Employees

Hats off to Barclays, first for investing in this research and second for sharing it publicly. For many companies seeking 'business case' arguments for community involvement, the impact on the HR agenda is now almost on a par with the desire for improved corporate reputation as the key driver. From this and others' studies, it's clear volunteering has beneficial impacts around team cohesion. What this study also revealed, however, is that line managers are much more sceptical about training gains: only 9% said it is "very effective". So if significant time away from the workplace is to be sustained, CCI managers and their HR counterparts need to get smarter about tying opportunities to core competencies and identified skills gaps, using learning logs and self-assessment to demonstrate the pay-back. And with the Home Office using its study to put pressure on companies for more employee volunteering, the business case will need to be robust if line managers are to be persuaded to release more of their key staff.