Toward a conceptual framework of employee volunteerism: an aid for the human resource manager

Abstract

The purpose of the research is to provide HR managers with some guidance, as they develop employee volunteer programs to meet specific workforce needs. Structured interviews were conducted with eight employees. The data suggest that employees who volunteer time believe that such experiences benefit them personally and improve their ability to perform their work duties. There were slight differences in program type, with those employees involved in programs characterized by high management support and commitment tending to perceive that they reap high overall rewards for their volunteer activities. The perceived impact of volunteer activities on employees included: an improved ability to cope with job challenges; the development of contacts and skills that can be used on the job; improved self‐esteem and a sense of pride. These factors can increase employees’ ability to be proactive problem solvers on the job.

How UK universities engage with their local communities: a study of employer supported volunteering

“…ESV demonstrates a real commitment to the local community and has an impact on the perceptions of customers and other stakeholders, such as employees and suppliers. Establishing contacts with non-profit organisations not only creates a positive local profile 15 but can have an affirmative effect on corporate image and reputation 16 . Through increasing profitability and brand reputation a company"s competitive edge increases 17 .…”

Brakes and barriers of Corporate Volunteering

“…Then, in an economic recession context, CV has tended to be seen as superfluous, dispensable, and away from the core business (Plagnol and Huppert, 2010). Leaving aside these more macroeconomic variables, literature show that time is the main barrier to employee involves in CV (Geroy, et al, 2000). Likewise, the fact that managers are not sufficiently aligned with CV project can be a brake itself (Peloza and Hassay, 2006).…”

“…For example, literature has indicated that personal needs are related with: values (altruism), understanding (learning experiences), social experiences, carreer (skills professional), protection (ego and guilty for being luckier), enhacement, and self-esteem (Clary et all, 1998). In parallel to achieving those objectives, certain skills are usually developing (Thoits and Hewitt, 2001;Geroy, et al, 2000;Lee and Higgins, 2001), such as improving communication skills -speaking public or presentations-leadership, mentorship, projects management, ability to motivate others and provide feedback, teamwork and time management (Jones, 2016). Literature indicates many other motivations to explain that employees participate in CV.…”

“…In short, according to what we are saying, companies that choose to implement CV are motivated to get -some or all-of the next benefits: reputation and image (Peloza and Hassay, 2006;Jones, 2010 ;Block et al, 2015;Lorenz et al, 2011;Herzig, 2006); legitimacy (Pajo and Lee, 2011;Lee and Higgins, 2001); external expectations (Lorenz et al, 2011), social responsibility and competitiveness (Lorenz et al, 2011;Aguinis y Glavas, 2012); productivity (Geroy, et al, 2000); consumer loyalty (Plewa et al, 2015;Jain et al, 2012;Herzig, 2006); sales (Lorenz et al, 2011;Herzig, 2006); team work (Lorenz et al, 2011;Lee and Higgins, 2001;Jones, 2016); talent and recruitment (Zappalá, 2004;Greening and Turban, 2000;Jones et al, 2014); low cost training (Caudron, 1994); and commitment/worker skills (Herzig, 2006); pride of belonging (Lee and Higgins, 2001). Moreover, CV can influence the objectives of Human Resource management in four ways, and thus benefit employees: 1) time provided for the development of CV allows a better work and personal life balance; 2) supporting employees with matched initiatives allows employees to develop initiative and values; 3) team and fundraising events allow better internal cohesion of workers; and 4) involvement in CV community enables the development of skills of employees (Tuffrey, 2003).…”

“…Literature indicates many other motivations to explain that employees participate in CV. These include the following: promotion and career development (Thoits and Hewitt, 2001;Lee and Higgins, 2001); expression of own values (Pajo and Lee, 2011); obtaining meaning and purpose; being able to assess what you have; possibility of opening a break at work or in life itself (Geroy et al, 2000); feeling good, have fun, do something different, change roles, helping a specific group, teamwork (Lee and Higgins, 2001); and get contacts that can serve at work, and see others life (Geroy, et al, 2000). Bateman and Orgam (1983) and is known as well, as extra-role or prosocial behavior (Barkay, 2012).…”