Corporate Volunteering Improves Employee Engagement - Study

Corporate volunteering improves employee satisfaction, retention and engagement, according to a study conducted by Macquarie Graduate School of Management (MGSM).

The research was undertaken as part of the MGSM Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Partnership Network, led by Dr Debbie Haski-Leventhal and sponsored by Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies.

The report says the survey of more than 4,000 responses demonstrates that corporate volunteering is very important to all stakeholders and has the potential to play a more central role in business and the community.

Dr Debbie Haski-Leventhal said: “The report has found that corporate volunteering leads to improved employee engagement, organisational commitment, job satisfaction and retention.”

“This presents companies with an excellent tool to impact not only communities but also employees’ wellbeing and the financial bottom line.”

“The most important motivator for participation in corporate volunteering is that it makes work more meaningful to the employee.  The ability to achieve more as a team also motivated people to volunteer through work.

“These findings indicate that management can continue to motivate and encourage employee participation through feedback and recognition.”

The survey found that at a senior level, employees participated much more than professional level employees and also participated much more than all employees.

High-income earners ($150,000 per annum or more) volunteered more than low-income earners (less than $35,000 per annum), although low-income earners seemed to volunteer at high rates for team volunteering.

Low-income earners were a lot more likely than others to not participate at all in corporate volunteering. Furthermore, employees who were born in Australia participated more than those who were born overseas and people with higher education seemed to participate more in team and group volunteering and by using their skills, while those with a lower level of education volunteered more in paid leave options.

The report’s other key findings include:

• Up to 90% of the 4,127 employees surveyed were aware of corporate volunteering options and up to 60% participated in corporate volunteering in the last 12 months

• Corporate volunteers were very satisfied with their volunteering experience (83% satisfied) very likely to continue (87%) and very likely to recommend it to their friends (75%).

• The most common barriers were ‘not being asked’ (38%), ‘being too busy (36%), preferring to volunteer privately (31%), and preferring to donate money than to volunteer (21%).

• However, 60% of non-volunteers indicated they are likely to join in the future, if they would only be given the right opportunities

Dr Debbie Haski-Leventhal presented the findings at NSW Parliament House. Dr Haski-Leventhal is a Senior Lecturer of Management at Macquarie Graduate School of of Management (MGSM) and the faculty leader of Corporate Citizenship. She has also consulted for and contributed to the United Nations Volunteers on the State of the World Volunteerism Report and to the Federal and NSW strategies on volunteering.