Employee volunteering and social action

Social action is when people come together to solve the problems in their local community. Employer-supported volunteering (ESV), also known as Corporate Volunteering, is where an organisation’s employees take paid time off to volunteer during work hours. Employees can choose to use this time to support a charity or community group of their own choice, or to take up an opportunity provided by their employer. Changing global and social factors as well as greater recognition of employer branding mean that the levels of both social action and ESV are increasing. As volunteering is a key element of social action, ESV opportunities, such as volunteering at a food bank or community allotment, facilitate social action.

At the CIPD we believe in the double benefit of volunteering; for the volunteer who develops their skills and the beneficiary who directly gains from the intervention.

As the professional body for HR and people development, the CIPD is keen to act as a broker of social action opportunities for our members, supporting HR professionals to use their unique skills and insights to be a force for good in the world of work. We want every HR professional to get involved in social action and to champion this in their own organisations. One of three core values of the CIPD Profession Map is 'principles-led', meaning HR professionals 'go beyond policy and process to do what's right.' Therefore, HR professionals are ideally placed to act as a catalyst for employee volunteering, so it becomes integral to how an organisation is run and managed.

This guide brings together practical tips from employers who have successfully embedded volunteering into their organisations.

Examples of employee volunteering

Short-term options

Longer-term voluntary roles

Advantages of employee volunteering

Advantages for individuals, organisations and society

Employer-Supported Volunteering has advantages for individuals, organisations and wider society. It promotes a general sense of social responsibility, can help build social ties within and outside the organisation and contributes to a healthy society.

What advantages does volunteering offer?

It helps develop skills – from soft skills such as leadership, communication and presentation, to professional skills such as advising businesses and providing pro bono support. Skill acquisition not only benefits the employer but contributes to an individual's sense of job success and perception that they are recognised by their employer.
It is a viable form of employee development – a development opportunity in the community can be more beneficial than classroom-based learning and is often cheaper. Volunteering can reinforce existing skills by providing opportunities to apply those skills in solving social problems. These are skills development opportunities not normally accessible in the employee's day-to-day role.
It builds employee engagement and loyalty – volunteering fosters a sense of pride and satisfaction, and employees appreciate being given time off work to support their community
It helps improve brand and reputation – businesses must contribute to the communities in which they operate in order to be socially responsible. Employees tend to value ESV more than other passive forms of social action and therefore it can be a tool to attract talent to the organisation.
It helps to grow networks - through volunteering, individuals may grow their networks which increases social confidence as an important post-pandemic issue A wider network also has benefits for employer brand awareness.
It supports access to skills for community organisations – many charities and community groups may otherwise not be able to afford the skilled support they receive from the business community.
It can improve motivation and wellbeing – being motivated to complete a new ESV project can also motivate employees in their day-to-day role.
It increases autonomy and support – employees completing ESV projects alongside their co-workers often feel higher levels of autonomy and support.
It can promote EDI and sustainability – by tying ESV projects to the employer’s values, they can enhance organisational commitment and understanding of these values.

10 practical tips for implementation

Tips from employers who have embedded volunteering into their organisations

1 Consider how you will create a culture of volunteering that makes an impact

Consider whether your organisation will allow employees an open choice of who they can volunteer with or whether your organisation will designate one or more specific charities or community groups to support through employee volunteering. Designating one or more choices of ESV project can provide opportunities for both individuals and groups of employees to work together. Many organisations support causes that align with their vision and values or their core business, such as the Civil Service. This will help you and your employees build a stronger connection with the community and to make a long-term difference through ongoing partnerships.

Selecting a specific cause such as young people, disability, sports, homelessness, or something else close to your organisational values, can help to foster an inclusive and supportive culture. It is wirthwhile considering what may motivate your employees to volunteer and if the organisation is going to select projects to support, involve employees in the process.

Many organisations also allow employees to use their volunteering time to support a charity or community group of their own choice. This can improve individual motivation by aligning projects with personal attributes and traits.

“Our volunteering programme supports social mobility as the majority of departments understand this agenda through their day-to-day work. As a result we attract lots of volunteers from different departments and agencies.”

Nita Murphy, Civil Service Local

2 How will you manage the volunteering programme?

Consider how you will establish and communicate the ESV programme. Key considerations include how much volunteering time you will allow staff to take during working hours (in addition to their annual leave) and whether there will be any budget allocated, such as to cover travel expenses. In addition, consider how you will manage and record volunteering leave.

Be sure to have a flexible volunteering policy that enables employees from across your entire business to benefit and get involved. An ESV programme is more likely to be successful if employees identify as volunteers so set clear expectations that are clearly communicated and consider offering tasters to encourage involvement.

“Our employees are entitled to three days’ paid volunteering leave per year – we have about 30% take-up on that.”

Experian

3 Ensure you have buy-in from the top

Having genuine and visible support from your leadership or management team for your volunteering programme will help encourage employees to get involved. Get senior employees involved in volunteering and profile their stories.

“Unless you’ve got someone championing it higher up in the organisation, it’s quite difficult to actually get volunteering off the ground and get it working properly.”

Nottingham Trent University

5 Provide a range of volunteering options for employees

Employees should have access to a selection of opportunities. If you offer a variety of short- and long-term activities, people are more likely to find one that suits them and their work schedule.

“We have a number of long-term volunteering opportunities ranging from befriending, becoming a charity trustee or a school governor. Some of our senior leadership team members are either on or applying to become charity trustees on boards. This gives them experience of how operating on a board works.”

Yorkshire Building Society

6 Align volunteering with your learning and development offering

Volunteering gives people the opportunity to enhance and broaden their skills. It is valuable to embed these activities into employee development plans so they have a longer-term impact on organisational success and helps ensure that volunteering becomes part of organisational culture. This includes building volunteering opportunities into apprenticeships, internships and even work experience placements. Introduce tools that enable staff to understand the link between volunteering and skills development. You will gain a more productive and satisfied workforce with regular opportunities to develop new skills.

“All of our volunteering opportunities are linked to skills development to allow and encourage people to manage their own learning; we have a portal of strategic skills-based volunteering opportunities, so someone looking to develop particular skills such as their presentation skills can search for volunteering opportunities underneath specific areas.”

Linklaters

7 Create a champions network

Setting up and maintaining a network of volunteer or community champions across your organisation is a great way to encourage more take-up. Champions act as ambassadors and help promote your activities, keeping employees up to date with recent developments, and they can help you gather feedback and case studies. Being a champion is also a great development opportunity in itself.

“Our Charity Champions are members of staff situated in cafés; these people have shown a dedication to volunteering and have put themselves forward. They are the go-to in cafés for any members of staff wanting to know what volunteering opportunities are available. We meet quarterly to share ideas.”

The Breakfast Club

8 Tell the world

Use a range of communications channels, both internal and external, to share the successes of your volunteering programmes and stories. Encourage employees to share their own involvement which can be co-ordinated through the use of a specific hashtag on social media.

“At IBM we have a suite of resources, many of which are publicly available. People can record their hours and receive updates and newsletters. They can read about other volunteering stories, to inspire them, or they can get their own story published if they’ve done something significant.”

IBM

10 Feedback, report and review

Ensure that volunteers are given the opportunity to provide feedback on their experiences, so you can refine and improve – as well as celebrate – the volunteering programme and activities.

Recording and reporting volunteering allows you to understand uptake and the impact it has made, within your organisation and in the community. You can publish the results in your annual report and use them to help set future targets.

“Understanding if our employees have had a positive experience is essential for us and our community partners. We use SurveyMonkey to evaluate the success of our team challenges and hold one-to-one discussions with individuals aligned to long-term opportunities. We have a data tool which records all of our global social contributions of time, cash, gifts and STEM reach which is now verified by Bureau Veritas.

Through LBG we adopt a global standard for measuring, benchmarking and reporting on our social contributions and we publish this information in DJSI, our Annual Report and on our website.”

Rolls-Royce

Useful resources

Sources of further information on volunteering and opportunities in the UK:

Latest guides

Guides

Fire and rehire: Guide for employers

What this practice is, why you should avoid it, and how to approach it if no other options are available

Guides

Flexible working: Guidance for people professionals on planning and managing

This guide has been developed for people professionals who want to maximise the benefits of flexible working within their organisations, incorporating flexibility into people plans, strategy, and their employee value proposition.