With information and communication technologies allowing consumer and pressure groups to share information on unethical behaviour of corporations with increasing speed and precision, it is becoming increasingly apparent that not only must corporations take corporate social responsibility seriously, but they must also be seen to be doing so. Thus publicising your employer supported volunteering as part of a wider corporate community involvement or corporate social responsibility programme is not just 'good PR' but 'necessary PR'.
However, publicising employer supported volunteering externally needs to be handled carefully. If there is a suspicion by employees and community groups that the main focus of your programme is to generate positive publicity, this could backfire. Furthermore, you will need to take into account any wider issues within your company when seeking to publicise your employer supported volunteering, which could damage your programme, such as redundancies, poor financial performance, poor human rights or environmental performance and so on.
Employer supported volunteering...
- improves your organisation’s public image
Stakeholders are interested in what an employer does beyond making a profit or providing local services. Employer supported volunteering can be a prime example of this. In 2000, a survey by Burson-Marsteller of media, institutional investors and other key stakeholders indicated that 42% of respondents believed a company’s CSR track record would increasingly affect share prices. 89% said that their decisions as legislators, regulators, journalists and NGOs would in future be influenced by CSR issues.
- aligns your organisation with good causes
Positive feelings about an employer eliminates the 'risk factor' when a customer is about to make a purchase decision.
Three-quarters of the British population (74%) say more information on a company's social and ethical behaviour would influence their purchasing decisions, according to MORI's latest research. (November 2003). Furthermore, nearly nine in 10 people (86%) think companies should actively communicate their community activities — and six in 10 (59%) say it is acceptable for companies to benefit from these activities.
- can be high profile and visible
Employer supported volunteering is one of the most visible parts of your corporate community investment and can give your organisation ‘a human face’, which can generate positive press coverage, particularly locally.
- is becoming an essential business practice
The number of companies publishing reports on their corporate social responsibility, including employer supported volunteering is increasingly annually. Most of these reports can be found on their websites.
