Helping communities in need also benefits corporations and their workers, writes Kim Kind.

Want to further your career and get happy and healthy at the same time? Forget networking and the office touch-footy competition and volunteer for a worthy cause instead.

Corporate volunteering is fast replacing traditional team-building activities as employers and employees alike recognise the benefits gained by giving back.

An executive manager of the Commonwealth Bank's CBA Unplugged initiative, Matt Strudwick, 33, is a habitual volunteer and takes part in Midnight Basketball, an inclusion program for young people.

Strudwick says that while his main motivation is to do good, volunteering has helped his career.

"It has probably been more valuable than even my university degree in practical terms," he says. "In terms of knowing how to manage people, how to read audiences, how to understand how groups think and the way they react [and gain] confidence to stand up in front of a group, I would say that type of work was huge for my career. No question."

The teenage Midnight Basketball players are given a meal and attend a life-skills workshop before they compete in a tournament and are safely bussed home afterwards. Until the recent birth of his first child, each Friday night Sydney-based Strudwick would coach, cook barbecues and sometimes search for runaways. He also developed and taught the financial-literacy workshop that teaches basic money management.

It's just one of 20 employee volunteer programs overseen by the general manager, community, for the Commonwealth Bank, Trent Moy, who says community engagement is essential for business success.

"An organisation can only stay in business for the very long term if it's got the support of its employees, its customers and the communities in which it operates," he says. "It's not going to have that support if it isn't engaged in the community.

"Employees are no longer satisfied with coming to work, earning a wage and being technically competent in their job. They want to see that the organisational effort matches their personal values and the way in which they would like their community or society to behave."

The Commonwealth Bank's program, which ranges from mentoring and skilled volunteering to joining in Clean Up Australia Day, is so popular with staff that demand for community activities outweighs the opportunities.

"The benefit for us is in employee engagement," Moy says. "The passion and advocacy that staff have after they've had an opportunity to volunteer provides certain intangible benefits to the organisation."

Corporate volunteering programs are potentially win-win-win - for staff, employers and the community. Goodcompany, an organisation that matches skilled volunteers with community group needs, has helped provide more than $12 million worth of services since its inception 10 years ago.

It's a significant contribution but without proper resourcing and management, corporate volunteering can miss its mark. Most charitable organisations can't cope with large groups of well-meaning people at short notice.

"Corporations need to understand the community sector," says the national manager of education, policy and research for Volunteering Australia, Amanda Everton. She says what community organisations really need is access to skilled pro bono volunteering in the form of legal advice, IT expertise or accounting and marketing services.

"Having someone build a website for them or create a database are things they normally wouldn't be able to afford," she says.

Everton says a true partnership must exist between stakeholders for corporate volunteering to be successful and Moy agrees.

"It's not set and forget," Moy says. "It's create, manage, redevelop and try again. It's not a matter of having good intent. Good intent's a small part."

IT'S HEALTHY TO HELP

Anecdotal evidence suggests community-minded companies enjoy greater employee loyalty and higher staff morale, while research shows volunteers live happier and even longer lives with better physical and mental health. Volunteering can also provide opportunities to network, develop new skills and broaden experience.

LINKS
volunteeringaustralia.org
volunteering.com.au
volunteeringvictoria.com.au
goodcompany.com.au