Spain: recent trends in corporate volunteering

Corporate or employee volunteering refers to ongoing and coordinated business support for staff involvement in the local community. This work-based volunteering scheme is frequently associated with corporate social responsibility (CSR). In point of fact, at IBM, OHL Group and Pascual Corporation these initiatives are coordinated by their respective CSR or social action departments. However, internal benefits are making a convincing case for embedding this scheme in the heart of business practice. “Initially we did not envisage corporate volunteering as a human resources strategy,” says María Ruspoli, Head of Social Action, Sponsorship and Community Involvement at OHL, a Spanish construction multinational. “However, it is proving to be an effective HR tool. It has resulted in organizational benefits such as raised levels of motivation,…