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UVM Professor Offers Tips on How to Get the Most Out of Your Employee Volunteer Program
By Meredith Woodward King
Businesses of all sizes may benefit from David Jones’ research into how Green Mountain Coffee Roasters’ volunteer program influences employee behavior – and, thus, the company’s bottom line.
The Waterbury-based company gives each of its 700 full-time workers 52 paid hours a year to volunteer. But smaller companies may be able to institute less costly programs and still see similar benefits, according to Jones, assistant professor of business administration at the University of Vermont.
Here are some of his suggestions:
- Allow employees to determine whether they want to volunteer and where they want to volunteer.
- Increase employee pride by setting a companywide goal for their overall hours of volunteer work. Have a celebration each year when employees meet or exceed that goal.
- Create a volunteer newsletter and celebrate employee volunteers.
- Provide T-shirts that employees may wear when volunteering in their community. Employees who are recognized by your company for their volunteer work may feel so great about working there that they’ll talk up your company when out in the community.
- If you like the idea of organizing a daylong, large-scale, companywide volunteer project, then let employees choose the causes and organize the day.
“I understand why companies do it (companywide volunteer days committed to a single cause chosen by the employer) – it’s a great public relations tool,” Jones said. “But on the employee side, I don’t think that’s a good idea because some employees may resent being told when and where to volunteer. There may be a way to get the best of both worlds by establishing an employee committee that comes up with five causes that are most popular, and, on that day, employees can choose from one of the five causes. This way, the companywide volunteer day becomes an employee-owned initiative, and employees have some choice over the cause they serve.” In addition, such an effort “doubles as a teambuilding activity.”
- If needed, consider a less formal approach to GMCR’s volunteer program. If employees approach you about volunteering, work out their schedules so they can – and don’t dock their pay.
- Approach nonprofits such as a food bank or the American Red Cross and offer to organize a fund-raising event for them. Again, let willing employees choose the cause and organize the event.
- Inform employees about their local United Way’s volunteer database, which they can use to identify volunteer opportunities that best meet their needs, goals, skills and availability. For example, the United Way of Chittenden County has an online database here. Use company computers to set up Web links to the site.
Last modified May 24 2007 12:03 PM
