Corporate Volunteering as a Current Phenomenon in Corporate Social Responsibility to Support the Career Development and Professional Skills of Employees during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of the Slovak Republic

Abstract

This paper aims to determine the association between the frequency of participation in corporate volunteering activities as a part of corporate social responsibility and career growth, developing a relationship with colleagues, and developing new experiences and skills in the workplace using correspondence analysis. The total sample consists of 385 respondents. These data were obtained using an online questionnaire during the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that employees, who frequently participate in corporate volunteering activities, have better possibilities for career growth. In addition, they think that corporate volunteering contributes to better relationships among colleagues in the workplace. Finally, the results demonstrate that developing work experience and skills is associated with corporate volunteering. The main benefits of volunteering include gaining a good feeling from the help provided and increasing self-confidence in professional life. Employees prefer outdoor activities to help the environment within the green policy of many companies in the COVID-19 period.

1. Introduction

Corporate volunteering is a new phenomenon as a benefit for employees working at work. Many businesses are aware of their position by looking at the public. This research focuses on the importance of corporate volunteering as a potential benefit for employees and its main motivators for volunteering. This study is one of the pilots for the application of corporate volunteering for companies in the Central European area. We hope that the findings will provide a new perspective for companies that do not use corporate volunteering. The results of the paper represent a starting point for achieving a synergistic effect in human resource management, especially during a pandemic. In addition, these findings serve as a potential discussion and comparison with other relevant articles from other parts of the world for further controversy and suggestions. One of the key motivations for qualitative research on the association of corporate volunteering with human resource development is a scientific gap based on previous research focusing on individual interviews with respondents about the benefits of corporate volunteering without hypothesis testing using appropriate statistical tools. Moreover, the main motive is to contribute to the development of current knowledge from previous research on the benefits of corporate volunteering for employees and companies themselves. This article provides new knowledge about Slovak corporate volunteering as one of the pilot studies in the Central European area. Corporate volunteering is very widespread, especially in the western countries of the European Union. However, many businesses in Eastern Europe are gradually realizing the benefits for employees, businesses, non-profit organizations, communities, and civil society. We aim to find an association between the frequency of participation in corporate volunteer activities for career growth, the improvement of working relationships in the workplace, and the development of new experiences and skills. Many employees are overwhelmed with many responsibilities with minimal social contact in the workplace, especially during pandemics, because companies prefer to work from home. The results show that corporate volunteering is slowly becoming a new phenomenon, especially for employees who do not avoid providing their physical and mental competencies to others without any financial reward. Many respondents prefer to work outdoors, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many companies do not offer corporate volunteering at all as a form of benefit for improving working relationships in a relaxed working atmosphere. On the other hand, some respondents reject volunteering because they are not willing to work outside working hours without financial reward. Nevertheless, this research reveals that corporate volunteering moderately affects career growth. We believe that employee volunteering represents an opportunity to support creative and everyday activities while increasing the efficiency of human resources management and the company itself.

Our research focuses on employees in Slovak companies in all sectors. The overall sample consists of employees with different experiences in corporate volunteering in Slovakia. Corporate volunteering is a new phenomenon within corporate social responsibility in Slovak companies. The results show that many employees with a rare experience in corporate volunteering are enthusiastic about corporate volunteering. Respondents think that corporate volunteering positively impacts career building, the development of work experience, and working relationships in the workplace. In addition, this research maps the current situation of corporate volunteering during the global COVID-19 pandemic, which had obvious implications for employment relations among employees for eliminating the spread of coronavirus infection through the home office and other measures.

2. Literature Review

Jones (2016) [1] claims that many companies offer corporate volunteering programs for developing job-related skills using volunteerism. Peloza and Hassay (2006) [2] classify corporate volunteering as extra-organizational, inter-organizational, and intra-organizational volunteerism. Extra-organizational volunteerism without employee involvement. Inter-organization volunteerism represents passive support to employees for volunteering activities. Intra-organizational volunteerism is a proactive approach to developing strategic volunteering activities. Plewa et al. (2015) [3] demonstrate that corporate volunteering is an effective tool for engaging initiative. Their research investigates the influence of corporate volunteering on consumer behavior in Australia. The results recommend including corporate volunteering in the strategic objectives in the broader CSR program. Lor-Serrano and Esteban-Salvador (2021) [4] analyze corporate volunteerism as a part of corporate social responsibility. Only five of all the sectors offer data on volunteering, such as electricity and gas, construction, banks and savings banks, electronics, and software and investment companies. The data shows that almost 90% of all volunteers represent employees in banks and saving banks compared to other sectors. These results reveal that the financial sector plays a significant role in Spanish volunteerism. One of the key types of volunteering for employees in the bank sector is financial education, social volunteering, and educational volunteering. On the other hand, employees do not prefer civil protection, social-health volunteering, international cooperation volunteer for development, community volunteering, and local volunteering. Mañas-Viniegra (2018) [5] found out that 45.71% of companies listed on IBEX 35 support volunteering activities in social, educational, and environmental areas. Boštjančič et al. (2018) [6] demonstrate that 62% of 274 employees participate in volunteer activities from 15 Slovenian companies. Moreover, their research reveals that corporate volunteering correlates with positive psychological outcomes at the individual and organizational levels. The employees who participate in volunteering activities have higher autonomy and support from their managers. De Gilder et al. (2005) [7] explain that employee volunteering is good for employee motivation and company reputation.

Basil et al. (2011) [8] claim that employee volunteerism as a part of corporate social responsibility helps companies, employees, and others. The research shows that Canadian companies offer days off without pay or adjusting work schedules (more than 70%). On the other side, only 29% of companies offer days off with pay. These benefits enhance build employee morale. Moreover, corporate volunteerism builds a public image. Al Kerdawy (2019) [9] found out that green human resource management and corporate support for employee volunteering positively impact corporate social responsibility based on 326 managers from 30 companies listed on the Egyptian stock exchange using the structural equation model. McCallum et al. (2013) [10] describe that employee skill-based volunteerism should support company reputation, cost reduction, business strategy, and partnerships. Peterson (2004) [11] proves that volunteerism is an effective tool for developing and enhancing job-related skills. The female employees prefer more volunteering activities than male employees. Haski-Leventhal et al. (2019) [12] find out that participation in corporate volunteering positively impacts job satisfaction and affective commitment. Cláudia Nave and do Paço (2013) [13] explain that communication skills, adapting, negotiating, teamwork, confidence, creativity, leadership, and problem-solving skills are key benefits for employees in companies.

Licandro (2017) [14] analyzed the relationship between corporate volunteerism and corporate social responsibility based on a questionnaire in 96 companies. The results show that corporate volunteering is associated with corporate social responsibility in managing the relationships between the company and employees. Činčalová and Veronika (2020) [15] investigate the relationship between corporate social responsibility and some factors such as firm age, firm size, firm performance, and gender diversity of the board. The research shows that firm size and performance are statistically significant factors influencing corporate social responsibility practice compared to firm age and gender diversity in boards in the Czech Republic. Sanchez-Hernandez and Grayson (2012) [16] analyze internal marketing as a powerful tool for participating employees in corporate responsibility. On the other hand, Lee (2011) [17] explains that the managerial challenge is the relevant support of corporate volunteering programs with an accent on employee experiences. Booth et al. (2009) [18] find out that benefits from employer-supported volunteering are associated with hours of volunteering activities.

Oware and Mallikarjunappa (2021) [19] examine how employee volunteering contributes to corporate financial performance through canonical correlation analysis, panel regression, and panel probit regression in Stata 15.0. This research relies on 80 Indian companies in the stock market from 2010 to 2017. Financial performance includes return on equity, return on assets, and stock price return. On the other hand, employee volunteering is measured in two ways as a binary variable and measurement criteria, according to Cycyota et al. (2016) [20]. Khasanzyanova (2017) [21] explains that volunteering is one of the tools for developing fine skills in cooperation with non-governmental organizations. In other words, volunteering is added value in building a professional career. This research proves the benefits of personal and professional development. The total sample consists of 155 volunteer students. The results show that students acquire various cross-sectional skills more efficiently than through academic education. Caligiuri et al. (2013) [22] point out that many companies create various corporate volunteer programs. However, few evaluate the benefits flowing from them to the target audience. The main goal of the research was to determine the impact of volunteering supported by the company on employees, non-governmental organizations, and business units. Teague and Peterson (2011) [23] found that personal benefits as motivating factors were stronger than corporate volunteering support.

Peloza et al. (2009) [24] argue that employee volunteering is an effective strategy for increasing the efficiency of corporate philanthropy. This research builds on previous research on employee volunteering. The results show that volunteer opportunities with selfish and civic motives are effective. However, an altruistic motive is not significant. Kolnhofer Derecskei and Nagy (2020) [25] analyze employee volunteering, focusing on employees, the company, and its activities within socially responsible businesses and external organizations using a third-party model. Kolnhofer Derecskei and Nagy (2020) [25] demonstrate that employee volunteering does not differ based on demographic distribution, but the intensity of volunteering is influenced by corporate activities. Brockner et al. (2014) [26] explain the relationship between the motives arising from employee participation in corporate volunteerism (corporate-sponsored volunteerism) and their organizational commitment. The results show that corporate volunteering is positively associated with organizational commitment. Houghton et al. (2009) [27] found that employees are highly likely to have an uncompromising attitude toward legal and ethical values based on employee volunteering as part of corporate social responsibility. Other findings show that corporate volunteering indicates a strong connection with a positive organizational identity without following important rules. In other words, Houghton et al. (2009) [27] state that internal compliance rules and external conduct of corporate social responsibility are very complicated.

3. Methodology

Figure 1 demonstrates six fundamental steps such as determining sample size, determining research hypothesis, drafting a scientific questionnaire, modifying the database by unifying the categories of the categorical variables to meet the minimum frequency, analyzing the relationship between quantitative variables using correspondence analysis, and interpreting the results. All steps are explained in the individual sections of the article.

Sample. The primary aim is to find the association between career growth, relationships with colleagues in the workplace, developing work experience and skills, and frequency of participation in corporate volunteering activities.

Table 1. Sample.

			Education			Total
			Basic Education	Secondary Education	Higher Education
Gender	Male	Count	1	42	126	169
		% within gender	0.6	24.9	74.6	100.0
		% within education	50.0	44.7	43.6	43.9
		% of Total	0.3	10.9	32.7	43.9
	Female	Count	1	52	163	216
		% within gender	0.5	24.1	75.5	100.0
		% within education	50.0	55.3	56.4	56.1
		% of Total	0.3	13.5	42.3	56.1
Total		Count	2	94	289	385
		% within gender	0.5	24.4	75.1	100.0
		% within education	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
		% of Total	0.5	24.4	75.1	100.0

shows the first sample broken down by gender and education. The total sample consists of 385 respondents. As can be seen, the first sample consists of women with a university degree (163 respondents being 42.3% of all). In addition, more than 75% of respondents have at least a bachelor’s degree. On the other hand, less than 1% of respondents have a basic education.

Categorical variables. 

Table 2. Summary.

Dimension	Singular Value	Inertia	Chi-Square	Sig.	Proportion of Inertia		Confidence Singular Value
					Accounted for	Cumulative	Standard Deviation	Correlation
								2
1	0.287	0.082			0.973	0.973	0.046	0.046
2	0.048	0.002			0.027	1.000	0.050
Total		0.085	32.592	0.000	1.000	1.000

shows the part of the questions from the online questionnaire on corporate volunteering in Slovakia from 14 April 2021 to 18 May 2021, used to achieve our goal with all categories of categorical variables. In addition, Table 2 demonstrates elementary frequency information with the relative representation of each category in the total sample and relative statistical indicators such as mode and median. As can be seen, all indicators represent categorical variables broken down into nominal or ordinal variables. All these data from respondents are input for qualitative research using correspondence analysis.

Table A1. Dataset summary.

No.	Variable	Variable Type	Category		Frequency	%	Missing	Mode	Median
1.	What is your gender?	nominal variable	0 1	male female	169 216	43.9 56.1	0	1	-
2.	What is your highest level of education?	nominal variable	0 1 2	basic education secondary education university education	2 94 289	0.5 24.4 75.1	0	2	-
3.	What is your job status?	nominal variable	1 2 3 4 5	businessman (missing) ordinary employee middle management senior management other (missing)	33 159 57 107 29	8.6 41.3 14.8 27.8 7.5	62	2	-
4.	How often do you participate in volunteer activities within corporate volunteering?	ordinal variable	0 1 2	seldom sometimes often	204 92 89	53.0 23.9 23.1	0	0	0
5.	Do you think corporate volunteering supports career growth?	ordinal variable	1 2 3	definitely/rather not neither yes nor no definitely/rather yes	60 150 210	15.6 29.9 54.5	0	3	3
6.	Do you think that corporate volunteering supports the development of new skills and abilities?	ordinal variable	1 2 3	definitely/rather not neither yes nor no definitely/rather yes	22 92 271	5.7 23.9 70.4	0	3	3
7.	Do you think that corporate volunteering improves working relationships in the workplace?	ordinal variable	1 2 3	definitely/rather not neither yes nor no definitely/rather yes	34 149 202	8.8 38.7 52.5	0	3	3
8.	What barriers prevent you from participating in corporate volunteering?	nominal variable	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10	weak motivation time busy lack of information on volunteering lack of experience no interest negative attitude to volunteering non-interesting volunteering activities workload other (missing) none	25 8 80 31 22 7 18 168 12 14	6.5 2.1 20.8 8.1 5.7 1.8 4.7 43.6 3.1 3.6	12	8	-
9.	What is the biggest advantage of corporate volunteering?	nominal variable	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15	new work environment strengthening teamwork conflict resolution developing communication skills developing leadership skills self-realization improving personal life facilitating time management improving physical and mental health improving the ability to adapt improving the skills and abilities in work increasing loyalty to the company other (missing) no reply (missing) none	28 121 7 15 4 37 33 6 32 9 31 27 1 7 27	7.3 31.4 1.8 3.9 1.0 9.6 8.6 1.6 8.3 2.3 8.1 7.0 0.3 1.8 7.0		2	-
10.	What is the biggest disadvantage of corporate volunteering?	nominal variable	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9	different work non-interesting volunteering activities teamwork new working team new working environment activity without reward activity without disadvantages other (missing) no reply (missing)	30 53 4 14 16 46 199 9 14	7.8 13.8 1.0 3.6 4.2 11.9 51.7 2.3 3.6	23	7	7
11.	What is your top priority in corporate volunteering?	nominal variable	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8	to support professional development to support efficiency to meet management interests to build a corporate brand to alleviate social problems other (missing) no reply (missing) none	59 141 9 39 98 10 24 5	15.3 36.6 2.3 10.1 25.5 2.6 6.2 1.3	34	2	-

(see Appendix A) provides comprehensive and detailed information about the sample.

Hypothesis. The aim is to evaluate hypotheses dealing with the association between the frequency of participation in corporate volunteering activities and career growth, the development of working relationships, and the development of new experiences and skills.

Hypotheses 1 (H1).

There is a statistically significant dependence between career growth and the frequency of participation in corporate volunteering activities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hypotheses 2 (H2).

There is a statistically significant dependence between the quality of working relationships and the frequency of participation in corporate volunteering activities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hypotheses 3 (H3).

There is a statistically significant dependence between the development of new skills and the frequency of participation in corporate volunteering activities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Method. The corresponding analysis is a statistical technique analyzing the structure of the mutual dependence of two or more qualitative variables based on the contingency table. The key role of corresponding analysis is to explore the impact of selected categories, mutual similarity, and the associator to other categories. It is a suitable statistical technique for analyzing categorical variables. The method is applied by Factor et al. (2010) [28], Doey and Kurta (2011) [29], Hanada (2018) [30], Ali et al. (2018) [31], Kim et al. (2016) [32] and Bieliński et al. (2020) [33]. We perform correspondence analysis using the statistical-analytical program IBM SPSS 25 based on data from an online questionnaire. The questionnaire has a wide range of data, but we use a subset of this data to present statistically significant associations. The main output of the correspondence analysis is a map that visually explains the association between the categories examined. However, the correspondence analysis is relevant provided that the association is statistically significant based on the chi-square test. Correspondence analysis, as one of the few analyses, does not require the assumption of a normal distribution. On the other hand, the assumptions of the correspondence analysis include the homogeneity of variance for row and column variables. Second, the analysis assumes that the data is discrete. Third, the data should contain at least three categories of categorical variables. Finally, all frequencies in the contingency table must be non-negative.

4. Results

The results show that we reject the null hypothesis of independence between the frequency of participation in corporate volunteering activities and career growth. In other words, Table 2 shows that there is a statistically significant association (p < 0.001). As can be seen, the results are presented for two dimensions, because both categorical variables have the same number of potential categories. Inertia is calculated based on a singular value expressing the scatter of points in each dimension. The proportion of Inertia expresses the relative share of a given dimension. We find that the first dimension explains almost 98% of the variability of the associations in the contingency table. In other words, if we decide to sketch the values on a two-dimensional map, we capture almost 98% of the variability of the original points.

Similarly,

Table 3. Summary.

Dimension	Singular Value	Inertia	Chi-Square	Sig.	Proportion of Inertia		Confidence Singular Value
					Accounted for	Cumulative	Standard Deviation	Correlation
								2
1	0.527	0.278			1.000	1.000	0.041	0.037
2	0.007	0.000			0.000	1.000	0.040
Total		0.278	107.131	0.000	1.000	1.000

shows that we reject the null hypothesis of independence between categorical variables. We find that the development of working relationships between colleagues in the workplace is statistically significantly associated with the frequency of participation in corporate volunteering activities based on chi-square (p < 0.001). In addition, Table 3 shows that the first dimension explains 100% of the relationship variability in the contingency table.

Finally,

Table 4. Summary.

Dimension	Singular Value	Inertia	Chi-Square	Sig.	Proportion of Inertia		Confidence Singular Value
					Accounted for	Cumulative	Standard Deviation	Correlation
								2
1	0.321	0.103			0.998	0.998	0.039	0.038
2	0.014	0.000			0.002	1.000	0.047
Total		0.103	39.750	0.000	1.000	1.000

reveals that the frequency of participation in corporate volunteering activities is associated with developing skills and experience based on the chi-square test (p < 0.001).

Table 5. Symmetric Measures.

	Gamma	Asymptotic Standard Error a	Approximate T b	Approximate Significance	Effect Size
(a)→	0.368	0.072	5.022	0.000	moderate
(b)→	0.716	0.052	11.889	0.000	strong
(c)→	0.565	0.075	6.956	0.000	relatively strong

^a Not assuming the null hypothesis. ^b Using the asymptotic standard error assuming the null hypothesis.

shows that there is a positive association between the categorical variables in all hypotheses examined. As can be seen in Table 5a, the association between the frequency of participation in corporate volunteering activities and career-building is moderately strong based on the Gamma according to [34]. However, we find a strong association between the frequency of participation in corporate volunteering activities as part of corporate social responsibility and developing relationships with colleagues in the workplace (see Table 5b). On the other hand, the association between the frequency of participation in corporate volunteering activities and developing work experience and skills through corporate volunteering is a strong relationship (see Table 5c). In other words, employees who often participate in volunteer activities believe in a positive impact on career development, improving the relationship between colleagues in the workplace, and gaining new experience and skills.

Figure 2 reveals the final correspondence maps. We find that there is an association between the frequency of participation in corporate volunteering and career growth (see Figure 2a). This result is evident, especially for those employees who often participate in volunteer activities, unlike others. Figure 2b shows that those, who have more often participated in corporate volunteering activities, believe in an improvement in relationships between colleagues in the workplace. On the other hand, respondents without participating in corporate volunteering, have no regular experience with the impact of volunteering on the development of working relationships. We find that those employees, who have more often participated in corporate volunteering activities, monitor the impact on the development of work experience and skills. Figure 2c indicates that respondents, who participate in corporate volunteering, think that volunteering improves new abilities and skills. However, we find that respondents with lower participation in corporate volunteering believe that volunteering develops their abilities and skills more compared to employees with a higher frequency of volunteering as part of a modern benefit from social responsibility relationships in human resource management. On the other hand, employees who have seldom participated are hesitant about the impact of corporate volunteering on the development of professional experience and skills.

Career growth.

Table 6. Overview Row Points ^a.

How Often Do You Participate in Volunteer Activities within Corporate Volunteering?	Mass	Score in Dimension		Inertia	Contribution
		1	2		Of Point to Inertia of Dimension		Of Dimension to Inertia of Point
					1	2	1	2	Total
Seldom	0.530	−0.468	0.077	0.034	0.405	0.065	0.996	0.004	1.000
Sometimes	0.239	0.242	−0.379	0.006	0.049	0.712	0.709	0.291	1.000
Often	0.231	0.823	0.215	0.045	0.546	0.223	0.989	0.011	1.000
Active total	1.000			0.085	1.000	1.000

Note: ^a Symmetrical normalization.

demonstrates important statistical data for sketching a correspondence map. Mass expresses the division of selected categories (seldom, sometimes, often). The score in Dimension is represented by the coordinates of selected line categories for sketching into the correspondence map. Inertia includes line insertions (scattering rate of selected categories). In addition, the Contribution of Point to Inertia of Point demonstrates the greatest influence on the orientation of the first axis category—often (less than 55%) and seldom (more than 40%). These two categories determine 95% of the orientation of the first axis. On the other hand, the orientation of the second axis is influenced by the category—sometimes (more than 70%). Finally, the Contribution of Dimension to Inertia of Point demonstrates the correlation of line profits with the selected axis. Total enhances the display quality with two axes. The results show that the display quality of the selected line variable categories is very good (equal to 1).

Table 7. Overview Column Points ^a.

Do You Think Corporate Volunteering Supports Career Growth?	Mass	Score in Dimension		Inertia	Contribution
		1	2		Of Point to Inertia of Dimension		Of Dimension to Inertia of Point
					1	2	1	2	Total
Definitely/rather not	0.156	−0.297	−0.496	0.006	0.048	0.796	0.681	0.319	1.000
Neither yes nor no	0.299	−0.710	0.168	0.044	0.525	0.176	0.991	0.009	1.000
Definitely/rather yes	0.545	0.474	0.049	0.035	0.427	0.028	0.998	0.002	1.000
Active Total	1.000			0.085	1.000	1.000

Note: ^a Symmetrical normalization.

shows the same detailed data as for line categories. The results show that the first axis is influenced by the categories—neither yes nor no (less than 53%) and definitely/rather yes (less than 43%). It is obvious that the orientation of the second axis is influenced by the category—definitely/rather not (almost 80%). The display quality is very good (equal to 1).

Development of working relationships with colleagues.

Table 8. Overview Row Points ^a.

How Often Do You Participate in Volunteer Activities within Corporate Volunteering?	Mass	Score in Dimension		Inertia	Contribution
		1	2		Of Point to Inertia of Dimension		Of Dimension to Inertia of Point
					1	2	1	2	Total
Seldom	0.530	−0.665	0.019	0.124	0.444	0.026	1.000	0.000	1.000
Sometimes	0.239	0.504	−0.138	0.032	0.115	0.646	0.999	0.001	1.000
Often	0.231	1.003	0.100	0.123	0.441	0.328	1.000	0.000	1.000
Active total	1.000			0.278	1.000	1.000

Note: ^a Symmetrical normalization.

contains important statistical data for sketching the correspondence map. Mass expresses the relative representation of the categories of the ordinal variable as seldom, sometimes, and often. Fifty-three percent of respondents have seldom participated in corporate volunteering for personal or other reasons. In most cases, many Slovak companies do not provide corporate volunteering as a potential benefit for their employees. The score in the Dimension represents the coordinates for sketching a correspondence map. We find that the categories, seldom and often, have the greatest influence on the orientation of the first axis (both up to 45%). In other words, the orientation of the first axis is determined by almost 90% using these two categories. On the other hand, the second axis is primarily determined by the category sometimes (more than 60%). The total value of Dimension to Inertia of Point explains that the display quality of the selected line categorical variables is very good (equal to 1).

Table 9. Overview Column Points ^a.

Do You Think that Corporate Volunteering Improves Working Relationships in the Workplace?	Mass	Score in Dimension		Inertia	Contribution
		1	2		Of Point to Inertia of Dimension		Of Dimension to Inertia of Point
					1	2	1	2	Total
Definitely/rather not	0.088	−0.590	−0.261	0.016	0.058	0.853	0.997	0.003	1.000
Neither yes nor no	0.387	−0.800	0.051	0.131	0.469	0.144	1.000	0.000	1.000
Definitely/rather yes	0.525	0.689	0.006	0.131	0.472	0.003	1.000	0.000	1.000
Active Total	1.000			0.278	1.000	1.000

Note: ^a Symmetrical normalization.

shows the same statistical indicators as the previous table. The results show that the first axis is determined by two categories as definitely yes (up to 50%) and neither yes nor no (up to 47%). These two categories determine more than 95%. On the other hand, the category definitely/rather not determines the second axis (more than 85%). The correspondence analysis is well displayed according to the total value of Dimensions to Inertia of Point (equal to 1).

Development of new skills and abilities. Similarly,

Table 10. Overview Row Points ^a.

How Often Do You Participate in Volunteer Activities within Corporate Volunteering?	Mass	Score in Dimension		Inertia	Contribution
		1	2		Of Point to Inertia of Dimension		Of Dimension to Inertia of Point
					1	2	1	2	Total
Seldom	0.530	−0.489	0.044	0.041	0.395	0.075	1.000	0.000	1.000
Sometimes	0.239	0.226	−0.204	0.004	0.038	0.723	0.967	0.033	1.000
Often	0.231	0.887	0.109	0.058	0.567	0.202	0.999	0.001	1.000
Active Total	1.000			0.103	1.000	1.000

Note: ^a Symmetrical normalization.

and

Table 11. Overview Column Points ^a.

Do You Think that Corporate Volunteering Supports the Development of New Skills and Abilities?	Mass	Score in Dimension		Inertia	Contribution
		1	2		Of Point to Inertia of Dimension		Of Dimension to Inertia of Point
					1	2	1	2	Total
Definitely/rather not	0.057	−0.627	−0.458	0.007	0.070	0.873	0.978	0.022	1.000
Neither yes nor no	0.239	−0.926	0.084	0.066	0.638	0.123	1.000	0.000	1.000
Definitely/rather yes	0.704	0.365	0.009	0.030	0.292	0.004	1.000	0.000	1.000
Active Total	1.000			0.103	1.000	1.000

Note: ^a Symmetrical normalization.

contain important statistical data for sketching the correspondence map. The score in the Dimension represents the coordinates for sketching a correspondence map. We find that the categories, seldom and often, have the greatest influence on the orientation of the first axis (more than 90%). In other words, the orientation of the first axis is determined by almost 90% using these two categories. On the other hand, the second axis is primarily determined by the category sometimes (more than 70%). The total value of Dimension to Inertia of Point explains that the display quality of the selected line categorical variables is very good (it is equal to 1).

Table 11 shows the same statistical indicators as the previous table. The results show that the first axis is determined by neither yes nor no (up to 65%). On the other hand, the category definitely/rather not determines the second axis (more than 85%). The correspondence analysis is well displayed according to the total value of Dimensions to Inertia of Point (equal to 1).

Figure 3 shows that more than half of the respondents consider getting a good feeling from the work provided to be the biggest benefit of corporate volunteering compared to other benefits. On the other hand, some respondents also see an increase in self-confidence as one of the other key benefits for the development of personal and professional life. In addition, corporate volunteering improves managerial, communication, and other skills. In other words, the results show that employees prefer the work to feel good rather than the development of work competencies. Skills development is a secondary benefit of volunteering activities.

Figure 4 demonstrates that many respondents consider nature conservation to be one of the key aspects of the current phenomenon in ensuring sustainable business development. Most respondents are willing to help with tree planting along with gardening. Cleaning nature is one of the most common potential activities to emphasize the green thinking of the company. Other respondents prefer simple maintenance work such as painting benches, reconstruction of neglected cultural monuments, and other various maintenance activities. As can be seen, many respondents prefer manual work to administrative work, workshop assistance, and education. Finally, only six respondents do not prefer any of the volunteering activities.

5. Discussion

This study contributes to the development of current theoretical and empirical knowledge explaining the benefits of volunteering, especially for employees, businesses, NGOs, and civil society. Even though corporate volunteering is not a frequently used way to motivate and support skills in Slovakia, the results show the enormous potential of volunteering for employees during working hours for internal and external benefits. We find that employees are primarily interested in manual activities outdoors to achieve a good feeling from the work done. Many of them are aware of the need for green policies such as environmental protection, tree planting, and cleaning the surrounding greenery. These results were affected by the period of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the most important authors focusing on research on employee volunteering are Houghton et al. (2009) [27], Peloza et al. (2009) [24], Runte et al. (2010) [35], Teague and Peterson (2011) [23], Brockner et al. (2014) [26], Cycyota et al. (2016) [20], Khasanzyanova (2017) [21], Gordon and Gordon (2017) [36], Kolnhofer Derecskei and Nagy (2020) [25], and Oware and Mallikarjunappa (2021) [19]. Cycyota et al. (2016) [20] argue that employee volunteering as part of a corporate social responsibility improves employee satisfaction and retention. The importance of employee volunteering lies in internal and external benefits. One of the basic internal benefits is an increase in employee motivation, skills development, and employee satisfaction. External benefits include reputation, company performance, and stakeholder support. Khasanzyanova (2017) [21] identifies four types of subtle experiences of volunteering, e.g., personnel skills such as listening and adaptability, communication skills, interpersonal skills such as a sense of responsibility, teamwork, and organizational skills, and various other skills in the form of solidarity, passion, and understanding. Gordon and Gordon (2017) [36] focus on the use of volunteering as a tool for building leadership skills.

Runte et al. (2010) [35] collected data on 2125 respondents making up a representative sample according to age, gender, and education in Canada. The results show that companies support employees in volunteering activities, according to 17% of research respondents. The main motivators include a desire to help, a good sense of work done, new knowledge, social contacts, career help, and an escape from everyday worries. One of the biggest motivations is the desire to help to achieve a positive response to the work provided for personal volunteerism and corporate volunteerism. Runte et al. (2010) [35] found that gaining new knowledge as a motivator is more important for personal volunteerism than corporate volunteerism.

Our results support the positive aspects of corporate volunteering in human resource management. Using the chi-square test, we found that there is a statistically significant dependence between the frequency of participating in corporate volunteering activities and building a career, developing working relationships with colleagues, and developing new experiences and skills. In addition, these contexts are presented using a correspondence map. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate that the relationship between the categorical variables examined is at least moderately strong. The results show that corporate volunteerism as a part of corporate social responsibility is beneficial for human resource management for the company itself, employees, the community, non-profit organizations, and other entities.

Future research on corporate volunteering may focus on evaluating volunteering for business performance using multicriteria linear regression, considering other control indicators. In addition, future research may focus on identifying statistically significant benefits and barriers to a selected sector or job position.

6. Conclusions

Corporate volunteering, offered as a benefit, is an important signal for potential job seekers. These results offer opportunities for the implementation of corporate volunteering as part of corporate social responsibility to increase the effectiveness of corporate philanthropy. We believe that the results of this research intended for employees of Slovak companies will motivate human resources managers to frequently use corporate volunteering as part of a corporate social responsibility to support their workforce in acquiring new skills, abilities, and contacts. Moreover, volunteering brings positives, such as creating new opportunities in building a career. The correspondence map demonstrates that for employees who often participate in these volunteer activities, corporate volunteerism has a positive impact on building career growth in the future.

We find out that corporate volunteering helps to develop working relationships between colleagues in the workplace. Moreover, the results show that employees do not reject corporate volunteering to improve working relationships with colleagues in the workplace. However some employees have a hesitant attitude towards corporate volunteering and seldom participate in corporate social responsibility activities.

The results show that corporate volunteering helps to develop work skills and experience. However, we find that employees who often engage in volunteering are less convinced of the positive impact on skills and experience than employees with a lower frequency of participation in corporate volunteering.

Finally, employees develop soft skills such as managerial and communication skills. However, developing these skills is rather a secondary aspect of corporate volunteering. According to the respondents, corporate volunteering is more about getting a better feeling from the work done. As you can see, employees perceive corporate volunteering as helping other people or changing routines. Volunteering not only helps the surrounding communities and builds a good reputation or public image, but volunteer employees have more confidence in presenting themselves in their professional and personal life. Preferred volunteer activities include green activities such as tree planting, gardening, or nature cleaning. Moreover, outdoor activities are especially suitable in the current pandemic period. Employees realize that a pandemic cannot stop volunteering activities for the reduction in social contact between colleagues caused primarily by the home office. The results show that employees prefer manual work in the outdoor environment. In general, employees of various professions prefer manual activities such as working behind a computer in administrative centres. Only six respondents did not choose any of the activities, and none of these respondents suggested another volunteer activity.

These results help human resource managers to make the relevant choice of volunteering activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the findings develop the current literature on corporate volunteering with a focus on personal and social motives. Research identifies important motives for creating volunteer programs.