Why are businesses not being business savvy when it comes to volunteering?

So many business people believe that employee volunteering is a nice-to-have: a half day out of the office, combined with a team building exercise, perhaps cleaning the beach, painting a playground, or serving food to the elderly.

Whilst every volunteering activity is a step in the right direction, these sorts of activities aren't nearly as impactful as ones which use an employee's skill-set.

Skills-based volunteers provide six times the value to the community per hour and deliver five times the social impact to the community than a company which provides general non-skilled volunteering activities, according to Taproot Foundation.

A skills-based volunteer is also three times more likely to gain job-related skills than a standard volunteer and 75% of managers report improved leadership skills from their skills-based volunteering employees.

Too many company volunteering activities are failing to have the social impact they could potentially have from the time spent volunteering. And yet, businesses are usually so strategic and calculated about the investments they make. Most investment opportunities will undergo careful due diligence, market assessment and have a sound business case.

Why should community investment be any different? Why are businesses not being business savvy when it comes to volunteering?

Partly, it’s because social impact can be difficult to measure. Most Hong Kong companies measure in employee volunteer hours and cost of volunteer time, not by the actual social impact those volunteers created.

Top HK employers are quoting numbers between 10,000 and 25,000 volunteer hours, 6,000 volunteers, and donation values of around HKD20m. These are large investments indeed.

If measurement is absent, then let’s simply rely on common sense. Imagine you have a team of management consultants who have spent their volunteer afternoon working with a not-for-profit to help them create a fundraising strategy.

This team is far better able to make a difference to the not-for-profit, and the people it serves, by using its unique skills and talents rather than providing some pairs of hands to paint the walls.

The Government's Commission on Poverty has asked businesses to play their part in the alleviation of Hong Kong's poverty issue. They want the business sector to 'teach a man to fish' in order to help more people break the cycle of poverty. What they mean is companies should use their depth and breadth of business skills, knowledge, and talents to help their communities.

Skills-based volunteers have been proven to have dramatic results in increasing the capabilities and capacities of not-for-profits, who in turn can support more disadvantaged people.

Skills-based volunteers can also directly impact the lives of disadvantaged people by providing coaching, mentoring, confidence building, and networking opportunities to those in need of employment.

Naturally, employees find this type of activity more rewarding as they see the impact first hand, get to use their unique talents, and even improve their own skills. It's time well spent for the employee. And it's win win for the company.

Companies need to re-think their employee volunteering activities, and start using the skills of their employees to get more return on investment for the community and for themselves.

Skills-based volunteering is one of the three 'Business Actions On Poverty' which the business sector can use to alleviate poverty in Hong Kong.