Resources - Employee & Employer Supported Volunteering

Employee and Employer Supported Volunteering primarily refers to schemes in which employees allocate an amount of their work time to volunteering for a voluntary sector organisation.  The amount of time can vary and is dependent on the agreement reached.

Documents and Support

Investing in Volunteers for Employers – standards for best practice in recruiting, training and supporting Employer Supported Volunteering (ESV) schemes.

Volunteering England has developed a sample employer supported volunteering Scheme.
This sample scheme will assist you in developing your own Scheme.

 

Volunteering England has developed a support documnet for SMEs in spreading the message that you do not need the budget of a multinational corporation to sponsor staff in their voluntary work. 

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ESV in Hertfordshire

Volunteer Centre Hertfordshire presentation on Employer Supported Volunteering (ESV). This presentation will give you a overview of how to start developing and engaging in Employer Supported Volunteering.

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Ten Top Tips for Companies in developing Employer Supported Volunteering

  1. Think about the reasons you would like to get involved? 
  • Do you want to give back something to the community?
  • Promote your company?   
  • Develop the skills of your staff?
  1. Evaluate the skills your staff have to offer.
  • Muscle” for a one-off team project? 
  • Ongoing help e.g.: - Trustee / School governor Mentoring, Giving free professional advice and support
  • IT assistance to a local charity,
  • Befriend an older person
  1. Ask your staff who already volunteers. 
  • This will give you a good insight into what is already going on.
  • Maybe support or develop existing volunteering?
  • You might also find a willing company volunteering co-ordinator! 
  1. Decide on budgets and time off.  
  • Some volunteering might need a budget to support the activity
  • Take place during work hours?
  • Think about the implications for your business before you make any promises.
  1. Write a volunteering policy.
  • Have a simple written policy to ensure that the company volunteering scheme is taken seriously, and also that no-one abuses it.
  • You will also need to think about insurance and the health and safety of your staff.
  1. Find out what the local community needs.
  • Contact your local volunteer centre to find out about local volunteering opportunities.
  • Better to do a task that really needs doing than creating a project just for the sake of it.
  1. Choose your charity partners.  
  • Decide whether you will have a set number of charity partners or whether you will let staff volunteer for any good cause.
  • Some companies have a particular focus or even adopt an organisation to volunteer with for a fixed period.
  1. Promote your programme.
  • To your staff – hopefully the volunteer co-ordinator you have recruited will be your biggest asset.    
  • Think about company newsletters, local media etc
  1. Evaluate. 
  • Activity is valued much more – by everyone - if it is measured. Ensure you have some basic measurement criteria e.g. hours volunteered, money raised, skills learned, before you start.
  1. Enjoy it!   
  • Volunteering is well known for giving volunteers a huge ‘feel-good’ factor and a survey has shown it is the UK’s second favourite past time!

Virtual Volunteering

Online volunteering is a developing area and one which makes volunteering more accessible and flexible.  Some ideas for virtual volunteering include:

  • Web research
  • Email mentoring
  • Newsgroup supervisions 

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Case Studies

Happy

Happy (formerly Happy Computers) aims to empower people to reach their full potential in their work, provide the highest quality training in the UK, and set standards to be followed by others. It claims that its people are its greatest asset. To obtain the best from its staff, the company provides training and personal growth throughout their employment with Happy. Amongst workplace initiatives the company 'banks' 100 days of time a year that can be drawn down by any member of staff to work on for a specific charity. An average of 5 days a month is used primarily to support small charities to make the most of their IT and trainers have also used the time to deliver training to local partners in Uganda and Nigeria.?

As a result of such initiatives, staff turnover is very low, and the company has a waiting list of 2,000 for jobs and virtually no recruitment costs.

Vertical Limits and Age Concern in Dacorum

Jane Hammond works as a personal trainer, her company is called Vertical Limits. As a one-woman enterprise, employing staff disadvantaged in the jobs market of giving money or gifts was out of the question.

With support from Jeoff Colls at Connect Dacorum, Jane teamed up with Age Concern in Dacorum to provide a half hour keep-fit session for the older visitors to the Cherry Tree Club in Hemel Hempstead. The visit was such a success that Jane is now giving up half an hour once a fortnight to take keep fit classes to other elderly care homes.

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Useful Links

Business in the Community

Hertfordshire CVS

Volunteering Hertfordshire

Volunteering England

Directgov: Guidance in setting up an Employee Volunteering System at work

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