Posted on Tue, Aug. 10, 2010

Workplace heroes

Melanie Wanzek

CTW Features

Community service is considered a good way for jobseekers to get experience while they look for a position. Volunteering can also benefit those who already have jobs – and their employers – by increasing productivity and helping create a more positive workplace.

A study at the University of Florida suggests that encouraging corporate volunteering, even during the workday, has a positive effect on employees. Jessica Rodell, the Ph.D. candidate who conducted the study, says volunteering made employees feel more connected with their employers and identify more with the company. By improving their view of their employer, they were more likely to engage in positive behaviors, such as serving on committees, speaking well of the company and voicing their opinions.

“Employees are going to feel better, not only about themselves, but about their company,” Rodell says. “And just simply by the act of feeling better, they’re going to do better.”

Employee volunteers were less likely to engage in negative behaviors, such as taking long lunches or surfing the Internet during work. Even if they spent time away from the office to volunteer, their subsequent improved attitude and productivity made up for hours lost.

“We see our employer doing something positive for others and think they’re better because of it,” Rodell says. “We think if they treat the community better, they will treat us better as employees, so we’re willing to give them as much as we can.”

Many companies already have volunteer programs in place. Rodell says six years ago, 35 percent of companies in the United States had some type of program, and the number is on the rise. Employee participation, on the other hand, often lags. Yet results seem to show that a program’s popularity doesn’t necessarily indicate how people feel.

“Companies maybe start to wonder if the programs are worthwhile,” she says. “But the results seem to say that it doesn’t matter whether employees actually use them or not. Just having the programs available has positive effects.”

Don’t have a company volunteer program yet? Consider suggesting one – you, your co-workers and your boss will benefit, as will the sites your company serves. Rodell says employee engagement increases when people find projects that are personally meaningful. Begin by looking for umbrella organizations like the United Way of Greater Cincinnati’s Workplace Volunteer Connection, which gives companies and individuals access to an extensive database of current volunteer opportunities. United Way senior associate Michelle Rummell, who runs the program, says implementing volunteerism in the workplace is important, since it’s where people spend much of their waking hours.

“People spend eight to ten hours each day at work, so it’s a great place to encourage volunteering and keep giving them the message that it’s a good thing,” Rummell says.

Talk to your boss about the benefits of running a program. Rummell says a lot of companies use volunteering as a method of team-building, rather than sending employees off for a conference or for a group challenge such as a ropes course.

Volunteer projects “bring groups very close, and [co-workers] see how well they can work together inside and outside of the office,” she says.

Volunteer projects offer a new venue to learn valuable skills and display organization and leadership capabilities to an employer while doing something worthwhile.

“Every group volunteer project is a chance for those people in a company to gain leadership experience and show their managers what they can accomplish,” Rummell says.

Finally, use the experience to realize the impact corporate volunteering has not only on the workplace but the community at large.

“A lot of our agencies wouldn’t be able to do what they do without volunteers,” Rummell says. “Once you actually go to an agency and see who you’re helping, I think that’s when you really feel it.”