Does your corporation “care”? Exploring an ethical standard for communicating CSR relationships online

A qualitative content analysis of corporate social responsibility (CSR) webpages of top-ranked corporations was conducted to determine the ethical nature of online communications surrounding nonprofit partnerships. Are corporations giving nonprofits their fair share of online publicity? All CSR-related webpages from the top 30 Fortune’s 500 Most Admired Corporations for 2017 were examined. Ethical principles from public relations communications regarding open, honest, and transparent information sharing guided textual analysis. Evidence shows that CSR website communications often engage in self-promotion rather than genuine and mutually beneficial support for nonprofit partners. Through corporate branding of CSR activities, advertising through philanthropy stories, and exploiting employee volunteerism and donations, the balance of CSR relationships tilts heavily in the corporation’s favor. Yet, public relations practitioners have a special calling to be the “ethical conscience” of their organizations. Understanding how corporations can provide ethical communications about their nonprofit partners helps guide ethical voice of the practice. This study is unique for looking specifically at the ethics of corporate CSR communications themselves and for addressing the nonprofit perspective of CSR, which is often overlooked. While nonprofits may benefit from CSR relationships, this article shows that opportunities for mutually beneficial communications about these relationships may be lacking.

Employee Volunteerism—Conceptual Study and the Current Situation

The purpose of the study is to analyze employee volunteerism. This issue had not been studied on a broader international level earlier. This research firstly discovers altruism and volunteerism values in the economy. Then, based on the third-party model, observes each part, where participants are the (1) volunteer (employee) (2) company (and its CSR activity) and (3) an external organization, which manages this type of formal volunteerism. Each participant was analyzed through comprehensive analysis using descriptive and inference statistics and classification methods on complex, extensive secondary databases. Altogether, more than 10,000 respondents’ answers are examined from two worldwide surveys, and further ten international statistical indicators and indices are explored. These methods result in volunteer characteristics on a personal level, afterwards in country classification, which provides a cultural comparison of the employee volunteerism. Our findings prove that demographical differences do not, but company-level actions influence the intensity of formal volunteerism. Moreover, three main clusters (formed from 43 countries) show different values. This diversity might partly be caused by measurement fragmentations and lack of internationally accepted definitions and theories. This paper aims to provide a broader overview of the topic, which might be a useful starting point for the forthcoming aggregated conceptualization. Employee volunteers’ behavior arises from the personal value of volunteerism. However, the attendance and intensity of voluntary activity are primarily influenced by the environment (e.g., life period, living and working situation). Employee volunteerism programs are an important and essential part of CSR at the company level, and strongly frames this activity, where employee volunteerism could associate each participant’s interests and improve their values. However, the practices may differ in each country and in each sector. The current pandemic rewrote the traditional volunteerism model and our projection. The last chapter provides a preliminary study about how employee volunteerism could work in this extraordinary, COVID-19 situation.

Does employee volunteerism contribute to financial performance? Effect of third-party assurance and financial performance of listed firms in emerging economies

Purpose Studies on employee volunteerism have inconsistency in results. This study aims to examine whether employee volunteerism contributes to financial performance, and if employee volunteerism creates community benefit for firm legitimacy. Design/methodology/approach The data covers 80 companies (640 firm-year observations) and uses the Indian stock market for the period 2010-2017 as a testing ground. Canonical correlation analysis, panel regression and panel probit regression are used in this study. Findings The first findings of the study show employee volunteerism through employee skill contribution, number of hours spent on volunteerism, employee cash contribution and employee material contribution provide the substantive contributions to community benefit and financial performance and also contribute a possible positive reflection on employee commitment. The second findings show that return on asset and return on equity do not improve the practice of employee volunteerism. However, the stock price return (SPR) improves the practice of employee volunteerism. The third findings show that the engagement of third-party assurance (TPA) improves the practice of employee volunteerism. Finally, TPA and SPR are more likely to cause a firm to undertake employee volunteerism. Research limitations/implications The research study is limited to large firms on the Indian stock market that submit sustainability reports. Practical implications An implication from the study suggests that the critical driver of employee volunteerism is employee skill contribution, and firms stand to benefit if well managed. Originality/value TPA and financial performance contribute an increase in employee volunteerism, and therefore deepens the scholarly debate on employee volunteerism. Employee volunteerism–community benefit nexus creates a new dimension to the theory of legitimacy for firms in an emerging economy.

Aligning Society, Organisation and Employee Development Through Volunteering

As an organisation, Cognizant firmly believes that giving back to the society is an earnest reflection of the values we stand for. Our vision is to harness our technology expertise and the diverse skillsets of our global workforce to drive change and inclusion and thereby be a force for societal good. One of our biggest innovations in this endeavour has been ‘Outreach’, our employee-led grassroots social initiatives programme that leverages the power of employee volunteerism to drive a culture of purpose. Outreach is underpinned by our belief that while an organisation’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) ethos is crucial, what really drives change and creates impact is the individual social responsibility (ISR) quotient: the community conscience that inspires our employees to address today’s socio-economic challenges. This article outlines how Cognizant Outreach has synergised the social conscience of our employees with the organisation’s social responsibility to create a vibrant volunteering platform for the larger good of the society.

Employer-Supported Volunteerism in Rural Worksites

Employer-supported volunteerism has the potential to benefit employees and ultimately have a positive business impact. Volunteerism has been linked to improved quality of life, reduced morbidity, and higher self-rated health. This study was designed to understand what small, rural worksites are doing with regard to volunteerism, and what their barriers are to such activities. An online survey was distributed to worksites using the social network of a Resource, Conservation, and Development Council, a rural nonprofit entity. Analyses included descriptive statistics, and for qualitative data, review and summary of common themes. Thirty-eight worksites responded, representing a wide range of worksite types. Volunteer activities requiring less time and resources to organize were more commonly employed versus group-based activities. Identified barriers included time, costs, small staffing numbers, perceived employee lack of interest, worksite policies, distance to volunteer sites, language barriers, and lack of awareness of opportunities. Despite a variety of challenges, some forms of employer-supported volunteerism seem feasible even in very small rural worksites. Worksite type, culture, and leadership are likely to be determinants of the extent and nature of employer-supported volunteerism. Strategies to encourage greater volunteerism need to be tailored to the interests and resources of each site. Occupational health nurses should consider incorporating some form of employee volunteerism activities within their health promotion programming, as it is consistent with an overall strategy of enhancing employee well-being. This could lead to positive business impacts such as increased employee engagement, improved recruitment and retention, and improved productivity.

The Mediating Roles of Happiness and Cohesion in the Relationship between Employee Volunteerism and Job Performance

This study investigated the mediating effects of happiness and cohesion in the relationship between employee volunteerism, in-role behavior, and helping behavior. The study surveyed 312 full-time employees in South Korea, and regression analyses and the bootstrapping method were used to test the hypotheses. The study found happiness and cohesion to mediate the relationships between employee volunteerism and in-role and helping behavior. The findings suggest that employee volunteerism can promote a healthy working environment through increased feelings of happiness and cohesion as well as by improving performance behaviors.