CEBC IN THE NEWS

Corporate Volunteerism 
Can Be Educational Year-around

Published Sunday, December 1, 2002 in the Star Tribune.

By Jeff Peterson

With the holiday season upon us, many for-profit businesses are planning their annual nonprofit community service projects. Soup kitchens, toy tents and care centers will be flooded with well-intentioned business leaders and their teams looking to build employee solidarity and a temporary sense of conscience during the season of giving. And make no mistake -- it can be a very good thing.

But it could be even better. Emmet Carson of the Minneapolis Foundation recently told the Star Tribune that "it is the tradition [of Minnesota business philanthropy] that is sustaining us, not a new motivation or impetus to increase where we are."

Why the lack of "new motivation?" Because too often our corporate citizenship and service is limited only to relevant seasons -- the holidays -- or seasonal tragedies (floods and fires), to accomplish a narrow goal of employee team-building.

Yet there are sustaining, employee competence-building opportunities to be realized through a year-round approach to corporate citizenship and volunteerism. And such an approach, when embraced by business leaders for themselves and for their teams, can provide the motivation and impetus needed to further develop Minnesota's strong legacy of philanthropy.

Building better workers

Corporate service work and philanthropy can build employee morale. A recent Cone/Roper survey on cause-related marketing and citizenship said that employees whose companies have cause-related programs are 38 percent more likely to say they are proud of their company's values than employees whose companies do not have such programs (March 2001).

Carol Cone, CEO of Cone & Associates, says that "by empowering employees with volunteerism opportunities, matching gift efforts and other ways to impact social issues, companies can provide employees with 'purposeful work' and strengthen their organizations at the same time." Well and good. But in today's difficult economy, businesses are pressed to tie everything back to the top or bottom line, and in periods of prioritization and productivity there's -- ironically -- little time for morale-building and the "softer" sides of human resource management.

But tying the future of a company's philanthropic efforts to its economic performance is insincere, because society's needs aren't considerate of earnings-per-share targets.

Instead of tying philanthropy to prosperity, why not tie philanthropy to competency? Educators in K-12 grades increasingly have adopted "service learning," which basically claims that students learn better by doing the work of a subject -- particularly toward some sort of public good -- than by reading about it in a classroom.

The concept was introduced by John Dewey in his constructivist theory of learning: Knowledge is constructed as people draw upon experiences to negotiate meaning of new information within contexts of their environments. Over the years scholars and students alike have recognized that both classroom and street life skills can be improved through a service learning approach.

This approach to create better students outside the classroom can be applied to create better workers outside the boardroom. A recent study by the Corporate Citizenship Company in London, and a similar one conducted locally at General Mills in the early 1990s, linked corporate citizenship and volunteerism to increased levels of worker competence, most notably in the areas of communication, collaboration and creativity.

As a recent case study, our company's promotion marketing department established a relationship with Nellie Stone Johnson Community School in northeast Minneapolis, initially under the guise of traditional, seasonal team-building. However, one year, 20 mentors, four community events, and two constructed playgrounds later, we continue to realize the power of employee development in addition to employee morale.

In its early months, the school had very low visibility. The first spaghetti dinner for families of the more than 600 students attracted only six families (and the dinner was free).

Within days after an initial meeting with the school's volunteer coordinator and administration, we had and continue to have promotion personnel assisting in curriculum events and career fairs, extending their leadership, creative, and influencing skills into depths often not formally expected or enabled in their day jobs.

The outpouring of energy and commitment from all levels of our organization has been tremendous, as our team members apply their individual promotion talent toward a common, higher-order mission.

Passing torches

Ron James, CEO of the Center for Ethical and Business Cultures at the University of St. Thomas, wrote in Business Forum: "We are witnessing the retirement of yet another generation of civic-minded corporate leaders who are being replaced by talented leaders lacking the same community memory."

As one of these memory-challenged leaders of a younger generation, this statement hit close to home. In today's competitive culture where the demonstrated ability to generate business results, instead of the demonstrated talent to motivate people, begets promotion into leadership positions, we've indeed created a generation of leaders fully equipped to "do" best, but less equipped to "lead" best.

But when emerging leaders recognize the tremendous access that volunteerism provides in developing personal influence and leadership skills not learned through mastering their craft of widget-making, a commitment to philanthropic efforts can follow.

The biggest challenge of many aspiring leaders comes in overcoming the hurdles that traditionally accompany youth. No matter what the job or where, somebody's been doing it longer and, in their mind, most assuredly better than you. With limited on-the-job opportunities to rectify misconceptions of your naivety within the organization, the nonprofit sector represents a very welcoming and visible opportunity to show your stuff.

Many nonprofit organizations are grateful for anybody to step up and contribute, regardless of formal title, size of bank account or age. This permission -- born of need -- to exercise immediate leadership often translates into the kind of confidence and insight that otherwise would take years to develop.

The opportunities and benefits of corporate citizenship and volunteerism, whether experienced at the organizational or personal level, abound and extend beyond the traditional corporate objectives and beyond the obvious holiday seasons.

Today's senior corporate leaders should remember that the social needs of the community and the developmental needs of younger employees can be matched year-round.

Center for Ethical Business Cultures

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Phone: 651 962 4120 or 800 328 6819 Ext. 2-4120 ▪ Facsimile: 651 962 4042

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