Brookelyn McClellan, Jude Klemmeck, Joe Bowman, Gabrielle Edison, Aireona Horton

VTO and its effects on engagement in the workplace 

Volunteer time off is a form of paid leave where employees receive their regular compensation for hours spent in community service to an approved organization. Giving employees paid volunteer time off is beneficial to the entire organization and creates positive engagement within the company. VTO has a wide variety of benefits and it’s increasingly becoming more and more important in the workplace. 

Lough, B. J., & Turner, Y. S. (2017). How to Accelerate Volunteering through Employee Volunteer Programmes. The Journal of Corporate Citizenship, 67, 77–94. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26629180

This research article investigates various company practices and policies associated with higher rates of volunteer participation in employee volunteer programs. The policies assessed in this article included: community engagement, awarding “Dollars for Doers” grants for volunteering, offering paid time off for volunteering, and providing employee training on community engagement. “Companies providing paid time off to volunteer attract employees with diverse motivations, including both social-oriented and career-oriented motivations”. With these policies in place, companies can effectively harness their employees’ motivations, skills, and passions as they volunteer to create value for partnering organizations and communities. For our group, we find this article and information extremely helpful for our case. We can use the statistics, policies, and data to explore other strategies/concepts to support our statement. We can also use this as a way to see how beneficial VTO, and other volunteer policies work in real companies.

Benjamin, E. B. (2001). A Look Inside Corporate Employee Volunteer Programs. THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF VOLUNTEER ADMINISTRATION, XXIV(3), 16–32. https://www.educationandemployers.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/a-look-inside-corporate-volunteer-programs-ej-benjamin.pdf

This article analyzes a questionnaire given to 43 members of The Chicagoland Employee Volunteer Council regarding the information on their volunteering programs and what businesses could accomplish through employee volunteering. This questionnaire was able to answer questions like who is responsible for creating/staffing these programs and the three distinct motivations to why companies would even want to form volunteering programs. The research from this article brings light to companies with better-organized volunteer programs, in turn, have more positive outcomes in their company. The findings in this study help to assure that volunteer hours within a company benefit all the stakeholders involved. This article confirms the emphasis on learning “teamwork skills,”  developing more individual skills, and boosting morale through volunteering.

Brudney, J. B. (2005). EMERGING AREAS OF VOLUNTEERING. ARNOVA Occasiona

Paper Series, 1(2), 1–124. http://ellisarchive.org/sites/default/files/2020-12/Emerging_Areas_of_Volunteering%20by%20Jeff%20Brudney_1.pdf#page=15

This article is 28 pages long and it covers the topic of how employee volunteering is viewed and how it will be seen in the coming years. It states how employee volunteering is viewed highly in places like the U.S and U.K. There are endless possibilities on places where volunteering could happen and it talks about volunteering through non-profits and how that could take over the volunteer industry. This article is key for our group because we need to know how VTO works with other companies and what it takes for your company to implement programs like this. 

Rodell, J. (2021, January 21). Volunteer programs that employees can get excited about. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved February 10, 2022, from

https://hbr.org/2021/01/volunteer-programs-that-employees-can-get-excited-about

This article talks about how volunteer programs boost productivity, increase employee engagement, and improve hiring and retention. It also talks about how some volunteer programs can affect the workplace negatively based on the management team. There are a lot of statistics, specific examples of great volunteer programs, and how they are beneficial. “As I found out that they were giving back in the community, I thought that was great, and I will go there over other places.” The programs and information is very beneficial towards our case and this article really supports what we’re working on. We can use this article as references based on actual interviews, quotes, and experience. 

Hewlett, S. A. (2021, August 27). Increase engagement by encouraging employees to volunteer. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved February 10, 2022, from

https://hbr.org/2009/09/helping-others-helps-yourself?registration=success 

This article talks about how companies are amping up their volunteer opportunities, and how it’s increasing engagement in the workplace. Research from the Center for Work-Life Policy shows that high-potential employees are seriously motivated by a desire to give back to the world, and increasingly seek out employers that allow them to participate on company time. Throughout the article, it talks about how not only VTO increases employee engagement and mental health, it also works as a great way to increase connections, team building, and happiness within the workspace. This article is very helpful and informative towards our topic because it gives us a better understanding of how VTO really affects and benefits a company. It also explains new ways and forms of team building and concepts for employee engagement in the workplace.