By Simon Doyle
The last thing on the mind of Gordon Pearson was that he would be handed a new computer network.
As corporate relations director for the Ottawa Food Bank, Pearson had asked Cognos Inc., a software development company, to estimate the cost of a new computer system. For too long staff had been taking down food orders into a ramshackle system of loose papers.
But instead of the needs-assessment report Pearson had expected, Cognos called him out to their head office in the fall of 2001 and said it would provide the Food Bank with a new network, including six used computers and the technical support to install it. “It went so far beyond what we had even hoped for,” Pearson says.
It was not the end of Cognos’ work with the Food Bank. The $1-billion company, which has been called a developer of “James Bond-style” computer software, went on to write an inventory database for the Food Bank, which can do powerful statistical analysis. “We’ve now found through our contacts in the food bank world, through the association with food banks nationally, that this is a state-of-the -art system,” Pearson says. “No one else has anything this sophisticated.”
In a competitive business world where corporate social responsibility is increasingly seen as a necessary part of annual reports, more and more large companies are catching onto the idea of volunteering their paid staff to the community. They are writing volunteerism into their policies, giving employees one or more paid volunteer days per year, returning benefits to the company, staff and the community.
A report released in March 2004 by Volunteer Canada listed these benefits. They include strengthening client and employer loyalty, improving community life and economic development, motivating staff and developing their skills, improving staff retention and teamwork, and building up brand recognition and investor confidence.
Business watchdog group Corporate Knights, which releases an annual list of the top 50 socially responsible companies in Canada, says a lot of businesses don’t tackle community and charity work effectively. Many tend to “equate being well-rounded only with charitable donations,” says its 2004 report. Still, it adds that many companies are beginning to realize the value of making “substantial” and not just “public relations” contributions to their communities.
In a 2000 survey, half of Canadian volunteers reported receiving support from employers, including taking time off and using equipment or facilities.
Ottawa businesses are volunteering staff at fundraisers like the Mayor’s Walk for Volunteerism and OttawaReads, a program that sees employees from firms such as Sun Life Financial and Bell Canada take an hour a week to read to kindergarten and Grade 1 students.
Twenty-four workplaces volunteered their staff at the United Way’s annual Day of Caring last month. Federal government employees have also led some of the most successful workplace fundraising campaigns, raising $24 million nationally and $13.5 million for the Ottawa region in 2003, according to the United Way.
Corporate Knights released its first national rankings in 2002, and Cognos has made the list every year. Cognos has its own employee-run volunteer committee, which meets once a month to talk about new volunteer ideas and review the effectiveness of past projects.
Employees may volunteer a flexible number of hours per month, which they work out with their managers. Cognos volunteers now put 700 to 1,000 work hours into the community per year, including annual campaigns for the United Way and a holiday snowsuit fund. The committee is planning a wine auction for the Food Bank next spring.
Cognos continues to maintain the computer system and talks regularly to Pearson about new projects. Company volunteers have set up a computer-controlled dispatch system to track deliveries and pick ups.
“We call them when we think we need them, and if they think of something, they call us,” Pearson says.
“It’s so informal we all feel like we’re all part of the same family…I have no hesitation with just picking up the phone and calling one of them and asking them a question.”