They dish out hot meals at soup kitch-ens and stock shelves at food banks. They plant trees and beautify nursing homes. They build houses for low-income families and teach immigrant children who struggle with English.

All on company time.

Corporate volunteerism is a fairly recent workplace trend in Canada and although companies that participate tout its benefits, the majority of companies still aren't convinced.

A survey conducted by Imagine Canada and the University of Lethbridge in 2005 found that almost half of companies operating in Canada encourage their employees to volunteer on their own time, but only 35 per cent of companies accommodate employee volunteering during working hours.

Photo courtesy of KPMG
KPMG Vancouver's Mai Le Thuy takes part in a 2007 Stanley Park cleanup that removed garbage from the park shores.

The survey also found that one-quarter of companies actually discourage employees from volunteering during working hours.

"Time is the most precious commodity in modern society," says Doris Rubenstein, author of The Good Corporate Citizen. "It's easy to reach into your pocket and give a buck or two when a collection is being taken, but asking people to do volunteer work is a tremendous demand on a very precious commodity."

That said, the investment can pay off in spades.

"It will keep and maintain employee morale, it will help a company create a good reputation in the community and it will attract good employees," says Rubenstein, who also runs the U.S.-based consulting firm PDP Services.

According to Rubenstein, companies need a strategic plan to create a volunteer program. And they need to involve their employees from start to finish.

"Employees have to be engaged in the decision-making and have good experiences when they are out there volunteering. If you ask people to do a voluntary activity and they show up and there is nothing to do, that is not a very good volunteer experience," she says. "You have to have meaningful volunteer activities so your employees aren't just stuffing envelopes."

She says a teambuilding activity such as building a home for Habitat for Humanity is generally successful.

Not only does it promote teamwork, it gives employees a chance to demonstrate skills that might not be apparent in the workplace.

"Your CEO may be on the job and he may have tremendous CEO skills, but when it comes to handling a power saw, the guy in the mailroom might have greater skills and the roles are reversed," she says.

Rubenstein says that a successful volunteer program is like food for the soul to employees who feel compelled to give back to their communities, but don't have an outlet.

Beth Wilson

"If a person is not associated with a religious organization or something of that nature, where are the opportunities? Your company, as your primary social community, can serve that purpose for you."

Wendy Mitchell, manager of fund development at Volunteer Canada, says Canadians are still behind the U.K. and Australia when it comes to corporate volunteerism.

In the U.S., corporate volunteerism is also more prevalent because it is mandated by the government in some cases.

Mitchell says Canadian companies that do participate in a volunteer program have increased employee retention, as well as greater employee loyalty and employee pride.

"It creates a win-win situation," she says.

She echoes Rubenstein in saying that the key to a successful volunteer program is to find a cause that your employees are enthused about.

"The biggest thing is to find out what your employees are interested in, otherwise it's not beneficial at all," she says, adding that it's also crucial for senior management to be on board.

"Senior management really needs to buy into the program and also demonstrate that they are volunteering."

Beth Wilson, Toronto-based chief human resources officer at global accounting giant KPMG, says KPMG's involvement in corporate volunteerism has been hugely beneficial.

She says that the company has two major volunteer programs - Time To Volunteer and KPMG Volunteers - and 16,491 hours were donated last year.

The Time to Volunteer program supports the existing volunteer efforts of employees.

"Employees can take time off of work to do volunteer work and their hours are recognized with a donation in their name for their efforts," says Wilson, who adds that employees who are committed to volunteering are recognized at an annual awards event.

The KPMG Volunteers program encourages employees in all 34 offices across the country to work together for one workday during a specified week or month in support of a charitable organization.

Last year, more than 3,000 employees participated.

"Our employees love it. There is a lot of excitement that builds around it. They love the idea that they are being supported to take a day off work to do this," she says.

"They also like getting out of the office and doing something together with their coworkers for the community."

Wilson says that ultimately, corporate volunteer work is about giving back to the community.

"We feel at KPMG that this is a great profession and we do well.

"And with that, there is an obligation and a desire to give back."

(Christina Friedrichsen can be reached at friedrichsen@businessedge.ca)