Fitting Employer-supported Volunteerism into the Public Sector
November 24, 2003
By Louise Chatterton Luchuk
In 2000, an estimated 1,725,000 employed volunteers, or about 48% of all
employed volunteers, received support from their employer in some form,
up from 44% in 1997. Despite the encouraging statistics, employer-supported
volunteerism is something that exists primarily in the private sector,
and is far less common in the public sector. (A previous Cover
Story explored various employer-supported initiatives in the private
sector.) Still, there are options for public servants interested in volunteering.
At the federal level, many employees are eligible for one day of paid
leave per year to volunteer. Federal public servants are also involved
in the Government of Canada Workplace Charitable Campaign (GCWCC).
The GCWCC is a highly successful workplace fundraising campaign that runs
for three months and results in contributions to the United
Way and Healthpartners Fund,
a partnership of national health charities raising funds exclusively through
workplace charitable giving programs. While
the infusion of GCWCC donations to many charities is important, employer-supported
volunteerism is a concept that is much larger in scope than holding workplace
fundraising events.
Finding the right fit
Sarah Cook is the manager of Volunteers In Education (through the
Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation),
an initiative intended to foster community collaboration to enhance school-based
activities and academic learning. She partners with several federal government
departments for two VIE programs: OttawaReads and LectureOttawa
(the French counterpart of the program launched this month). These two
programs run on the strength of partnering with employer-supported volunteers
to offer early literacy programs in high needs schools. Early Literacy
Specialists from the school boards conduct brown bag lunch training sessions
with the employee volunteers, who in turn go into the schools to read
to young students.
A newspaper article caught Cook's attention, she remembers. It was about
Roch Carrier, national librarian of Library and Archives Canada,
reading to children and affirming the importance of early literacy. "It
sounded like a good fit and I decided to challenge him. I wrote him a
letter to find out if he would partner with us and encourage his employees
to get involved in the OttawaReads program." Carrier accepted and Library
and Archives Canada was one of the first partners to sign up two years
ago for OttawaReads.
Industry Canada's E-LIT (Excellence in Literacy and Information
Technology) program was another good fit with VIE. The idea behind
E-LIT is that students who cannot read also can't access learning material
on the Internet. Therefore, for the past two years, Industry Canada employees
have been volunteering with the Volunteers In Education program.
Public perception, though, is a potentially limiting factor for the growth of public sector employer-supported volunteerism initiatives like Cook's. She concludes that although many employers understand the myriad of benefits of employer-supported volunteerism "it is difficult with the public sector. The government is under a great deal more scrutiny. Their employer is not so much the Government of Canada but the people and therefore people feel they can critique. And if Canadians are not cognizant of the benefits of employer-supported volunteerism, it's a hard case to make [why government employees are volunteering during work time]."
The benefits of employer-supported volunteerism in the public sector
Cook's Volunteers in Education program also partners with Statistics Canada.
The Classroom Outreach program, established in 1999, is part of Statistics
Canada's broader Education Outreach Initiative. The Classroom Outreach
Program enables Statistics Canada employees to bring their math, technology
and other skills and interests into local schools. Employees, who have
the permission of their supervisor, may work for up to two paid hours
per week in local classrooms during regular work hours (including travel
time). The project is open to all Statistics Canada employees, but since
more than 80% are situated in the National Capital Region most of the
schools that benefit from the initiative are also within this geographical
area.
Statistics Canada employees have been involved in fun and creative teaching roles including:
- teaching Grade 1 children how to create a pie chart representing
the class distribution of Halloween costumes, or showing Grade 4 students
how to conduct a futuristic school-wide survey on the ideal characteristics
of a robot principal
- teaching students to design Web sites and helping them conduct research
on the Internet
- leading workshops on the electoral system for social studies classes
- organizing a Grade 6 role-play to re-enact Jean Talon's first census in New France in 1665, using the actual data from that period.
While Statistics Canada is giving up hours of work time for each employee who
is involved (162 employees for the 2003/04 school year), there is a distinct
benefit for the department. Mary Townsend, the program's coordinator,
explains that "the Classroom Outreach Program aligns well with our departmental
value of life-long learning. It also offers new opportunities for identity
management, for employee training, and for building a bridge to the community."
Obviously, the schools, students and employees benefit, too.
Says Townsend, "the opportunity fit so well with our mandate and that's
why it was accepted so easily." However she admits that "it's not as simple
for some federal departments as it was for ours to find that fit." For
employer-supported volunteerism to take hold in the public sector, therefore,
it is important to research and find a fit with a department's mandate.
Townsend feels that there needs to be a 50/50 split of responsibility
between federal departments and volunteer-involving organizations to find
the right match.
The municipal perspective
The mantra heard at Winnipeg City Hall is
"We are owned by the citizens." But as Bob Pruden, chief of
human resources for the city, explains, "it plays out differently at the
municipal level as opposed to the federal." While at the federal (and
provincial) levels of government, direct service is a small part of their
mandate, at the municipal level, it is a large part of the work to be
done. Municipal governments run hands-on community programs year-round.
In other words, they are out in the community but it is part of their
job description. "Statistics Canada in the school is not much different
than our cops doing presentations in schools," says Pruden. Therefore,
enabling city employees to volunteer in the community during work hours
does not seem as relevant a concept in Pruden's mind. Being active in
the community happens as part of people's jobs and through ad hoc or informal
events like the United Ways' Day of Caring or foodbank food drives.
Ann Flynn, the City of
Fredericton's manager of human resources, says that their employees
are actively involved in the community, too. The involvement is largely
fundraising-based and is done as part of an employee's job description,
as well as on personal time. For instance, City of Fredericton firefighters
support the Muscular Dystrophy Association, police officers raise
funds and participate in public events related to Cops for Cancer,
other city employees participate in the Run for the Cure event
and the annual United Way campaign.
Flynn feels that although "the public perceives they are the employer [of municipal employees], I do not believe the same problem exists at the community level as at the federal level. Our employees are part of the community and I believe the public appreciates the time and effort they put in to support the community. Keep in mind that most of the time employees put into volunteering is their own. The impact on service delivery is minimal." Still, formal employer-supported volunteer policies are not typically in place at the municipal level. It is more about a community-minded approach than an official employer-supported volunteer program.
It's clear that public sector employees and employers are involved in
community initiatives, but employer-supported volunteerism has not yet
reached its full potential in the public sector. If employer-supported
volunteerism is going to fit into the public sector, the challenge for
volunteer-involving organizations is to research and communicate how their
needs fit with government department mandates, and educate the public
sector as well as the general public about the multitude of benefits of
an employer-supported volunteerism initiative.
Louise Chatterton Luchuk is a freelance writer and consultant who combines
her love of writing with experience at the local, provincial and national
levels of volunteer-involving organizations. For more information, visit
www.luchuk.com.
