A weight of evidence collected by CSV and research shows that the outcomes for companies involved in employee volunteering are manifold, including the development of individual skills and attributes, and higher staff morale and retention.

The Corporate Citizenship Company report Good Companies, Better Employees concluded that those employers who get involved in Corporate Community Involvement, or CCI, gain benefits in terms of employees’ pride in the company, their advocacy of the company and the development of individual skills.

It states, "...there is clear evidence to suggest that employee community involvement does have a real impact on morale and motivation. Even those who are aware of the schemes, but not involved, tend to be more likely to recommend the company to others and be motivated to do their jobs than those who do not know of the schemes. This positive outlook increases further among those personally involved in schemes."

"...Engagement in CCI can help boost employee skills development, an area of real potential gain.  In particular CCI projects are recognised as improving team working ability and developing new and better communication channels within the business’

Visit the Corporate Citizenship Company's web site at www.corporate-citizenship.co.uk.

Making the link
Examples of individual skills gained through employee volunteering include:

• Coaching skills, developed by volunteers working with individual children to develop their literacy, numeracy or IT skills
• Negotiating skills, for mentors or others engaged in one-to-one support with a particular group e.g. young homeless people
• Leadership skills, for those who act as the company contact for a team task
• Skills associated with innovation and change, for all volunteers working in the voluntary sector, where the culture, resources etc are likely to be different from the corporate sector

Employee volunteering provides the opportunity to gain these new skills through active learning.  Staff are able to learn and develop these skills through experience, and transfer their learning to the workplace.

The link which a company makes between volunteering and the development of skills, may be overt; for example, personal development outcomes identified through the appraisal process may be delivered through the offer of a volunteering opportunity.

CSV is amply qualified to offer advice on the kinds of opportunity which will lead to particular outcomes.

Other organisations may prefer to identify skill development which is already taking place through their current employee volunteering, such as through a programme of team tasks.

CSV will match the volunteer programme against the organisation’s Competence Framework to identify skills development, in this case for team leaders and team members.

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