It’s A Given
Sure, charities and nonprofits benefit from employee volunteer programs, but what about your business?
For office manager Joan Baron of Alternate Access Inc., a
computer-telephony company based in Raleigh, North Carolina, the
workday is full of little details. But what makes her day even
busier is her volunteer work for Project Tanzania, a group
searching for solutions to the poverty and famine problems in
Africa. Baron occasionally makes time for her volunteer work while
on the job, sometimes sending a few e-mails and faxes from the
office on behalf of the organization, or taking a few hours away
from the office to help out. "[Volunteering] is a part of who
I am," she says.
It's also a big part of who Alternate Access' owners,
Kelly and Adrienne Lumpkin, are. Throughout the com-pany's
7-year history, community service has offered a welcome diversion
from building the company. Adrienne is active in Junior
Achievement, and the couple even met while volunteering for a
college MBA organization.
But what can the average entrepreneur of a busy, growing company
get out of letting employees volunteer during work hours? A lot,
according to Adam J. Goodman, president of the University of
Colorado, Boulder's Student Leadership Institute, which does
research on leadership and public service in the public, nonprofit
and private sectors. Says Goodman, "Companies with effective
volunteer programs have increased employee retention and better
teamwork and morale."
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Chris Penttila is a freelance journalist who covers workplace
issues from her home base in the Chapel Hill, North Carolina, area.
She can be reached at chris@sitting-duck.com or
through her Web site, www.sitting-duck.com.
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