Corporate volunteering successfully increases efficiency within firms. This is one of the conclusions of a study by the ESADE Institute for Labour Studies (IEL) and Valores & Marketing, revealing that 92% of employees who carry out some type of volunteer activity improve their performance in the professional setting.

In addition to their performance, employees also further their professional competencies. The study’s results indicate that the skills they improve the most are: teamwork (87%), their ability to understand social reality (81%) and their communication skills (68%). The least developed in this respect are their creativity (51%) and leadership (45%).

The opportunity to learn about and experience other cultures and social realities implies the ability and skills needed to adapt to change while honing participants’ ingenuity and capacity to do things in new ways. Faced by changes in the environment or a lack of resources, an experience such as this one allows volunteers to be more flexible in terms of the approaches they adopt and their ability to adapt more quickly to the change itself.

In terms of strengthening workers’ leadership and communication skills, the study notes that many participants already have the leadership gene within their DNA as well as certain communication skills. However, this life-changing transformative experience, far removed from workers’ own day-to-day reality, helps to reinforce these skills. In addition, people carrying out volunteer work are seen by the rest of the company’s staff as worthy of being imitated and as innovative employees with values, all key factors to become successful leaders.

Corporate mission and values

For 84% of companies, the aims of their corporate volunteer programmes are to align employees with their respective business cultures and values. 63% argue that the programmes aim to promote internal cohesion within the firms, while the goal for 45% is to improve the climate within the organisation.

By contrast, improving their employees’ professional competencies and skills is important for only 38%, skills which the participants may already have or demonstrate but which are not a goal for the companies per se when promoting corporate volunteering programmes.

These volunteer activities and programmes are carried out in all types of firms. In some cases, companies take the initiative, while, in others, their employees do so or it’s a combination of both.

Taking the initiative jointly

According to survey results, corporate volunteering activities don’t always stem from employee initiative. Companies actually take the initiative in nearly half of all cases (43%), while it is shared  between companies and their employees (52%) in the remaining cases. Corporate volunteering programmes are not so much a "reaction" to something but, rather, a corporate policy, implying defined objectives and management.

Types of firms

After analysing the groups of volunteers and the relation between employees and companies, the study identifies three types of firms in terms of how they implement these volunteering programmes.

The first type of firm is reactive. These companies do not have any set goals or a forecast return on these activities. They are simply responding to employee demands and expectations.

The second type is enabling, creating the appropriate channels for employees to participate in volunteer activities. Employees can take the initiative, while the company provides them the means, including, for example, internal communication possibilities, resources such as time, money or in-kind contributions, and other resources the organisation can provide.

The third type of firm is strategic. This is the least common type. Firms in this case have aligned volunteering programmes with their corporate strategy and objectives.

Beyond the comfort zone

According to experts, volunteering helps talent to emerge within organisations. Survey respondents indicate that companies don’t have a specific instrument in place to manage the impact of volunteering activities, but there is evidence of human resource management improvements in the companies analysed.

Despite the fact that these activities lead to unplanned improvements according to the study’s results, these activities have to be managed with the same rigour and professionalism as that applied to other company areas. This implies including volunteering activities in the companies’ agendas, something the report specifically advocates.

These types of experiences allow employees to become familiar with realities beyond their habitual comfort zones, bringing to the fore each employee’s potential and, at times, their hidden aptitudes. They discover these on their own when carrying out their tasks, an impact which is also felt in how they work, their efficiency and the transmission of their values within the firm. In other words, the study highlights that companies and employees learn that they can improve society with a small gesture.

The study’s results stem from an analysis of three corporate volunteering programmes in La Caixa, Telefónica España and Mondelez International and participation by more than 150 corporate human resource managers and social organisation leaders in two events held in Barcelona and Madrid to debate and reflect on the impact of corporate volunteering programmes.