Grooming socially responsible leaders
REACHING OUT A Shine.com survey finds volunteerism in vogue in corporate India, with 38% employees logging in extra hours for social work and 24% for education
development.
More than 500 people participated in the survey. These included corporate staff from all parts of the country and others working across sectors.
For most volunteers, the activity that was most popular was social work (38%) followed by education (24%), data management and communication strategy (17%), healthcare (11%) and audit and tax function (10%), says the survey.
A majority of those surveyed said that they did not get any pay or days off for the extra hours they put in (48%) for volunteering work. Only 27% got some sort of compensation.
Workplace volunteering programmes are taking the shape of bigger CSR initiatives for organisations. As many as 53% said they got to engage socially and make a difference in society. Thirty two per cent, however, said they did not know how it helped their company.
Employee motivation, morale and commitment also improved. Seventy nine per cent said they were motivated to act every time they heard about a volunteering opportunity. Only 15% said they were not sure how volunteering programmes helped them in the long run.
There have been no dearth of opportunities. Deloitte’s employees from the communication department took English proficiency classes for the Centre for Social Service, Hyderabad. They coached young girls to face interviews and get jobs in the corporate sector.
IBM’s team of three top talent employees with skills in cloud, data analytics and project management worked with an educational institute in Varanasi to develop a data management and communication strategy.
The company’s Smarter Cities Challenge programme has on board subject matter experts and other top talent who work closely with city leaders and deliver recommendations on how to make the city smarter and more effective.
Employees at Infosys use their technology skills to promote computer literacy and education, through a programme, SPARK. It includes rural reach programmes that promote awareness about computers and the power of IT among rural school children in India. Some of the company’s employees in Hyderabad collaborated with the local police division to build a traffic management related application. Accountants are helping NGOs put their financials in order, communication strategists have been setting up their communication strategies and IT experts are designing their websites
AS MANY AS 46% EMPLOYEES HAD PARTICIPATED IN VOLUNTEERING ACTIVITIES IN THEIR FIRMS MULTIPLE TIMES
Education Agree Yes