British companies have been faced with a recent downturn in employee engagement. One way to combat this is by promoting volunteerism. This year’s 16th annual CSV Make a Difference Day takes place on 27 October and encourages professionals to share their skills with local charities.

A 2011 Deloitte survey found that volunteerism leads to greater employee engagement and pride in an employee’s corporation. It says over 70 per cent of employees aged 21-35 claimed they did not have enough time to volunteer. By encouraging corporate volunteerism, a company can engage a third to half of their young employees.

The CSV has a year-round employee volunteering programme that encouraged and assisted 9,000 employees in the UK to volunteer 55,000 hours of their time in 2011. One-off volunteerism events such as Make a Difference Day can help raise employee satisfaction from 32 to 51 percent, according to Deloitte.

Broadcaster Jon Snow, a sponsor of the 2012 event says, “Volunteering your professional skill to a local community group or charity will have a huge impact on their future...Professionals ranging from sport coaches and conservation workers to lawyers and marketing experts can all make a difference in their community.”

2011’s Make a Difference Day drew 71,000 people to participate in nearly 2,500 events.

For more on employee engagement, please see the following stories:

http://www.communicatemagazine.co.uk/news/3879-summersault-to-redesign-tescos-internal-newspaper

http://www.communicatemagazine.co.uk/news/3846-involve-survey-polls-internal-communications-directors

http://www.communicatemagazine.co.uk/news/3839-employee-pride-drops-over-first-half-of-year