activities

O’Malley goes on to list some powerful examples of CCI and reasons for its use. Ruth Lewis is senior manager in community relations at British Airways. She feels that payroll giving has been successful there because ‘our staff fly regularly and they see that there are a lot of people in the world who are less privileged’. Diageo commits £20 million each year to CCI, and boasts one million hours of volunteer work worldwide. Whitbread sees ‘business benefit’ as its prime objective in CCI, according to volunteer programme manager Christine de Cruz. ‘In communities where we have active employees, the communities have a very high regard for the company.’ In 1994, a MORI survey found that 88 per cent of the public agreed with the statement that ‘a company that supports society and the community is a good company to work for’. Marks & Spencer uses development assignments to further managers’ skills. By using their skills in an external environment, they often learn at an increased pace. Companies benefit from having a presence in the community and when staff return they bring back further skills.