Designing a Staff Volunteering Programme

A good staff volunteering programme is designed around three things: a cause your people actually care about, a format that fits real working lives, and a clear owner who keeps it running after the launch. Get those right and volunteering becomes a place where colleagues meet each other as people, not job titles.

I work with organisations in person on Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, and online with teams in Abu Dhabi, across the GCC and in Singapore, and the same three questions come up in every one of them.

I have watched many organisations in the UAE start with the opposite order. A date is chosen, a banner is printed, a photograph is taken, and six months later nobody remembers the day. The design steps below are the ones I return to when a company asks me how to build something that lasts.

Start with the purpose, not the activity

Before you think about beach clean-ups or packing boxes, write one sentence that answers this question: what do we want to be different for our people a year from now because this exists?

The answers I hear most often are honest and useful:

• We want teams that never work together to know each other.
• We want new joiners to feel part of something quickly.
• We want our values to show up in action, not only on a wall.
• We want to be a better neighbour to the community we operate in.

Each answer points to a different design. If connection across teams is the aim, you will mix departments deliberately. If community presence is the aim, you will choose one local partner and stay with them. Choose one main purpose. A programme that tries to serve five goals at once usually serves none of them well.

Ask your people before you choose a cause

The fastest way to lose interest is for leadership to announce a cause that staff had no part in choosing. Ask first. A short survey works, and a few small conversations work even better, because people tell you things in conversation that they will not type into a form.

Useful questions include:

• Which causes do you already give time to outside work?
• Would you prefer hands-on activity or sharing a professional skill?
• Which days and times are realistic for you?
• What would stop you from taking part?

That last question matters most. In a workforce as varied as Dubai's, the barriers are often practical: shift patterns, school runs, transport, physical ability, fasting during Ramadan, or simply not wanting to give up the only free weekend day. Design around those barriers and participation follows naturally.

Choosing the format of your volunteering programme

There is no single right format. Most organisations do well with a small menu, so that different people can find a way in. The common options are:

1. Team days. A whole team or mixed group spends a few hours together on one activity. Good for connection, simple to organise, easy to explain.
2. Skills-based volunteering. Staff offer what they are good at, such as finance, design, language or mentoring, to a community organisation. Slower to set up, and often the most meaningful for both sides.
3. Individual volunteering time. Each person has an allowance of paid time to give to a cause of their own choosing. Good for autonomy, weaker for team connection.
4. Micro-volunteering. Short tasks that can be done from a desk or in a lunch break. Useful for people whose schedules make everything else impossible.

If connection is your main purpose, give priority to the first two. Working side by side on something that has nothing to do with targets is one of the few settings where a junior analyst and a senior director can talk as equals.

Decide the policy details early

A programme without clear rules creates quiet resentment. People wonder whether volunteering counts as work, whether their manager really approves, and whether those who stay at their desks are being judged. Settle these points in writing before launch:

• Time. Is it paid working time, personal time, or a mixture? Say so plainly.
• Approval. Who signs off, and how much notice is needed?
• Voluntary means voluntary. Nobody should be pressured to take part, and nobody's review should suffer for declining.
• Safety and permissions. Check what your partner organisation requires and what local rules apply to volunteering and fundraising. In the UAE, work through licensed and recognised channels, and confirm the current requirements with your own compliance or legal team.
• Costs. Agree who pays for transport, materials and meals.

None of this is glamorous. It is, however, the part that decides whether managers release their people on the day.

Pick partners carefully and stay with them

The relationship with a community partner is the backbone of the whole design. A good partner tells you what they actually need. Sometimes that is forty pairs of hands on a Saturday. More often it is two people who can fix a spreadsheet, or a steady group who come every month.

When you speak with a potential partner, ask:

• What help is most useful to you, and what creates extra work for you?
• How many volunteers can you comfortably host at one time?
• What should our people know or learn before they arrive?
• How would you like to hear from us between visits?

Listen closely to the second half of the first question. Large one-off groups can cost a small organisation more in preparation than they give back. Returning to the same one or two partners over time is kinder to them and far more satisfying for your staff, who begin to see the results of their effort.

Give it an owner and a rhythm

Programmes fade when they belong to everyone and therefore to no one. Name one person or a small committee with time set aside for the role. Include people from different levels and departments, so the group does not become a project of one function alone.

Then set a rhythm that people can rely on. A modest calendar that actually happens beats an ambitious one that slips. Share dates well ahead, keep sign-up simple, and send a short reminder with practical details: what to wear, where to meet, how long it will last, who to call.

Leaders matter here too. When a senior person turns up in old trainers and carries boxes alongside everyone else, it says more than any internal announcement. When leaders only appear for the photograph, staff notice that as well.

Close each activity with a conversation

This is the step most often skipped, and it is the one I care about most. At the end of every activity, hold ten or fifteen minutes for people to sit together and talk. Three questions are enough:

• What did you notice today?
• What surprised you about the people you worked beside?
• What would you like to carry back into the office?

Volunteering opens people up. They have just seen colleagues be kind, practical, funny or unexpectedly skilled. If you send everyone straight home, that warmth evaporates by Monday. If you give it a few minutes of honest conversation, it becomes part of how the team relates to each other.

Measure what matters and keep it honest

Count the simple things: how many people took part, how many came back a second time, how many departments were represented. Then ask the more useful questions. Did people meet someone new? Would they recommend it to a colleague? What did your partner say was helpful, and what was not?

Share what you learn with staff, including what did not work. And be careful with publicity. A programme that exists mainly for social media posts is quickly recognised for what it is, both inside and outside the company.

Dr S Pujah works with teams in person on Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, and online across Abu Dhabi, the GCC and Singapore.

If you would like support in shaping volunteering so that it builds real connection among your people, and not only a day out of the office, I would be glad to help you think it through. You can explore the Unmute corporate wellness and staff CSR programmes to see how we work with organisations, and get in touch from there to begin the conversation.