Making the Most of Staff Time

In our efforts to reach out to the general public, many Volunteer Managers forget to tap into a great resource of time and skills: employees of local businesses and organisations.  Despite the economic downturn (and in some cases because of it), employers are looking for ways in which their staff can volunteer (often on company time).  There are a variety of motivations, including using it as an alternative way of gaining or developing staff skills, fulfilling their Corporate Social Responsibility agenda, building staff morale and camerarderie, or simply because their employees themselves have requested the chance to do something positive for a good cause.

Enquiries from private sector businesses and public sector organisations are regularly coming in to myself and the Volunteer Centre staff, and you may well have seen the information about Employee Volunteering on the Volunteer Centre website.  We are now taking that a step further, and compiling a Guide to Employee Volunteering Opportunities in Sheffield, which will enable employers and employees to find their own volunteering opportunities if they can't afford the valuable added services offered by brokers such as Business in the Community. 

And it's worth noting that employers are often prepared to release their staff for either one-off events or more regular ongoing roles, even to the extent of releasing staff for half a day every two weeks!  Some employees will be eager for a change from their day job (and so arrive with added energy and enthusiasm), whereas others may be keen to use their professional skills to the advantage of their volunteering host.  If you are looking for highly skilled people, whether it's in benefits advice, marketing or business planning, Employee Volunteers may well provide the answer.

If you have opportunities you would like to promote to employees and employers in Sheffield, please take a few minutes to fill in this online questionnaire.  That information will then be used to include in the Guide mentioned above, so please give as much detail as possible.  For inspiration, take a look at this month's Quality Time website, which is highlighting Employee Volunteering.  For more information on this work, contact me (c.walsh@vas.org.uk / 0114 253 6638).