Skills Based Volunteerism: How can organizations leverage their employee skills for larger social good?
Authors: S. Chandrasekhar
Year: 2012

In this article, the author has begun by stating the symbiotic relation shared between companies and communities and how companies are now engaging their employee talents for the service of society. The author elaborates on the concept of Corporate Volunteering and types of corporate volunteering including skill based volunteering. The author further describes the effectiveness of skill based volunteering for the community at large, company and employees. O rganizations — specially the forprofit enterprises have a major responsibility in dealing with the larger social issues of the communities they operate in. Addressing these issues are not often a choice between business strategy and citizenship strategy. In fact, these strategies are increasingly converging. Companies and communities rely on each other. Recognizing this, companies are putting their employee talents at the service of society. Such an approach not only reinforces those ties, it strengthens a company's values and connections with its people, both inside and outside the organization. Across the world, companies are increasingly realizing that mere charity and "donations" are not good enough ways to deal with the festering social challenges. More enduring impact can be made only when sustainable and transformational solutions are executed in a holistic manner through hands-on involvement of the companies resources and importantly of their people. For-profit companies in most cases access a highly talented workforce. They sit on skills and resources that are not ordinarily available to the rest of the society. This gives companies a unique advantage to deploy their employee skills at the service of society. Besides. employees too want to volunteer. This is even more true of the current generation of the young workforce. They all want to see 'purpose' behind their actions and are inspired by companies that are active partners in social transformation. About the Author Dr. Sripada Chandrasekhar is Head of HR, at IBM in India/ South Asia. He has over two and half decades of executive experience in HR practice across the Public, Private and MNCs in India. Associated with several “new generation HR practices,” his thought leadership in HR practice places him among the top league HR leaders in India. 12_the need.p65 2/10/2012, 4:30 PM 65 66 January | 2012 NHRD Network Journal They covet the opportunity for 'giving back' and carve for a chance to volunteer. Employee interest in volunteering is growing since they are seeing this as an opportunity to stretch/ hone their professional skills by experimenting with projects outside of their work and also is a great opportunity for social networking. As this is voluntary and self motivated, this is often not viewed as another "task" Volunteering for most employees is a doubly blessed event as through this they get as much as they give. On the other hand, Governments and NGOs are struggling to cope with the challenging task of addressing social issues not so much through money, but through people's skills and efforts. In fact there is more money chasing social causes than we are able to utilize. Its not often lack of funds that delay or dilute meaningful social work. It's always the lack of efforts on the ground by skilled people that hold back the impact of best of programs. Easy deployment of volunteers can be an excellent way to fill the gap. And here's the good news. People with the types of skills that can make a big difference are readily available. They're sitting within the walls of businesses around the world and can be brought into circulation by just having employee friendly policies, tie ups with a few community projects and tools to equip them with the know-how or direction. Because the skills that corporate employees hone every day-driving product and service innovation, spotting new business opportunities, navigating financially through turbulent times-are exactly what non-profits need these days. And skills based volunteering also helps train organizations in things like social networking, project management or strategic planning so they can build their own expertise. At the same time, businesses are realizing that they can have a greater impact on society by providing their employees' skills-based service to volunteer organizations. What is corporate volunteering ? Corporate volunteering is the act of a company committing and encouraging their employee to volunteer in the non profit organization or other community welfare organizations and activities. Over the years, more and more Indian companies are also adopting this model of employee volunteerism as part of their CSR initiatives. The volunteer contributes his/ her skill, time and experience, without any monetary benefit, for the well-being of the community and society, and in doing so, helps influence positive social change. Employee volunteering is not philanthropy. In order for the program to function as a part of the company's CSR / corporate citizenship strategy, it is essential to integrate the program within other functional and departmental strategies.