While others constantly complain about a lack of time, they look for new ways to help. For the 26th time, we celebrate International Volunteer Day on December 5th. What is the secret of volunteering, which also holds hope for large companies and corporations?
EMPLOYEE VOLUNTEERING
Companies and corporations are increasingly recognizing the value of volunteering. Corporate volunteering, fashionable in Western Europe since the 1970s, arrived in Poland in the late 1990s alongside international corporations. According to CBOS research, 16% of large companies in Poland currently engage in employee volunteering.
Summer camps for children of the SuperDrob Foundation, organized with the participation of volunteers
Employee volunteers perform a variety of tasks, utilizing their skills and abilities, which are enabled by their employer, and this time is included in their paid work days. Research shows that volunteers involved in a company's employee volunteering program improve their skills in precisely the areas that companies prioritize most, such as communication, collaboration, project management, and decision-making. More and more companies recognize that volunteering builds their brand and enhances their market prestige.
"Every employee can dedicate one day of work a year to a social cause," says Randa Ombach, president of the SuperDrob "Uskrzydlamy" Foundation, which operates at SuperDrob. "We encourage you to support our foundation's activities, but you can also choose to volunteer at an orphanage or an animal shelter. Volunteers most often help organize summer camps for employees' children, as well as art and sports activities," says Randa Ombach, who has volunteer experience. She has participated in the Warsaw Children's Hospice and on missions in India and Kenya. "It's good to do something selflessly for others, but it also benefits the person helping. It makes you more sensitive to others, changes your perspective on others, and shows that working for others brings satisfaction and simply enriches you," emphasizes Randa Ombach.
The fact that volunteering is an exchange, a mutual benefit, is evident in regional volunteer centers in Poland. "We provide professional training for candidates for volunteer positions or volunteer coordinators, as well as referring volunteers to organizations where they can contribute to a variety of social activities," says Mariusz Kołodziejski, head of the Regional Volunteer Center "Centerko" in Łódź. He notes that interest in volunteering has remained relatively high in recent years, but the motivation has changed.
"Previously, we were most often approached by psychology or pedagogy students. Now, it's retired people," notes Mariusz Kołodziejski. The changes stem from social transformations. Students were keen to acquire new skills, treating volunteering as a form of workshop and internship. The ability to list volunteering on their CV increased the prestige of a future employee. "Now, students are taking advantage of Erasmus and other skill-building projects," says Mariusz Kołodziejski. "Volunteering is now appreciated by retired people, who previously associated it with social work, as was the case during the communist era.".
According to CBOS research, the number of people willing to help others is growing year by year. In an era when time and money have become among the most valuable commodities, is selfless giving coming back into fashion?
You can read the entire interview at this link.
Source: www.idziemy.pl