Developing resilient employees to build resilient communities

Abstract

Volunteering strengthens the relationships among people who live and work in a given society, and enables its effective functioning by ensuring that often vital social services are provided. These services enhance resilience among for people and communities. A growing trend in volunteering is corporate volunteering, in other words volunteering with some form of employer support. This new form of volunteering is important as it helps to deal with one of the most often cited barriers to volunteering: lack of time. The findings of this thesis suggest several ways to enhance employee motivation to participate in corporate volunteering. It is especially important to offer different ways, and different levels of involvement, for employees to contribute, since employees differ in what activity and how often they want to engage in corporate volunteering. In conjunction with offering opportunities for employees to volunteer, employers should also develop an overall work climate that signals leaders’ commitment to social responsibility. This research advocates for not overselling or pressuring employees to participate in these programs, because the risk that a message is interpreted negatively could be backfire. Employers should strive to understand their employees’ needs and adopt the best fitting practices for their own work environment.

Publication:

The Relevance of Self-Determination for Corporate Volunteering Intentions.(external link)
Hamilton Skurak, H., Malinen, S., Kuntz, J. C., & Näswall, K.
Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations