Understanding aspects that influence Brazilian companies' employees in volunteer initiatives participation: Contributions to sustainable development

Abstract

In the last decades, several indicators are showing the inadequacy of countries' economic models. Changes in these models are necessary to contemplate the concept of sustainable development. In this sense, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals were published by United Nations to guide companies, countries and people. Volunteer actions are important initiatives for this. This kind of initiative can be described as the act of helping someone, aiming to contribute to a fairer society in which charity and citizenship are present. The main objective of this study is to analyze the main aspects that influence Brazilian companies' employees to participate in volunteer programs and, to identify how these aspects may be grouped into factors. Initially, a bibliographic study was carried out to identify the main aspects that influence the participation of companies' employees in volunteer programs. With this information, a questionnaire was structured and used in a survey. Data analysis was performed via exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and five from seven aspects analyzed were validated. They are grouped into two factors named "personal aspects" and "institutional aspects". The first factor better explains the aspects mentioned. The results presented here may be useful for managers of volunteer programs and researchers interested in the theme.