (18.4%) of internal communicators surveyed answered "yes", and more than half (58.8%) said their organization already have a number in place.
The majority of programs allow employees a number of days off to volunteer, with time in lieu or paid leave, and programs range from helping the disabled and supporting environmental initiatives, to fundraising and supporting chosen charities.
The results also revealed that internal communicators would also play key roles in upcoming and/or existing initiatives with the majority involved in promoting, piloting and/or implementing such schemes (See more answers below).
However, volunteering programs aren't on everyones agenda - 21.9 percent of those surveyed said they would not be introducing such schemes in the year ahead. Reasons behind this include CSR initiatives run on an ad hoc basis, a lack of interest with the business paying lip service to corporate responsibility, and regional divisions following own CSR needs.
Have your say
What are your views on these results? Is your organization planning to introduce a volunteer scheme this year? Are there already such initiatives in place? What is the IC function's role in these programs?
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