State Street engages employees through philanthropy program

Citation

Jr, J.A.M. (2013), "State Street engages employees through philanthropy program", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 13 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-07-2013-0079

State Street engages employees through philanthropy program

Article Type: Rewards From: Strategic HR Review, Volume 13, Issue 1

Short case studies and research papers that demonstrate best practice in rewards

At State Street, we partner with institutional investors all over the world to provide comprehensive financial services, including investment management, investment research and trading, and investment servicing. We aim to create value for all of our stakeholders – our clients, shareholders, employees and communities. While value is often associated with financial returns, stakeholders are increasingly defining value in other ways. This is why we are constantly looking to improve and expand our corporate responsibility (CR) programs and integrate CR into everything we do.

Global Giving Campaign

In 2011, we launched an initiative to engage and unite our employees around the world to make a powerful impact toward a single cause. The Global Giving Campaign evolved from our longtime North American philanthropy efforts that we were unable to offer to employees globally. We knew that by starting our own giving effort, we had the opportunity to design, brand and operate a truly employee-driven campaign.

An advisory committee – including representatives from our offices in the North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and Asia-Pacific regions – came together to help execute the initiative. The committee determined that the Global Giving Campaign should be theme-based, addressing one pressing social issue.

The committee also decided that the primary purpose of the campaign should be employee engagement. Every attempt should be made to maximize employee participation in volunteer opportunities designed to increase their awareness of the designated social issue. The amount of money raised would be a secondary goal.

Finally, the committee advised that the campaign should commence on the same date every year (October 1) and that we stay with the same theme for a minimum of three years to obtain an accurate measure of its impact.

A global focus on education

Employees chose education as the focus of the campaign through a company-wide survey. Education accounts for only 2 percent of all humanitarian aid, but it is an issue that affects everyone. Whether our employees are interested in addressing poverty or developing job skills, they agree that education as it pertains to increasing opportunities is critical and will make a difference anywhere in the world. The survey also revealed that employees would welcome a campaign that offered them a choice to donate, volunteer or both.

The advisory committee decided that each global region should be empowered to define how best to make a positive impact on education and recommend a list of possible charitable partners. We also established a regional organizational structure that includes three chair people – one for North America, EMEA and Asia Pacific – who built out the campaign in their areas.

First year successes

The 2011 Inaugural Global Giving Campaign was a success on many levels. For the first time, we executed a truly global campaign. Response around the world demonstrated employees’ eagerness to participate and get involved. Employees in EMEA contributed more volunteer hours than in North America, and those in Asia Pacific contributed more money proportionally. Other successes include the following:

• In 2011, for this effort alone, our employees contributed $1.3 million in gifts and volunteered 7,500 hours with our campaign partners.

• The State Street Foundation provided a one-for-one match to employees’ financial donations and monetized the volunteer hours.

• A post campaign survey showed that 63 percent of respondents felt engaged as a result of participating in the campaign. Meanwhile, 59 percent stated that volunteer opportunities helped increase their engagement.

First year challenges

While results of the Global Giving Campaign’s first year were strong, we also faced challenges in the program’s implementation. To start, we did not realize how much work the planning phase was going to take. It took us two years to launch the campaign. Other logistical challenges included creating and supporting a central platform for all employees to make donations and record volunteer hours. Also, our Legal and Data Security groups had to invest significant time and effort to make sure that our charity partners met our stringent data security requirements, including up-front screening.

The global nature of the campaign also presented challenges, including providing materials in six languages and processing donations in multiple currencies. We had to introduce the concept of “global giving” to our employees in EMEA and Asia Pacific, who were not familiar with programs of this kind. Employees in these regions also preferred to make their donations in cash, which posed security issues around collecting and conforming to US regulatory requirements for handling employee cash donations. At the same time, there was not one universal payroll system that could limit payroll deductions to North America employees.

A model of success

Many of the initial challenges that we encountered were associated with the initial set-up of the campaign. Having resolved them in the first year, we were able to focus on improvements in 2012 to make the campaign an even greater success. Following are some of the results:

• In 2012, employee gifts increased to $1.5 million, with combined employee and company gifts totaling $3.5 million.

• Employees volunteered 17,000 hours during the campaign.

Senior leadership participation was important to campaign success, so senior leader sponsors were chosen for each region to build campaign awareness locally and serve as the primary regional spokesperson. We also revamped the giving website to make it easier for employees to use, and shortened the campaign season from six to four weeks.

During the 2012 campaign, we introduced a new tool to further engage employees – Collaborate, our internal social networking platform. With Collaborate, employees are able to share personal and office-wide stories about the campaign, highlighting some of the differences and similarities across regions. Our Corporate Citizenship team especially benefits from the use of this platform, as they are able to gain a better understanding of employees’ charitable inclinations and can further tailor programming to meet local needs.

Volunteer teams at the helm

Our Global Giving Campaign is managed by all-volunteer committees who oversee the campaign operations as well as build employee awareness, host fundraising events and organize community outreach projects. The campaign directs all volunteer and financial contributions, as well as the company gift, to 20 charitable organizations working in communities in all three of our operating regions. The organizations are chosen based on employee interest, proven impact on education and workforce development issues in their locale, and ability to accept volunteer donations.

The Global Giving Campaign’s volunteer-based committees provide participants with opportunities to expand their internal networks and develop skills. The global deployment of Collaborate enhanced employees’ ability to connect with each other across departments and time zones. The structure also presents a challenge for the campaign, however, because of constant work demands and tightening resources. We are currently assessing how to further alleviate the administrative burden on committees through solutions such as payroll deduction and encouraging more online giving.

Global giving and engagement

Our Global Giving Campaign creates value on multiple levels. We know that the campaign makes a powerful impact in our communities, and it also leads to greater employee engagement. Since the campaign began, more employees around the world are volunteering in their local communities year round. In addition, our 2012 employee engagement survey indicated that 71 percent of employees involved in Corporate Citizenship activities show a stronger commitment to State Street.

The success of the campaign in its first two years would not have been possible without the dedication of our employees, who continually demonstrate a remarkable capacity and willingness to give back to their communities. We value their commitment, and will continue to seek ways to engage and unite them around their passions.

Starting in 2013, reporting on our employee philanthropy will be more comprehensive and include contributions made through our employee matching gift program and volunteer efforts. Together, they tell the story of State Street’s employee involvement and support of our communities around the world. Additionally, the program will continue to evolve its use of technology to improve the employee giving experience and data reporting that demonstrates the impact of employee engagement in our communities worldwide.

Joseph A. McGrail Jr

About the author

Joseph A. McGrail Jr is Vice President of the State Street Corporation and vice president of the State Street Foundation, Inc. His primary role is managing the Foundation’s strategic programs worldwide, including oversight of social investments (grants), disaster relief, matching gifts and more. He has a broad range of corporate citizenship management, financial services, legal, government relations, community development, and public service experience. He first joined State Street in 1998 as an assistant vice president and advanced to vice president in 2000. Prior to joining State Street, he served as a community planner in the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development and as an attorney for the City of Boston’s Collector-Treasurer and CFO. He earned a BA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a JD from Suffolk University Law School. Joseph A. McGrail Jr can be contacted at: mailto:jamcgrail@statestreet.com