Employer-Supported Volunteerism in Rural Worksites

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Workplace Health Saf
• Personal Author:
  Nothwehr, Faryle ; Rohlman, Diane
• Description:
  Background:
  
  Employer-supported volunteerism has the potential to benefit employees and ultimately have a positive business impact. Volunteerism has been linked to improved quality of life, reduced morbidity, and higher self-rated health. This study was designed to understand what small, rural worksites are doing with regard to volunteerism, and what their barriers are to such activities.
  
  Methods:
  
  An online survey was distributed to worksites utilizing the social network of a Resource, Conservation & Development Council, a rural nonprofit entity. Analyses included descriptive statistics, and for qualitative data, review and summary of common themes.
  
  Results:
  
  Thirty-eight worksites responded, representing a wide range of worksite types. Volunteer activities requiring less time and resources to organize were more commonly employed vs. group-based activities. Identified barriers included time, costs, small staffing numbers, perceived employee lack of interest, worksite policies, distance to volunteer sites, language barriers, and lack of awareness of opportunities.
  
  Conclusions:
  
  Despite a variety of challenges, some forms of employer-supported volunteerism seem feasible even in very small rural worksites. Worksite type, culture and leadership are likely to be determinants of the extent and nature of employer-supported volunteerism.
  
  Applications to practice:
  
  Strategies to encourage greater volunteerism need to be tailored to the interests and resources of each site. Occupational health nurses should consider incorporating some form of employee volunteerism activities within their health promotion programming as it is consistent with an overall strategy of enhancing employee well-being. This could lead to positive business impacts such as increased employee engagement, improved recruitment and retention, and improved productivity.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Article Charities Cross-Sectional Studies Humans Iowa Occupational Health Nursing Organizational Culture Rural Population Small Business Surveys And Questionnaires Volunteers

  More +
• Source:
  Workplace Health Saf. 67(10):512-519
• Pubmed ID:
  31366292
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC7029662
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  U19 OH008868/OH/NIOSH CDC HHS/United States
• Volume:
  67
• Issue:
  10
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:5787a3bf789d7e03832a6e528083fd1fd9d062c1c1c95890615a41d5ba24fb9e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/85251/cdc_85251_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 76.22 KB ]