The 2011 Deloitte Volunteers Impact Survey found that 56 percent of millennials (ages twenty-one to thirty-five) who participate in a company’s sponsored volunteer activities are more likely to rate their corporate culture as very positive compared with 28 percent of millennials who do not volunteer. The survey also found that those who volunteered were more likely to work for the company (55 percent versus 36 percent) and more likely to feel loyal toward it (53 percent versus 33 percent). Sixty-one percent of those surveyed also said that having a volunteer program helps in recruitment. Evan Hochberg, Deloitte’s national director of community involvement, states, “It’s amazing how big the difference is between the people who volunteer and how they feel about their company . . . it helps employees grow as well. They are volunteering side-by-side with employees at all levels. . . . All the challenges of internal networking . . . which are high HR issues are broken down.”
1. Does the organization that you work for encourage volunteer activities? If so, do you receive time off from the day of work to volunteer, or is it done on your own time?
2. If you do volunteer, what kind of activities do you participate in? If you do not volunteer, why not?