November 2014 BCBusiness 33
Before you decide if your company needs an employee volunteer program,
think about Massood Baqi. Baqi is 25, ambitious, educated and looking for more
than a paycheque. Opportunity and training, for sure—but also to feel like part of
a company that cares about community, and him.
Vancity always looked like that kind of company, he says. Baqi was 18 when he
started working part-time at the credit union while studying business administra-
tion and accounting at Simon Fraser University. He had already discovered volun-
teering was a great personal development opportunity. "I was such a reserved,
quiet person through elementary and high school," he recalls. At
SFU, he plunged
into volunteer activities with the accounting students' association and took on a
social media role with Vancouver's Fashion Week. "Volunteering built skills and
acted as a perfect step to other activities."
Whether used as a way to boost team morale,
brand a company or help workers develop their skills,
employee volunteer programs are an increasingly popular
presence at companies across B.C. But choose your
nonprofi t partner wisely if you hope to succeed.
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