It brings a whole other level to the question, “What is it like working here?”  We were struck by a recent article in the Wall Street Journal discussing the trend of companies offering volunteer activities for employees—and by volunteer, they mean more than cleaning up a park or creating a team for an upcoming walk.  The WSJ points out that some companies are now lending out skilled employees to nonprofits around the world to provide professional services that these groups are often in desperate need of.  Accounting firm Ernst & Young offers an overseas volunteer initiative that gives employees the option of doing volunteer work for weeks or even months at at time overseas, all while on the company’s dime and with the promise of coming back to their job.  Pfizer runs a similar program where the company has sent over 150 employees from 22 countries to 31 other countries.  PNC Financial Services, Target, and UPS offer similar programs as well. 

As an estimated 40% of major companies support employee volunteering were encouraged to see a handful of companies, if not more, realize that the true impact they can make is more than sending a check along to an organization.  By investing the time and employees, both the company and organization benefit.  Even more so, were encouraged to hear that people seeking jobs take a company’s community and philanthropy into account when chooseing between employers. Sounds like a win-win situation to us.  By investing the time and employees, the company, its employees and the organization they are helping benefit.  We call that a win-win.