Corporate Volunteering is on the rise in Australia and on a global scale as organisations are seeing the benefits associated with participating in such programs.

So, what is Corporate Volunteering?

‘Volunteering is time willingly given for the common good and without financial gain.’

So, from a Corporate or Organisational perspective this can take on many forms. Some organisations offer Community Services or Volunteer leave as an employee benefit where employees can take off two days in a year to volunteer within their community or for a charity or an NGO.

Other organisations actively align and support local charities that normally marry up from an industry or values perspective and provide a variety of opportunities for employees to donate their time or money to the nominated charity.

Many companies are now participating in Corporate Volunteering Programs where as a team building or development exercise they are volunteering as a group in the community.

The benefits for companies of such programs include:

• Increased sense of company pride and loyalty from staff.
• Increased and positive recognition by your customers and the community.
• Improved employee engagement, motivation, team work and levels of initiative.
• Enhanced workplace relationships and unique opportunities for staff to work with people from different areas and levels of their organisation.
• Improved employer branding which impacts on your ability to attract and retain top talent
• An opportunity for the development of new skills for employees such as leadership, resilience, tolerance, compassion, humility, influencing and communication skills
• New business opportunities.
• A more positive corporate image.
• An opportunity for you to engage and connect with your team, whilst impacting on your local community.

The benefits for employees include:

• Opportunities to meet new people and explore new situations and challenges.
• New and more positive perceptions of career, workplace, peers and management teams.
• Gain new skills and knowledge.
• Boost their own job and career prospects.
• Enjoy a sense of achievement and fulfilment.
• Develop personally and boost self-esteem.
• Enjoy better physical and mental health.
• Connect to and better understand your community.
• Meet new people and make new friends.

At HR Gurus we are an active supporter of local Not-for-Profit, The Big Umbrella (TBU). TBU started in Nepal and now offers “A Real Meal” in Melbourne serving over 200 people twice a week. Most of the food is donated via a network that recycles or reuses food that is destined for landfill.

Last Thursday night the team at HR Gurus volunteered for two hours at ARM and fed over 200 people within two hours. The experience was a great way to bring the team together and give back to the Community. Everyone enjoyed the night and were really surprised at how well the night was run, the personal sense of satisfaction that they got from giving back from the community.

If you are interested in organising a Team Building event with TBU please check them out http://thebigumbrella.org/projects/arm_corporate_team_building/