By Aaron Hurst on
April 30, 2008 1:59 PM
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On Monday, Deloitte released their
study on the potential of Pro Bono as a corporate professional development
tool. The phone survey was of Fortune 500 HR managers and was conducted by a third
party using a robust sample. The results are really impressive and should help
us convince companies of the value of pro bono.
The headlines:
- 91% of Fortune 500 HR managers
agree that skills-based volunteering would add value to training and development
programs, particularly as it relates to fostering business and leadership
skills.
- Nearly 70% of their training and
development budgets are projected to remain flat or go down in the next year AND
all but 2% see pro bono as a lower cost solution.
Click here for the full report. This is powerful data in making the
case for the potential of corporate pro bono
programs.
By Aaron Hurst on
September 11, 2007 8:50 AM
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I recently interviewed David Casey, the Vice President of Diversity and Workplace Development at Wellpoint (a little known Fortune 50 company), about the potential for building the pro bono ethic in the HR profession. In his work with women and people of color at Wellpoint he noted that one of the most common complaints is that their work in the community (boards, pro bono service, former jobs at nonprofits, etc) is not considered in their advancement and development within the corporations.
There is clearly an opportunity here to both increase the number of people doing pro bono work and address this challenge for women and people of color by lobbying to have companies make pro bono work and board service a formal and measured part of professional development programs. Law firms have been doing this for years and have proven that it works. Learning and development leaders should reach out to the legal profession and learn from their success to help advance the development of their teams and their communities, and to make their companies employers of choice for women and people of color.
