Content area
Full Text
ABSTRACT. Perhaps due to the numerous community and company benefits associated with corporate volunteer programs, an increasing number of national and international firms are adopting such programs. A major issue in organizing corporate volunteer programs concerns the strategies that are most effective for recruiting employee participation. The results of this study suggest that the most effective strategies for initiating participation in volunteer programs may not be the same as the strategies that are most effective in terms of maximizing the number of volunteer hours contributed by employees. More importantly, the results suggest that the most effective recruitment strategies depend on the age of the employee. The results were discussed in terms of matching the recruitment strategies with the characteristics of the potential volunteers and the nature of the volunteer project.
KEY WORDS: corporate volunteer programs, employee age differences, recruitment strategies
1. Introduction
Despite the rapid growth and tremendous contributions of corporate volunteer programs, there has been very little systematic research devoted to understanding the most effective methods of developing or implementing these programs (Steel, 1995). A corporate volunteer program is defined as any formal organized company support for employees and retirees who wish to volunteer their time and skills in service to the community (Wild, 1993). There are numerous types of corporate volunteer programs which differ on a variety of dimensions (Solomon et al., 1991). For example, corporations have adopted many diverse types of support such as providing release time from work so that employees can participate in volunteer programs and organizing group activities in which employees work together as a team to offer their assistance on a community project. Another dimension on which programs vary is the targets of the volunteer activities. Some of the most commonly targeted areas are education, health and welfare, services for youth groups and senior citizens, and the environment (Solomon et al., 1991).
While corporate volunteer programs provide numerous benefits for the community, a number of corporate benefits associated with volunteer programs have also been identified (Wild, 1993). Most of the corporate benefits can be grouped into a classification scheme consisting of three categories. These categories include Personnel Benefits, Indirect Community Benefits, and Bottom-Line Benefits (Steel, 1995).
Personnel benefits of volunteer programs include having a positive influence on...