Manulife backs employee community engagement efforts

Since establishing a strategy for corporate donation three years ago, Manulife Financial in Toronto has created a meaningful workplace by providing opportunities for employees to give back to their communities.

Sarah Saso, Manulife’s director of community relations, explains that the company’s strategy is about more than chequebook philanthropy, but encouraging employees to get involved.

By creating a working environment where volunteering and giving back to the community is encouraged and supported by the employer, Saso says people tend to be happier in their jobs and more likely to set an example for their colleagues.

To accomplish this, one of the charitable organizations Manulife has aligned itself with is Evergreen, a registered national charity whose mission is to bring communities and nature together for the benefit of both.

Manulife participates in Evergreen’s Common Grounds program which provides community organizations, municipalities and public land owners with the tools and resources to revitalize public spaces. A commitment to the environment has been one of Manulife’s principles since adopting a formal environmental policy more than a decade ago.

Saso describes the Common Grounds program as spreading the word in a grassroots way about the importance of protecting the natural environment.

For example, after a couple of hours of tree planting, Evergreen representatives would lead Manulife employees on nature walks through the areas they’ve been working to re-vitalize as a demonstration of the environmental contributions made as a result of their efforts.

James Rae, a systems designer at Manulife and an Evergreen volunteer since April 2005, says “it’s pretty cool” to see his employer get involved in the same charity he has been working with.

After reading up on environmental issues, Rae happened to catch a commercial for Evergreen and decided to visit their website to see how he could lend a hand. Before long, Rae attended his first tree-planting and hasn’t looked back since.

“I liked what I saw,” Rae says. “You talk to people and you learn more about what they’re doing and it just kept going.”

Today Rae is one of about 700 employees at Manulife who give back to their community, be it through Evergreen or another charitable program supported by their employer. Manulife employees are granted time off, with their manager’s permission, to participate in these programs.

When asked what he would say to others to encourage volunteerism among his peers, Rae said he’d rather lead by example.

Rae is more than willing to talk to people about his volunteer work and why he is personally involved, allowing others to make their own choices.

For more information, visit www.manulife.com or www.evergreen.ca.