Caring companies have long tried to convey the spirit of the holidays to their employees through office decorations, parties, time off to shop, an extra vacation day here and there and contributions outside the company to the less fortunate.
But many now go a step further and encourage their employees to put in sweat equity rather than just dollars and cents, stressing that to give back to their communities is part of their mission and core values.
Herman Miller Inc., based in Zeeland, Mich., and with a large showroom at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, says the company places great emphasis on its role as stewards in its 300 locations in 40 countries.
“We believe in returning a measure of our success. Participation becomes a matter of organizational pride,” says Mark Schurman, director, external communications. “We also set aside 5 percent of pretax earnings for charity, which will be over $10 million this year.”
Kathy Posner, head of much smaller COMM Inc., a public relations firm in Chicago that employs six, feels the same about giving back. “If I’m lucky enough to have paying clients, I can help and share with others who are less fortunate.”
The increase in corporate do-goodism reflects an overall increase in volunteerism, according to Bill Leonard, a writer for HR magazine, a publication of the Society for Human Resource Management. In 1995, the last year for which statistics are available, Americans spent almost 15.7 million hours in formal volunteer activities, according to a survey by the Independent Sector in Washington, D.C.
But instead of just encouraging employees to do good, companies like COMM and Herman Miller help by posting or circulating lists of non-profits needing volunteers.
Additionally, the Charles Schwab Corp., the financial services company based in San Francisco and with Chicago branches, has an internal Web site of opportunities for employees and is setting up one for customers.
Sometimes a company oversees the firmwide effort by appointing someone to take charge on a full- or part-time basis.
Giving structure to such activities helps increase participation, says Dan Scanlan, an assistant vice president at FINOVA, a commercial finance company based in Phoenix. Scanlan, who works in the company’s Chicago office and spearheads volunteerism there, says, “A lot of people want to do something but unless there’s an organized effort they find it hard.”
His office tries to offer an opportunity each month under the umbrella of “Care & Share.” Employees will buy and prepare a hot meal for about 30 homeless people at the Lincoln Park Community Shelter on Dec. 23. Earlier this month, they wrapped gifts for the Association House of Chicago, a non-profit social service agency. In November, they delivered blankets, comforters, sleeping bags, hats and mittens to the Warm Wishes organization, which distributed them at a church Thanksgiving lunch.
Many companies get quite creative in their giving. Tonya Tweedy, vice president of administration at Waterford Homes in west suburban La Fox which employs 14 and builds about 100 houses a year, organized a “Ten Days of Christmas,” with the entire staff collecting gifts to distribute to residents of the Firwood Healthcare Center in Batavia who don’t have family or receive many visitors.
“We chose Batavia because we have a building project there. The gifts are small but meaningful, such as hand lotion, shaving cream, pins to decorate clothing, candy for non-diabetics, and it gives them something to look forward to,” says Tweedy, who got the idea from employee Marilyn Engler.
Meanwhile, realtors Koenig & Strey’s Libertyville office collected money, half of which it used to purchase Thanksgiving dinner fixings for 26 needy area families. The rest of the money went to charities, says Larry Valenziano, a sales associate who took charge.
And through the efforts of the law firm of White and Williams in Philadelphia, a different charity will benefit each month, starting in the New Year. In January, for example, 100 books and videos will be distributed to children at an area hospital. In June, 100 pints of blood will be given to the Red Cross. The firm plans to put together a brochure of contributions.
Many companies not only encourage their own staff to give but also use the holiday spirit to rally others. COMM Inc. employees recently invited underprivileged children to help them decorate Chicago’s 18th Police District building so they’d have a more positive feeling toward the police. “We want the children to consider the police their friends rather than adversaries,” says Posner.
Herman Miller employees, in conjunction with those of Geiger Brickel, another furniture manufacturer, brought together 19 design firms in the city to orchestrate a hands-on crafts evening in early December for 400 underprivileged children at the YMCA in Cabrini Green.
Some companies also give time off during the workday for volunteerism on an individual, departmental or entire office basis. The Herman Miller production department in Chicago donated thousands of hours to a local Habitat for Humanity house project.
GTE Communications Corp., a division of GTE Corp. in Irving, Texas, operates a firmwide literacy effort on two fronts. Each office, including those in Chicago, tries to collect a total of 5,000 books, which the Boys & Girls Clubs of America will distribute, and each office tries to get staff to read a total of 5,000 minutes (83 1/3 hours) to the less fortunate, a project dubbed “Seasons Readings.”
“Employees arrange with their supervisors to do their readings at a location of their choice, and every location has a coordinator,” says Lois Kinman, media relations manager.
Another program of note is the “Team Depot” at The Home Depot, which is headquartered in Atlanta and has 24 stores in Chicago. Divisional coordinators and store reps set up a training program, explain the company’s philosophy, teach how to work with non-profit agencies and explain what projects are available, says Carolyn Smillie, manager of community affairs. “Most stores tend to select a local agency or school,” Smillie adds.
But the award for the most committed perhaps should be given to Xerox Corp., based in Rochester, N.Y., which allows employees to apply for up to a year off with full pay in a program known as Social Service Leave. More than 400 have taken sabbaticals since the program was established more than 25 years ago.
To gain a leave, employees have to have worked at the company for three years and have been affiliated with a non-profit organization for three years. They are selected by a committee of peers. While on leave, the employees receive their full salary and are entitled to return to the same or a similar job.
Dan Wilkins, an account manager in Chicago, worked for nine months in 1995 with the South Central Community Services Inc. group at 8316 S. Ellis Ave., an agency that provides activities from child welfare to seniors’ activities.
Even though most volunteers contribute out of the goodness of their heart, some companies, like Schwab, recognize the value of a pat on the back and a charitable contribution.
If 10 or more Schwab employees support a volunteer activity, they are free to leave work after the market closes, with prior permission of their manager, says Jim Losi, president of the Charles Schwab Corp. Foundation and a company senior vice president.
The company also gives a monetary grant to match 50 hours or more volunteered, up to $2,500. It gives an annual community service award to recognize outstanding volunteer contributions of an employee, who then receives $5,000 to donate to a non-profit of his or her choice. Next year the company will introduce a community service award for a customer. Such efforts have proved so successful that about one quarter of the 13,000-member staff participate in some way.
And although there’s no direct link between helping others and an improved bottom line, company participants say they benefit as richly as the recipients.
