ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, November 16, 1996 TAG: 9611180027
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: Associated Press
AT&T Corp., the nation's No. 1 long-distance carrier, just took over another No. 1 position - providing all 127,000 employees worldwide with a paid day off for volunteer work.
The move will cost AT&T $20 million, but the company hopes it will yield benefits such as improved employee morale, better standing in the communities it serves and potentially higher profits.
``There isn't any question it is the largest'' such corporate program in the world, said Cathleen Wild, a researcher who conducted a study on company volunteerism for the Conference Board, a business-sponsored research group. ``There is nothing even close.''
AT&T's new policy takes effect beginning next Thursday, when it will pay for more than 2,000 employees in 16 cities and the District of Columbia to volunteer at elder care programs, painting, zoo cleanups and serving hot meals to the homeless.
``If you are planning to get involved, in and around Thanksgiving seemed appropriate,'' said Burke Stinson, an AT&T spokesman.
Stinson said the move is in response to employees who wanted to volunteer but had to choose between their families and community service - with the families winning out.
``Why should you have to sacrifice?'' Stinson said. ``Volunteerism need not be a leisure-time activity.''
Stinson cited himself as someone who recently sacrificed his volunteer work as a teacher of English as a second language in Chinatown in New York City.
``The company is looking to encourage people to get back into it and maybe encourage people who have never done it at all to give it a shot,'' Stinson said.
Stinson acknowledged, given the increased competition his company faces these days, that ``certainly if AT&T becomes more visible in the community, chances are customers in those communities might think more kindly toward AT&T, and we might retain customers we have and gain customers we don't.
``That would be a nice byproduct.''
But Wild said AT&T would get even more. Every dollar spent on volunteerism, she said, also helps AT&T promote a positive image in the communities it serves.
``You're going to buy a little good will,'' she said.
Corporate volunteerism in general, she found in her study, also improves how employees interact and deal with tough work-place issues such as diversity and downsizing.
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