Get Started for FREE
Sign up with Facebook Sign up with Twitter
I don't have a Facebook or a Twitter account
 Your new post is loading...
Scoop.it!
This insights report by Common Impact examines the role that Pro Bono service can play in supporting communities to prepare for and recover from large scale catastrophes. As the past several years have seen an unprecedented uptick in natural and man-made disasters globally, companies can expand their support to communities to not only make donations to meet the immediate needs but help them to anticipate, survive and bounce back from disaster. 
No comment yet.
Sign up to comment
Scoop.it!
Here’s a question I love asking companies: Why is your employee volunteer program important?
amandabowman's insight:
This piece by Angela Parker of Realized Worth shows how companies can support their diversity and inclusion agendas by offering purposeful corporate volunteering programmes. It talks about providing opportunities to practice inclusion and when done well, how this helps employees to connect and empathise better with others as a result of encountering people and issues outside of their usual realms of experience, understanding, and (often) social and economic privilege. It helps them feel more engaged at work, aligning their personal purpose with professional goals and work experience and they become more inclusive, compassionate – and therefore more effective – people leaders.
I can see how Angela's insights are reinforced by the 2019 CISL Impact Benchmark Study which measures the long term impact of international corporate volunteering programmes. The Study will be launched soon in October 2019.
Scoop.it!
Chris Farrell, MD of Impact Reporting, discusses the importance of reporting on social value in the financial sector and why it's led from the top
amandabowman's insight:
This is worth a quick read not least because it reinforces the need to measure the impact as much as the inputs and outcomes of corporate volunteering.
However, I think it's fair to say that measuring the impact of volunteering takes time and so the Emerging World CISL Long Term Impact Study is worth considering because it's a proven way to measure those impacts for employees and for the business
Scoop.it!
Corporate Volunteering programmes (CV) have become an important part of any progressive company’s corporate citizenship/CSR approach. As companies become more global, they often seek ways for their corporate volunteering efforts to match their international presence and interests in society. Experience shows that there are some dos and don'ts if you want to scale a corporate volunteering programme and this short blog aims to share some of that experience.
Scoop.it!
"Volunteering opens one up to multiple skill-sets of experience and exposure. It gives an advantage to working with people from different background for different reasons."
Sally Brownbill's insight:
The Emerging World 2017 CISL Impact Benchmark Study looks at the impact of Corporate International Service Learning (CISL), also known as Corporate Volunteering and Global Pro bono. It clearly shows how, not only these types of programs develop global leadership skills, but also impact career mobility.
On a personal level, this blog discusses how volunteering has great possibilities in terms of developing skills and opportunity, while doing good.
Scoop.it!
Doing good is good business. In this world where the bottom line matters, hitting KPIs and meeting shareholders’ expectations trumps goodness, we’re always quick to dismiss this over-idealistic thought. But this idealism when backed by strategy, culture building, passion and talent development can, in fact, benefit the corporate individual, the business and community. It can be the paradigm shift in what leads a business to flourish – transforming ordinary employees to committed outstanding leaders.
Sally Brownbill's insight:
This article looks at employees increasing desire for meaningful work with companies that act ethically and how CSR programmes can provide that while equipping employees with skills and experience mindset shifts to help navigate the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world of today.
The article is interesting as it discusses how CSR programmes can educate future corporate leaders while addressing needs and challenges of the community and society that they serve or sit within, which aligns with elements of Corporate International Service Learning (CISL) programmes.
Scoop.it!
Gennie Dearman of Engineering Development Trust (EDT) talks about her experiences of a skills-based volunteering initiative undertaken in partnership with Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) and Emerging World.
"I have been lucky recently, to be involved representing EDT along with our Projects Director Penny Tysoe, at some training Emerging World had been running for some of the most senior employees of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC). We had the opportunity to work over two days with a team of five employees, which we nicknamed the A Team, introducing them to the work we do in the UK and presenting them with a challenge that our charity is currently facing for guidance."
Emerging World's insight:
We are more used to the idea of sending people to support communities in developing countries as part of International Corporate Volunteering (ICV) or CISL (Corporate International Service Learning) initiatives.
This program takes a different approach by challenging executives from the Gulf region to use their skills and experiences to support UK charities. We all have skills and perspectives that can add value and these kinds of experiences also build cultural understanding and empathy at a time when we seem to need it more than ever.
Scoop.it!
In this webinar, Matthew Farmer of Emerging World shares perspectives, techniques and frameworks for creating powerful impact assessment frameworks that measure the business impact of corporate volunteering programs. Jennifer Farrington, Global Social Investing Director at BD, who work with Emerging World on their impact assessment, provides examples of how assessing the impact of BD’s pioneering Volunteer Service Trip program and benchmarking it with other companies has led to insights and strengthened the program.
Emerging World's insight:
Employee Volunteering programs can provide transformational development opportunities and make a significant and lasting difference to ways of thinking and acting, to team dynamics and to collaboration. This webinar provides insight on measuring the business impact of corporate volunteering to achieve the greatest benefits. The examples in the webinar are drawn from Emerging World’s CISL Impact Benchmark study, which is the most robust piece of research of its kind, completed in collaboration with leading global organizations BD, Credit Suisse, EY, GSK and Microsoft.
Scoop.it!
Ashridge’s Matt Gitsham and Lee Waller look at the role of experiential learning on developing responsible leaders.
Emerging World's insight:
This article is based on research that Ashridge has completed with alumni from Business in the Community's Seeing is Believing programme. It powerfully makes the link between experiential learning and its role in building a responsible leader.
The opportunity that the business leaders have to share their experience with others in their organizations is enormous; and in so doing, create a responsible corporate culture through a range of approaches, not least through corporate volunteering programmes and international corporate volunteering programmes. If Seeing is Believing, then you can picture the impact that a cross border assignment could offer. We call that corporate international service learning (CISL) and last year we published some research that showed how these experiences strongly developed global leadership competences.
Read this piece from the Ashridge Journal and look at our research if you need a business case for developing a CISL programme
Scoop.it!
Millennials are known as being more environmentally and socially conscious than the older generations.
amandabowman's insight:
This is a great piece by Mark Horoszowski that compares the giving and volunteering motives and habits of millennials with baby boomers. It's interesting to think about this within the context of international corporate volunteering and how to make sure that program design can tap into the motivations of all employees.
In particular, consider how the program is promoted - who should champion it; how to use alumnus to reach out to aspiring participants; how to use your impact measurement to build the case for involvement, etc. Lots to think about and interesting research to read in this article. What do you think?
Scoop.it!
An increasing number of companies are starting to see value in co-designing volunteering programmes that share skills with the voluntary sector. These programmes actively tap into top talent, are firmly rooted at the core of business and generate measurable outcomes on key social issues. According to VSO, to make these programmes succesful for all stakeholders they should
Emerging World's insight:
There are many benefits for all stakeholders from these kinds of Corporate International Service Learning (CISL) initiatives. The post-2015 global development and environmental agenda places emphasis on the role that corporations need to play in shaping our planet's future. This provides a strategic imperative for this kind of work but clever companies will find all sorts of value from engaging - from leadership development to creating shared value to identifying new products and services, while providing their employees with renewed sense of purpose in their work. But it may require a different kind of thinking to get programs properly established.
Scoop.it!
Corporate International Service Learning (CISL) programs are becoming a popular and strategic tool for companies looking to build the talent and skills of their workforce while addressing real needs in markets where they do business – particularly in high growth emerging markets where the opportunities are seen as greatest. The CISL Impact Benchmark Study is the most robust piece of research of its kind, completed in collaboration with leading global organizations BD, Credit Suisse, EY, GSK and Microsoft. It includes responses from over 300 employees from across these organizations, who report on the long term impact of CISL experiences.
Emerging World's insight:
CISL is an area of work that combines principles of market expansion, leadership development and international corporate volunteering to achieve business objectives while creating positive social change. Join Emerging World and guest speakers from BD, Credit Suisse, EY, GSK and Microsoft in an online discussion, to dive deeper into this research.
Scoop.it!
Goodwill alone isn’t sufficient to make an impact. Sometimes, volunteers have the best of intentions but descend upon nonprofits through manufactured opportunities that give the nonprofit more work than benefit. If a volunteer opportunity makes the volunteer feel good about themselves while making the nonprofit feel like an exhausted babysitter, it’s probably not an ideal use of anyone’s time.
Becky Willmoth's insight:
In this Forbes article Ryan Scott argues that to create impact in corporate volunteering programs the quality of skills and expertise that a volunteer can bring to an organisation should be prioritised over the quantity of volunteers. At Emerging World we have witnessed time and time again the importance of identifying volunteering opportunities that meet a real need within the recipient organisation, whether it’s an NGO, social enterprise or public sector organisation. Only when this need can be matched to the skills and expertise of a volunteer will the opportunity have a significant impact upon both parties. Our Managing Director, Matthew Farmer will be speaking at the 2015 European Conference on Corporate Volunteering on this very issue shortly, outlining impact research we have recently completed that overwhelming supports this.
|
Scoop.it!
Emerging World publishes the first of a series of blogs that feature what companies with leading international corporate volunteering programs feel make their approaches unique and fit for the future.
amandabowman's insight:
A bit cheeky maybe, but this is a piece I wrote as part of the Emerging World series of articles on what companies need to do to ensure their international corporate volunteering programs are fit for the 2020s. Learning from GSK's ten years of experience; what's worked well and how the program has changed over the years was fascinating and this short blog I hope captures some useful tips for others
Scoop.it!
With historically low unemployment levels, the days of hiring employees who are excited to just “have a job” may be a vestige of the past, and motivating and retaining the best talent has become as challenging today as it is important.
amandabowman's insight:
This useful piece by Dana Brownlee offers four employee engagement trends that are useful for companies with international corporate volunteering programs to note. When designed well, we've seen such programs delivering against all these measures: to provide a non-monetary benefit for employees; contribute to an agile working environment; support corporate culture and of course to provide opportunities for people to make a difference to global issues they care about.
Emerging World's research has data to back this up too.
Scoop.it!
I had the great fortune to spend a couple of days earlier this year at the Global Pro Bono Summit. The Summit brought together over 150 people from 28 countries all of whom are committed to using skills based volunteering or pro bono to tackle some of the worlds most challenging problems. My particular interest, in international corporate volunteering was covered extensively and it was good to share experiences with people addressing this from many different industries, cultures and contexts.
The Upshot document here summarises all the work that was done to build the global movement, to explore what's coming next and to highlight new approaches.
Scoop.it!
Your company's core business strategy and your corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives should be aligned. Find 6 tips to make that happen from leaders at Campbell's Soup, Aspire Coffee Works, and the Chicago White Sox.
Sally Brownbill's insight:
This is a quick read on developing CSR strategies that are good for business while also being good for the world.
Scoop.it!
Employee turnover is bad for team morale and expensive for businesses, with the cost of losing an employee ranging from tens of thousands of dollars to two times the employee’s annual salary. Rapid job-hopping is most prevalent with millennials, though the pace has picked up with Generation Xers and Boomers as well, particularly in the Silicon Valley, where new research shows the average tenure for employees at ten major technology companies is just one to two years.
The good news is that there’s an easy way to hold onto people: get them involved in social causes.
Sally Brownbill's insight:
Having worked on the 2017 CISL Impact Benchmark Study published in September by Emerging World, I found this article interesting as it discusses the importance that millennials place on employers supporting social causes. On top of that, it looks at how successful organisations use creating social impact as a strategic development opportunity for employees.
The Emerging World Study, supports a number of the messages in this article. We found that Corporate International Service Learning programmes, not only impacted leadership development, employee engagement and help create more responsible leader. These programmes also increased employee loyalty and pride.
Mathew's curator insight,
October 21, 2019 1:26 AM
Is the lack of a sense of belonging within the organisation driving the staff turnover higher?
Scoop.it!
A company with a strong corporate social responsibility has more engaged employees. Almost 60 percent of employees who are proud of their company’s CSR program are engaged at their jobs, according to Double the Donation.
amandabowman's insight:
Good piece bringing together some recent research on links between CSR and employee engagement.
Scoop.it!
Prosocial behaviour or “voluntary behaviour intended to benefit another” is strongly motivated by empathy. And, next to growing empathy, increased prosocial behaviour is arguably one of the most important shifts that can occur in an individual as a result of employee volunteering.
Emerging World's insight:
This is an important piece of reading for anyone designing or implementing corporate volunteering programs. It looks at the broader benefits of offering these opportunities to employees and argues that it is a 'powerful opportunity for businesses around the world to give employees an avenue to fulfill what is an innately human desire for meaning' in their lives.
Scoop.it!
Addressing economic and social inequality has traditionally been the domain of sovereign states and their governments. But trust in governments is low, and governments’ monetary and fiscal room for maneuver in times of high debt and low interest rates is severely constrained. Can corporations fill the void? Four out of five people now expect business to take the lead. Encouragingly, trust in business has substantially recovered since the financial crisis, not least because a growing number of corporations have embraced corporate citizenship and sustainability to better connect with stakeholders and communities.
Emerging World's insight:
Governments are no longer in a position to adequately address the social, economic and environmental challenges that are weighing heavily on national agendas. It is falling on the shoulders of global corporations, to fill the void, at least partially, as they are increasingly becoming better connected with the external stakeholders and the communities they serve. Kell and Reeves, as the role of the corporation is changing a leap needs to be made in the mind-set of corporate leaders from Corporate Citizen to Corporate Statemen. Not an easy feat, but one that has to be made for corporate leaders to take an activist position. For leaders not just to be a voice, but also shape the agenda and prioritize the allocation of hard resources to find solutions to the challenges that will ensure a sustainable globalisation track for future generations.
Scoop.it!
90% of HR executives agree that contributing business skills and expertise to a non-profit can be an effective way to develop leadership skills says Cybergrants blog post
amandabowman's insight:
Useful blog from Cybergrants that provides some great statistics if you're looking to build your business case for an international corporate volunteering programme. For example this research reports that 64% of employees who currently volunteer said that volunteering with work colleagues strengthened their relationships. Long term impact study from Emerging World reinforces this with 86% agreeing that an international corporate volunteering assignment supported their ability to work collaboratively Click here for more information
Scoop.it!
This research explores the transformation of employee engagement, including the strategic role of employee volunteering, the challenges and opportunities digital culture presents and the increasing demands to demonstrate impact and outcomes from corporate responsibility investment.
Emerging World's insight:
What jumped out at me from this research is that despite corporate volunteering’s rapid growth in popularity as a tool for employee engagement, recruitment and retention, only 50% of companies surveyed offered skills based volunteering and only 25% tied this to an employee’s professional development. What this equates to is a huge opportunity to harness corporate volunteering to support employees’ development. Skills based volunteering can have significant and enduring impact on employees learning and behaviour and if opportunities are international in nature the exposure to different cultures, environments and working practices can result in a transformational experience that supports the development of global leadership skills required to lead in the VUCA era.
Scoop.it!
A survey of global CEOs found that a dearth of global business leaders is one of the greatest risks for the future growth of firms. In addition, developing global business leaders is critical for a firm to remain competitive. Now consider these survey results alongside recent research findings that well-designed International Corporate-Sponsored Volunteer (ICV) programs build participants’ cultural agility and their sense of social responsibility, helping to deliver a deeper understanding of critical issues in key emerging markets. Could this be an effective solution?
Emerging World's insight:
Paula Caligiuri, a professor at Northeastern University in US makes the case for ICV (or CISL - Corporate International Service Learning) programs being considered as effective, (and much lower cost) alternatives to rotational assignments. With a background steeped in cross-cultural leadership, she sees the potential such opportunities have for developing the cultural agility of employees. Something we need more and more of.
Scoop.it!
In this video taken at this year's SOCAP conference, Mark Horoszowski of MovingWorlds speaks about Developing Tomorrow’s Impact Leaders. he makes the case for companies investing in their talent by sending them on overseas development assignments through which they will learn the requisite skills and competencies to be more more effective leaders both for their companies and for society as a whole. He references Microsoft's MySkills4Afrika program, his own company's work and recently the #CISLImpact Benchmark study in his conviction-driven speech.
Matthew Farmer's insight:
Mark is one of a growing number of passionate social entrepreneurs who have envisaged how appropriate approaches in corporate engagement can simultaneously provide access to skills in developing economies while building the leadership skills in participants that are vital for future success. In combination these approaches can have a profound impact on the way that individuals and corporations behave ultimately shaping a better world for all of us.
|
Companies can no longer remain on the side lines on important issues affecting our world. With the increase in natural catastrophes and man-made related emergencies, businesses and communities need to respond collaboratively and immediately by building communities that are better prepared to manage these kinds of situations in ways that enable them to bounce back quickly.
Corporate volunteering (also referred to as Pro Bono service) efforts can be helpful in building resilient communities. What’s more, Emerging World’s CISL Study (Corporate International Service Learning) on the long term impact of corporate volunteering has established the benefits to the business: It drives employee engagement, builds responsible leadership, contributes to loyalty and retention and improves a connection to the company’s purpose.
Doreen Mutero
Emerging World