Employer-supported volunteer programs help half of all volunteers in Nova Scotia contribute more than 47 million hours of volunteer work—the equivalent of 25,000 full-time jobs!
Supporting employee volunteer efforts makes good business sense, helping to improve employee engagement, provide opportunities for skill development and learning, and attract people who want to work for your organization.
Supporting volunteer programs benefits your organization by:
- Demonstrating your sense of social responsibility; supporting employees to volunteer and give back to their communities
- Offering the community a wider pool of talent to draw from and helping to position your organization as a good neighbour and community contributor
- Helping employees learn and develop their skills through volunteer work
- Increasing a sense of teamwork among employees who volunteer together
- Helping attract new employees and improving employee retention; employees want to work for an organization that is attractive to external applicants
- Enhancing your organization’s visibility and reputation in the community
- Building a sense of pride among employees
In addition to that, employers are recognizing that that volunteer programs can have a significant impact on HR strategy, skill development, morale and team building.
(“Volunteers build networks—and make a difference” Globe and Mail, September 24, 2009)
With more than 5,000 volunteers needed to deliver an exceptional Canada Games, your support and involvement as an organization is integral!
The Halifax 2011 Canada Games has over 180 different volunteer roles available for people to choose from, allowing employees to gain new skills in areas like customer service, information management, public speaking, networking, report writing, and much more.
Employers who wish to support their employees to volunteer with the Games will receive special recognition from the 2011 Games Host Society, and will be provided with support and assistance to develop their tools and processes.
If you don’t already have an employer-supported volunteer program for your employees, consider the following tips to help you get started.
Get Started:
- Review sample volunteer programs of other organizations and research best practices. Here are a few websites to help you get started:
- Define the purpose for your program. What are you hoping your organization will get out of the program? What will employees get from it? What will community organizations get?
- Consult with key stakeholders in your organization to hear their thoughts and gather their ideas about the program. What would they like to include? Not include? Do they know of similar programs elsewhere? How do they work?
- Define who needs to approve the program and how the program will be communicated
Design:
- Identify the type of volunteer opportunities that will be included in the program, considering things like:
- Is it an on-going, regular volunteer commitment, such as donating time to a charity or not-for-profit on a monthly basis?
- Is it an event or project-specific volunteer commitment, such as providing time off to volunteer for a sporting event or to help an organization with a specific project, such as a fundraising effort or construction project?
- Is it about volunteering as a work team for a defined period, such as permitting teams to volunteer at a food bank for a morning during the holiday season?
- Establish eligibility criteria for participating, such as:
- How long the person has been employed- have they passed their probationary period?
- Does the program apply to all levels and type of employees in the organization?
- Permanent, full time
- Permanent, part time
- Job-share employees
- Term employees
- Temporary employees
- Student employee
- Are there specific organizations that you will support?
- Identifying how the organization will support employees who meet the eligibility criteria, such as:
- Providing employees with the option to use facilities and/or equipment to support their volunteer role
- Providing time-off for employees to volunteer, such as providing a matching option- if an employee contributes one day of volunteer work, the organization will match it and provide the equivalent of one day off from work to volunteer
- Providing a financial donation to a charity/not-for-profit organization of the employee’s choice, to match their personal contributions
- Providing recognition to employees who volunteer
- Consider communications-related tools to demonstrate appreciation for employee volunteer efforts
- Formal recognition may include identifying a category in an awards program for community service or volunteerism
In a 2006 survey of employers, Hewitt found that in support of community involvement:
- 55 per cent of employers indicated that they provide matching-gift charitable contributions
- The same amount -- 55 per cent -- provided paid time off for community or charitable activities
- 44 per cent provided unpaid time off for volunteer activities and 69 per cent expected to provide unpaid time off for community or charitable activities by 2009
(The Business Case for Volunteerism, Laura Williams, Hewitt Associates, as published on Workopolis.com)
Develop:
• Develop the tools needed to support the program (forms, promotional tools, etc.)
• Identify how the program will be monitored and evaluated
Implement:
• Communicate and promote the program to employees, once it has been approved. Distribute information through different channels (bulletin boards, email, intranet sites, employee handbooks, etc.)
• Monitor the program to evaluate if it is achieving the objectives you had established for it and to monitor its implementation
For more information, please contact Jenna Dufton, Volunteer Assistant, via email canadagames2011.ca, or phone (902) 490-2011.