Employees are bringing their convictions to the workplace,
expanding the conversation from shareholder value to
mission and purpose.A New Voicefor Volunteerism
AS SEISMIC CHANGES IN GLOBAL MARKETS AND ECONOMIES CONTINUE TO TRANSFORM
society, business has stepped up to address many of the thorniest issues. Who
better, after all, than professionals with experience in strategizing and problem-
solving to meet today’s challenges?
Today, millennials and Gen Zers are bringing this new social-consciousness
to the workplace. There, they and more seasoned employees have discovered
their impact on corporate responsibility and are steering the conversation
from job creation and shareholder value to a broader discussion about corpo-
rate mission and purpose.
“Corporate volunteering has been around a long time,” says Carmen
Perez, senior director of data insights at Chief Executives for Corporate
Purpose (CECP). “What’s changing is that companies are increasingly
empowering employees’ choice in their service opportunities. Em-
ployees themselves are driving this change; they are speaking up
about issues that are crucial to them, and companies are listening.”
Deloitte, the global professional services organization, and
entities like CECP are showing how employee-driven volunteerismopportunities in urban areas of the country. In
the U.S., where college-educated workers are
in high demand and only one in four students
is prepared to enter institutions of higher
learning, Deloitte is committed to helping
students overcome the obstacles they face on
the path to college. Through its RightStep ini-
tiative, Deloitte is mobilizing 10,000 Deloitte
professionals as volunteers and targeting De-
loitte’s resources, both financial and pro bono
support, to impact 500,000 under-resourced
students.
“Increasingly, people want to make a
positive contribution to society and they want
to work for employers that have a purpose
beyond profit,” says Deloitte Global CEO Punit
Renjen. “At Deloitte, we encourage our profes-
sionals to pursue their volunteer passions and
to apply their skills to solving tough societal
challenges impacting their communities.
WorldClass and other volunteer opportunities
give our people a sense of pride and lend a
deeper meaning to their work.”
Initiatives of this kind are designed
for long-term involvement and impact.
Aligned with purpose, they’re not just
engaging employees—they’re also
allowing people to find true meaning
and fulfillment at work. ●Left: Youth and their mentors from
the Deloitte Children Care program
in Hubei Province, China.