Employee Volunteering

This Programme encourages Businesses/Statutory Organisations (Employers)  to support their employees to carry out voluntary work.  

The most successful employee volunteer programmes reflect the way business priorities, employee interests and community needs can fit together.

An excellent Report on community and business perspectives on Employee Volunteering by Dr Louise Lee of Massey University gives insights into what the programme can mean for Businesses and Voluntary organisations.

Are you an Employer?  
This programme can help you to:

• Improve your relations with the communities in which you operate.
• Improve the way in which you are perceived by the public.
• Open new channels for information about the community and the challenges it faces.
• Improve the morale of your employees.
• Build team spirit in your organisation.
• Improve your ability to attract and retain high-quality employees.
• Have a positive impact on employee productivity.
• Be a new avenue for training, professional and career development.
• Support Volunteering.

Are you an Employee?
This programme can help you to:

• Help others and have an impact on community problems.
• Increase your understanding of community needs and issues.
• Use your skills and knowledge in new settings.
• Try out skills and use creativity that may be gathering dust in your workplace.
• Learn new skills, broaden your experience and develop your career.
• Develop teamwork and leadership abilities.
• Build a bridge to a new type of job or to retirement.
• Meet new people.
• Make professional or business contacts.
• Create balance in your life by getting involved in something that you care about or by trying something new.
• Find personal satisfaction and increase your sense of self-worth.
• Improve your mental and physical health.

Benefits for Voluntary Organisations:

• New human resources to achieve the organisation's goals.
• New talent to apply to problems and issues
• Fresh perspectives on old problems.
• Low cost method of addressing problems.
• Opportunity to increase social awareness and involvement.
• Supports the transition towards a sustainable future.
• Fertile ground for experimentation, risk-taking, creativity and problem solving.

Types of Employee Volunteering:

• Individual Volunteering
• Recognition
• Team Projects
• Board Involvement
• Mentoring
• Development Assignments
• Training Assignments
• Secondments
• Retiree Programme
• Use of equipment or premises
• Matched Gifts

 

 

 

 

Seventeen crew members from HMNZS Canterbury replaced a playground at Glenelg Children's Health Camp and found the experience "awesome".  Glenelg was "delighted to have the support from Volunteering Canterbury's Employee Volunteering Programme".

Volunteering Canterbury can provide:

Information and advice - on Employee Volunteering. Consultation - identifying needs and designing appropriate programmes. Development of Employee Volunteering policy. Brokerage of projects. Monitoring and evaluation of programmes. Specialist workshops and training. Promotion and presentations.

A group of cheeky keas kept volunteers from Invitrogen Life Technologies on their toes during a clean up in the keas' aviary at Willowbank Wildlife Reserve.  Volunteer Neil Pattinson said: "We came away with a glow due to the physical work, but also knowing we had made a small but worthwhile difference.  A most rewarding, fun and satisfying day." (Picture reproduced courtesy of Nor'West News)

The Employee Volunteering Programme is a major initiative for Volunteering Canterbury.  We uphold volunteering done of one's own free will, unpaid, for the common good  Aroha ki te takata a rohe.  

We put a considerable amount of time and effort into researching Employee Volunteering, both locally and internationally. From this we produced our own promotional material, which includes a flyer and pamphlets.  There is a booklet setting out types of Employee Volunteering in more detail and programme guides, which explain how to set up and run each type of Employee Volunteering.

 

Staff from Yellow Pages sanded and painted a building at Christchurch East School.  School Principal Marg Robson said: "The day was such a buzz for us with the Yellow Pages team working at all manner of tasks such as painting, raking new bark onto the adventure playground, weeding and water blasting."

VOLUNTEERING CANTERBURY
Christchurch Community House
Te Whakaruruhau ki Otautahi
141 Hereford Street, Christchurch, New Zealand
Box 13-698, Christchurch 8141
Phone: (03) 366-2442   Fax: (03) 366-0117
E-mail: vc@volcan.org.nz