The Return on Employee Volunteerism

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How HPE’s 60 hour per year paid Volunteer Time Off benefit is a powerful professional development tool for both managers and employees.

Interview with Molly Tynan Perry, COO for the Office of Legal and Administrative Affairs at Hewlett Packard Enterprise 

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You have been an active volunteer through Rotary International for a number of years. Is there a specific volunteer project of which you are most proud?
Yes, last summer I represented my Rotary club on a mission to Antigua, Guatemala called Faces of Hope. There is an unusually high rate of cleft lip and cleft palate birth defects in Guatemala, and many of the families come from rural villages to bring their children for the surgery. We performed 65 surgeries during the week. These surgeries are truly life changing for the children and their families, but it is also life changing for the volunteers who can see the positive impact that they make.

How has volunteerism benefitted you professionally?
It provides tremendous grounding and perspective. It also gets you out of your comfort zone, which I think is important to grow professionally and otherwise.

Do you encourage your employees to take advantage of HPE’s 60 hour per year Volunteer Time Off benefit and how have you seen volunteerism contribute to their professional development?
Absolutely. In the Office of Legal and Administrative Affairs (OLAA) we set goals for volunteerism within our teams and actively encourage participation.

We recently hired someone who had worked in a non-profit organization and volunteerism was important to her. HPE’s commitment to volunteerism was a factor in her decision to accept our offer. Upon joining HPE she engaged with HPE’s Young Employee Network and volunteers as a mentor to high school students.

What advice would you give to managers seeking to use volunteerism as a professional development tool?
It’s an opportunity to lead by example. When your teams see you step away from the keyboard for a day, or longer, they see that not only is it okay, it’s valued. These experiences enhance the employee’s confidence, sense of contribution, and ability to pivot in new situations.

The Faces of Hope Program. There is an unusually high rate of cleft lip and cleft palate in Guatemala. Doctors donate their time to perform corrective surgeries. Support from local teams incudes Companeros Cirugia, local patrons and Rotary Clubs. Families travel 10+ hours by bus and on foot from rural Guatemala.

 Mother and child pre-surgery

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About the writer:

Molly Tynan Perry, VP and Chief Operating Officer, Office of Legal and Administrative Affairs at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Molly Tynan Perry is the COO for the Office of Legal and Administrative Affairs at Hewlett Packard Enterprise based in San Jose, California.

In addition to volunteering, Molly enjoys travelling, playing tennis, skiing and scuba diving. Stay connected to Molly on via LinkedIn.