Employers and ESV: the business case

The benefits of integrating Employer Supported Volunteering (ESV) into work practices are compelling. Much more than simply “doing good”, ESV provides benefits to the employer and employees at the same time as supporting the wider community.

It’s not surprising then, that while investment in community involvement has remained constant despite the challenging economy, contributions made in the form of employee volunteering, pro bono support and in kind donations have all risen while cash donations have declined[1].  This growth in ESV is driven by employers recognising the potential of ESV to develop their employees and business, by sharing their skills and time with the community and targeting their support to be most effective.

Employers report a range of benefits from ESV, including

• Consumer purchase preference
• Employee skills development
• Staff attraction and retention
• Increased staff morale and reduced sickness leave
• Reputation and brand management
• Effective investment in the community

In the recent Volunteering is the Business report, Miles Templeman, Director General of the Institute of Directors commented,

“Employee volunteering is now a major part of the corporate responsibility mix, enabling companies to leverage their most valuable assets – their employees - to address some of the most significant problems facing our society today while, at the same time, meeting their business objectives.”

Skills Development

It is widely accepted that volunteering develops personal and professional skills that are brought back to the workplace. Research carried out by YouGov[2]. surveyed employees and their managers to understand current attitudes to skills development from volunteering. They found that almost all managers (96%) believe that workplace skills can be gained from volunteering.

Employees also agreed that they developed skills that helped them in their work including self confidence, team work, communication skills, using initiative and leadership skills. Further surveys[3] have shown that volunteers report increases in leadership, communication, and teamwork skills of between 65 and 80%.

Of course not all volunteering delivers the same skills development. The range of volunteering activities is as diverse as a workforce. For some, the development of soft skills is the objective, e.g. teamwork and communication skills. For others, the skills development is closely aligned to business needs including leadership. This is often the most expensive and difficult training to provide in the workplace but can be developed very successfully and cost effectively through volunteering.

Many ESV programmes grant time off for volunteering when it provides an identified skills development opportunity for the employee. The most advanced ESV programmes are able to provide an array of volunteering opportunities to help develop their employees. The table below shows an example of how one employer summarises the skills development opportunities of a variety of volunteering opportunities provided to their employees.

ESV skills development summary table

Volunteering Programme	Description	Eligibility	Competency	Skill Development Opportunities
Secondary school student mentoring	Volunteers from business provide mentoring support to students in inner city schools	All employees	Communication, developing others, strategic thinking, team work, professional behaviour	Facilitation, coaching, innovation, team development , role model behaviour
Head teacher partnerships	Volunteers from business provide mentoring support to head teachers of inner city schools	Partners and principals	Client relationship, developing others, strategic thinking, Leadership	Courageous conversations, empowering skills, vision generation and articulation, motivation, emotional intelligence, role model behaviour
Arts and Business	Non executive membership of the board of an arts organisation	Middle Management and above	Client relationship, business development, communication, decision making, strategic thinking, teamwork, professional behaviour	Interpersonal skills, integrity, adaptability, credibility, problem definition, decision making, business planning, risk management, conflict management, flexibility, team work, ethical behaviour
Employability	Delivering employability skills workshops	All employees	Communication, Industry knowledge, teamwork, professional behaviour	Presentation skills, facilitation skills, market knowledge, business acumen, flexibility, teamwork, role model behaviour

Employee engagement

Employee volunteers are more enthusiastic, motivated and engaged with their employer resulting in higher productivity, reduced sick leave and greater staff retention. 

Providing support for employees to volunteer is also considered important for employers to attract and retain the best staff. Polls show that 9 out of 10 prospective employees agree that a company that is active in the community is likely to be a good employer[4].

This appears to be particularly important for 18- 26 year olds who are specifically interested in working for companies that offer skills-based volunteering. This group, sometimes referred to as Generation Y, highlight the desire to be involved in their communities and make a difference. This is reported as the foremost reason for employees to volunteer; gaining a sense of satisfaction[5].

Among employees with access to employer support, levels of participation and engagement are increasing. Not only are more employees taking the opportunity to volunteer using their volunteer leave, but also in their private time and by putting their hands in their own pockets to contribute through payroll giving schemes[6].

Cost effective community investment

Employers are an important part of any community and, the social and economic health of the Community will inevitably affect the employer as community issues drive consumer choice, commissioning requirements, the workforce, crime etc.

It therefore makes sense that employers work in collaboration with the Community to tackle issues, with each bringing the skills and resources available to them.

As ESV programmes become more mature and sophisticated, employers are able to target their support in the most effective way. We have already seen that employee volunteering, pro bono and in kind support is increasing as financial contributions are decreasing. 

There is a growing trend for employers to concentrate their volunteering activity in areas that match their corporate objectives such as helping people back into work, education or environment. To achieve maximum impact they work with Community partners who can provide opportunities and activities for employee volunteering; effectively outsourcing their community engagement.

Charities and organisations throughout the Voluntary and Community sector are already tackling many of these issues with excellent results, delivered cost effectively. From helping ex offenders back to work, to providing web skills to isolated communities and supporting reading in schools, they have developed operations that can direct support to the areas of most need and hardest to reach.

Consumer purchase decision

The vast majority of customers prefer to buy from organisations that operate responsibly[7]. Research has shown that this is as important, or more important, than many other considerations for consumers including price. ESV is a great way to demonstrate your corporate responsibility credentials and engage with the communities you do business with, whether they are consumers or commissioning buyers. 

Reputation and brand management

Employers benefit from improved reputation with existing and potential employees, customers, partners and stakeholders through their employees’ volunteering.  ESV is a real opportunity to get involved by providing solutions to community issues including some unintended consequences of business. For example, several retailers including Greggs support the Keep Britain Tidy campaign to help ensure that their packaging does not end up as litter.  

It should be noted that while the contribution from volunteering and pro bono represent 8% of Group-wide contributions, this can range from less than 1% to over 40% across different sectors.