voluntary organisations, social enterprises and volunteering
voluntary organisations, social enterprises and volunteering
voluntary organisations, social enterprises and volunteering
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Employer Supported Volunteering - A National Approach
Created: 02/05/2025
News/Events Category: Volunteering
Employer Supported Volunteering, or ESV, is an umbrella term for policies that employers use to support employees to participate in volunteering.
There are many different names for the practice of encouraging employees to volunteer: Employer Supported Volunteering (ESV), corporate volunteers, employee volunteers, workplace volunteering… to name a few.
Not only are there many names for ESV, but there are also many different types of ESV offers, including: paid or unpaid time off for volunteering, signposting or promoting volunteering, integrating volunteering into learning and development processes, organising volunteering opportunities, and matching employees to volunteering opportunities.
The main benefits of ESV for employers are:
- Talent acquisition
- Talent retention and employee engagement
- Developing employee skills (professional as well as interpersonal and soft skills, like communication)
- Team and culture building
- Demonstrating corporate social responsibility (CSR) and/or environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials
- Boosting brand and reputation
- Building relationships with voluntary and local community organisations
The common benefits of ESV for staff are:
- Enjoyment
- Increased wellbeing
- Feeling they are making a difference
- Meeting new people from different backgrounds
- Improved employment prospects
The Gathering workshop 2025
Volunteer Scotland led an interactive workshop at SCVO’s The Gathering, exploring ‘A National Approach to Employer-Supported Volunteering.’ Stakeholders from the third, public, and private sectors shared insights on their approaches to Employer-Supported Volunteering and their vision for the future.
View the 'What we learned' document
A national approach to ESV
Volunteer Scotland is leading work on Action 42 of the Volunteering Action Plan to develop a national approach to employer supported volunteering (ESV). To kick start this work in 2024 they undertook a desk review of relevant literature. They analysed 56 pieces, including practical guidance and resources, impact measurement tools, academic and practitioner research and quality standards. They explored literature in the UK and international contexts, including Canada, the USA, Switzerland and Austria, and spoke to academics and practitioners working on ESV to identify as much relevant literature as they could.
ESV workbook
Volunteer Scotland's workbook supports volunteer involving organisations to work together with employers to set up effective ESV opportunities. This workbook was developed by the Employee Volunteering European Network (EVEN) and has been tailored for use in Scotland. To access the workbook please contact Volunteer Scotland on [email protected].
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