Charity begins at work

Voluntary work sounds worthy but dull. Yet it can often develop your marketable skills as an employee, as well as benefit your employer and give someone the break they need.

If that sounds a bit calculating, let's not forget that most decisions to get involved in charity work are emotional ones. When Ken Deeks first saw the National Children's Homes' advert on the tube for 'The year 2000 problem that won't go away', he knew he had to get involved. A public relations man with a number of technology clients under his belt, Deeks set to work phoning colleagues and clients of his PR company, and starting to call in some favours.

The result was Byte Night, an annual sleep-out by IT's great and good, which for the past three years has been raising funds for the homeless. In its first year, 30 people raised £40,000 between them. This year, Deeks expects at least 150 people from all parts of the IT industry to bring their sleeping bags and brave the elements. Deeks wants to raise more than half a million pounds, and he looks on target to reach that figure.

Byte Night is just one example of the positive social role that those working in the IT sector can play. As awareness of the benefits both to companies and individuals spreads, so the opportunities for involvement in voluntary initiatives increase.

The bigger issue
At one extreme there are those who give up years to participate in potentially life-changing experiences. Others may find an hour every month to help a charity, arts organisation or inner city project. The good news is that some employers are now in on the act. They are actively encouraging employees' participation in community schemes, either as a means to differentiate themselves from the competition, or to hang on to valuable staff. Moreover, the skills you pick up or develop can help you in your career.

"What we're hearing more and more is: 'I'd love to volunteer, but I don't have the time'," said Louise Marix Evans of charity Business in the Community (BITC), a movement of companies across the UK committed to improving their impact on society. The charity boasts 75 per cent of the FTSE 100 as members, with a total of 650 companies involved in social activities through BITC.

Interestingly, it's the high flyers who tend to apply to work on voluntary projects. "They are discovering that it feels good to get out into the real world," says Marix Evans. "They go for small projects. They want them to be well run, preferably by their own company."

"Some companies use this as part of their appraisal system", she continued. "They'll encourage people to build their management skills on a voluntary project. Others use it for team building, motivation and generally making staff feel good about the company they work for."

For an individual, a socially responsible stance might just be the difference between a good place to work and a really great one. There's an increasing body of evidence to show that companies with an active and genuine community programme are winning the war for attracting talent. Investment in the community and its emphasis on volunteering are two of the criteria that an increasing number of recruits are using when deciding which company to join.

Care in the comm.unity
You won't be surprised to hear that, despite the emphasis on goodwill, voluntary initiatives of this nature are also about profits. Marix Evans works for comm.unity, the part of BITC that specialises in 'tackling the digital divide'. Comm.unity advises companies on best practice, and the checklists and networks needed to make sure voluntary projects keep going after the initial enthusiasm has peaked. It also helps organisations formulate the business case needed to convince shareholders that contributing to the community will deliver a good return on their investment.

Does it matter if individuals use their voluntary work as a leg-up in their careers, or if companies exploit the PR value of their community projects? Well, either way it could mean some of the UK's 12,000 homeless taking a step towards a brighter future. Or, as in the case of a recent project in Leeds, it could mean that an underprivileged child goes on a train ride for the first time in their life.

There is no shortage of ways in which you can get involved in voluntary work. You might join Ken Deeks for this year's Byte Night at Finsbury Square on 22 September. Donning their pyjamas for the evening will be directors from 3Com, ICL, Microsoft and Barclays.

The one-to-one mentor
"What if they asked me questions I couldn't answer?"
Name: Yvonne Brown
Company: KPMG
Position: Partner's secretary
Project: Pilot scheme for community IT training

Yvonne Brown has been helping a teacher at an inner-city school with word processing skills. They spend an hour together, one session every two weeks, as part of a community IT training project organised by Brown's colleague, Linda Munro. Today, half-a-dozen KPMG secretaries are paired up with teachers at Argyle Primary School in London's King's Cross.

"It was really a team effort between the girls and myself," said Munro, referring to the secretaries and the staff in KPMG's community broking department that matches up resources for community projects. Matching is done according to level of ability and specific skills that the teachers want to learn.

The project actually goes much further, and is fully supported by partners in consultancy company, Big Five. "We thought it would be nice for support staff to use their secretarial skills, but anybody at any level within KPMG can take part in volunteering to help in the community," said Munro. There's even a special code for voluntary work for the timesheets filled out by staff to further demonstrate the company's commitment.

Brown, meanwhile, admits she had her doubts about undertaking the project. Her biggest concern was: "What if they asked me questions I couldn't answer?" In fact, she managed quite easily. Brown showed the teacher some of her favourite shortcuts in Microsoft Word and then answered specific questions afterwards. The main advantage, she believed, is that the teacher benefited from the reassurance she gave her about her own knowledge.

"She found the confidence to stand in front of the class and they didn't laugh at her," said Brown, clearly very glad to have helped. "It makes you realise you do have skills that other people find useful." Brown's involvement in the scheme has also resolved some issues of her own. As a child, she felt excluded from the corporate world and she's thrilled to be allowed to cross the divide between working in a company and helping in the community.

"It's a lovely idea that a company helps in the community," she said. "When I grew up, all companies wanted was to keep you away, they weren't very friendly."

Voluntary Service Overseas
"The experience changed my life"
Name: Nigel Timmis
Company: ADC Telecom
Position: Development manager
Project: Two years teaching computing to children in Zimbabwe

After leaving school, Nigel Timmis went straight into a job as a programmer at ICL. Two years on, he decided to do something different. He'd read about Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) a few years ago, and since then it had always been at the back of his mind.

Timmis went out to Zimbabwe to help in the first black school to teach computer studies, spending more than two years at a boarding school on the border with Mozambique, 20 miles from the nearest town. It was a time of great change for the young IT recruit. "Never mind email or bar codes, they hardly knew what a vacuum cleaner was when I was there," he said. "Although towards the end of my time there, they were beginning to see the importance of IT. There were even cyber cafes arriving in Harare."

Armed with a roomful of Apple Macs, and operating out of a US-funded Anglican mission, Timmis taught his class a full O-level course. "You have to be well-qualified for VSO, but it's still nerve-wracking to have a class of 20 kids," he said.

"It was a huge learning experience," Timmis added. "For the first six months it was all absolutely brilliant. The longer you were there, the more you realised there were political problems you couldn't do anything about. There were times you wanted to walk away, when you were ill particularly. But the next day, you were glad you hadn't."

Now back in the UK, he sees the career benefits of sticking it out. "The experience made me pick up on the softer skills, such as negotiation and communication," he said. "Things were so difficult there, you had to sit down and work them out for yourself."

VSO is an experience he'd recommend to anybody. "Yes, it changed my life. I don't regret it at all. I didn't want to be doing the same job for another 20 to 30 years."

The corporate programme
"One in four employees will do something, if they're asked. We do the asking."
Name: Marion Clyde
Company: FI Group
Position: Community affairs manager

IT consultant FI Group spent £102,000 on what it calls its 'community investment programme' last year. Its aim is to support national campaigns mainly in education and homelessness, and deliver results locally.

Following shareholder approval, the programme is now a standard part of corporate policy, and has a dedicated budget of up to one per cent of annual pre-tax profits. The results are even mentioned in the FI Group annual report. The message is clear: this programme is important.

FI Group took its social responsibility to heart six years ago when the board took a look at what other companies were doing in this area, and decided that it should be doing something about investing in the community. FI Group decided to encourage a culture of volunteering among its workforce. "Our assets are our people," explained community affairs manager, Marion Clyde. "One in four will do something, if they're asked. We do the asking."

While it's up to individuals themselves to decide whether or not to participate, the company provides support and encouragement in the shape of matched funds for projects, a regular newsletter and an annual award for the best project. The programme also serves career development and recruitment goals.

"All of us have plans for personal development," said Clyde. "People are seconded to a project to achieve personal development targets."

The programme is definitely a deciding factor when it comes to recruitment. Last year, a number of FI Group's volunteers, working on a homelessness project in Skelmersdale, carried off the top honours and won an award of £2500 from the company to the project.

Business in the Community has also recognised its efforts, and last year, as a mark of the quality and impact of FI Group's programmes, the company was awarded the organisation's 1999 award for excellence.