The Good Works Perk

• Share

(2 of 2)

An allowance of 40 hours of paid time off each year for community service helped sell Laura Wagner on joining outdoor- footwear manufacturer Timberland two years ago. Wagner, 27, a customer-service representative, has cleared trails in state parks around the company's Stratham, N.H., headquarters and picked up litter on the beach in her neighborhood in Ogunquit, Maine, all on company time. This perk, which was first offered in 1992, is promoted at job fairs and on the company's website, says Ken Freitas, vice president of marketing for social enterprise. According to Freitas, 90% of those being considered for jobs at Timberland are already aware of the company's volunteer efforts and bring it up as a point of interest during their interviews. "They realize that you don't have to check your values at the door when you join this company," Freitas says. About 95% of Timberland's 5,550 employees take at least one day off a year to do community service, as part of the company's program.

"Like many in the consulting field these days, I get calls just about every week from headhunters. They don't make it past the first 15 seconds, since I know that no one else is going to allow me the time to work in the community like I do now," says Mike Kennelly, 37, managing partner of strategic-evaluation services for Arthur Andersen & Co. in Chicago, who's been with the firm for 15 years. Kennelly devotes about 12 hours a week to a mentoring and tutoring program that he created in 1991 for inner-city children ages 5 to 14. About 250 Arthur Andersen employees have since become involved with the program. "Next to my family and my work, this program has become a core focus of my life," Kennelly says. "I couldn't give it up." In 2000, Arthur Andersen's North American practice donated $14 million worth of time, with about 25% of 30,000 employees taking part in company-sponsored volunteer programs, according to Dennis Reigle, Chicago-based managing partner of human resources. "Our volunteer programs help make us visible in the community, which improves our overall image to clients or potential clients. We even have had clients join in our community programs," Reigle says.

It's not just the big outfits that encourage volunteerism. Small business is an enthusiastic supporter. In fact, nearly 40% of business owners with annual revenues of $10 million or less have company policies to encourage philanthropy, according to a survey released in November by the National Foundation for Women Business Owners. These include granting paid and unpaid leave for volunteer work, and even extended leave for such activities.

At Shared Vision, for example, a 50-person technology-consulting firm in New York City, employees get one fully paid week off a year to do volunteer work for any charity they select; 36 staff members take part. In addition, the company has two annual retreats that include some time for group volunteer efforts. Shared Vision refers staff members to websites that can help them locate organizations in need of volunteers. "Offering this time off is a large expense, but it helps us attract the type of community-minded employees that we want working here," Haber says. "And those people tend to remain with us once they join." The program can cost Shared Vision, which has annual revenues of $6 million, anywhere from $6,000 to $12,000 a year per employee who participates, says president Tom Eichner.

For Karima Sundarji, 31, Shared Vision's vice president of East Coast operations, the time-off policy is a chance to volunteer for a variety of organizations that assist kids and pregnant teenagers. In addition to the work she now does, Sundarji hopes to take part in youth counseling. "I have been able to bond and make some really close friends with people I work with," Sundarji says. "We share the same values, and that makes working together that much nicer." And it's these values that corporate America is banking on to keep employees from walking out the door.