Brakes and barriers of Corporate Volunteering

Abstract

The objective of this research is to study which are the determinants for the participation of employees in Corporate Volunteer actions -hereafter CV-that can become barriers and brakes, and which ones can mean negative consequences for the company. Ignorance of managers for these programs, about which are those brakes and its relevance, may be behind the low participation fees that companies have in their Corporate Volunteering Programs.For this purpose, we conducted a qualitative empirical study to define a model, based on the motivations and determinants of employee participation in corporate volunteer programs. The methodology that we use in order to advance the understanding of this field is common in the dynamics of so-called Discussion Groups or Focus Group (FG). We believe that this methodological approach fits well with the research question and objectives that guide us in this work, since it will allow the reconstruction of real social situations and to capture the interaction between different discourses.We trust the fact the model proposed really allows advance in knowledge of Corporate Volunteer field, as literature suggested, and we offer a conceptual framework to managers in order to develop CV programs that allows mitigating potential risks and increasing employee participation effectively.KEYWORDS RESUMEN Barreras y Frenos al Voluntariado CorporativoObjetivos El Voluntariado Corporativo (VC) es un fenómeno en desarrollo con el que pueden ganar la empresa, los empleados y la sociedad. Esta circunstancia choca con que las cuotas de participación de los empleados en este tipo de programas son realmente bajas. Esto se debe a que los motivos de la corporate philanthropy no han sido comprendidos completamente. Sobre todo, falta investigación en lo referido a los determinantes del VC. Sin aclarar este extremo, no resultará fácil conseguir que aumente la ratio de voluntarios. En definitiva, se aprecia que, si bien los programas de VC crecen en importancia, la investigación empírica es todavía muy escasa y poco conocida.Así, nuestra investigación persigue conocer cómo opera la voluntad de cooperar en el VC con ánimo de incrementarlo, o lo que es lo mismo, cómo podemos incrementar la participación de los empleados en los programas de VC. Para esto necesitamos conocer: cuáles son los factores determinantes y las motivaciones de los empleados para participar en el VC, y cuáles son las barreras y frenos que impiden o dificultan dicha participación. Nuestra investigación pone el foco en el segundo punto -frenos y barreras-lo que menos se conoce, y para lo que necesitamos estudiar tanto a los participantes en VC como a aquellos otros que no participan en actividades de VC. Diseño, metodología y aproximaciónEsta investigación persigue obtener la comprensión holística del problema desde un abordaje cualitativo empleando el método de Grupos de Discusión (GD), ampliamente utilizado en ciencias sociales, porque genera diversidad y diferencia; porque permite estudiar actitudes, opiniones y prácticas de lo...

An Approach to Corporate Volunteering in Spain

“…For some authors, employee volunteering constitutes a dynamic global force carried out by companies that want to make a difference by altering how to deal with international and local problems (Allen 2003(Allen , 2011. Some authors (Santos and Fernández 2017) analyse how to involve employees in corporate volunteering programs, and for this, they study both the factors that influence their participation as well as their motivations, barriers and obstacles. Research "has largely demonstrated that employee volunteering is beneficial for both employees and companies" (Rodell et al 2016, p. 2).…”

“…On the other hand, "Corporate volunteerism is a way for employees to actively become part of the CSR activity in the organization" (Caligiuri et al 2013). However, the critical barrier for employees is the lack of time and other aspects related to the scarcity of resources, the lack of support from management or not considering the employees' motivations and needs (Santos and Fernández 2017). Furthermore, some studies find that employees feel that if they carry out corporate volunteering activities during working hours, when they return to their position, they have to make up the hours dedicated to the initiative, and also, other employees can see that the time that other employees dedicate to volunteer activities implies an increased workload for them, with consequent discomfort among other colleagues (Santos and Fernández 2017).…”