Document Type
Article
Publication Date
4-1-2008
Abstract
A relationship between workplace volunteerism and the effectiveness of liaison employees is proposed that draws primarily upon four complementary sociological concepts: (1) the social identity theory (Tajfel, 1982); (2) a structural theory of action (Burt, 1982); (3) social capital (Adler & Kwon, 2002); and (4) weak-tie “bridges” (Granovetter, 1973). The complementary nature of each of the sociological theories is discussed to show how workplace volunteerism might be increased through the systematic application of their concepts. This paper proposes that workplace employees socially identify themselves with hierarchical workgroups at the workplace and utilize their strong and weak-tie relationships to influence their peers toward volunteering in their community. Employer-sanctioned liaison employees might be utilized as both strong-tie and weak-tie bridges between demand-side volunteer organizations and the resource-providing workplace. The concept of Role Theory supports the idea that people behave differently and predictable depending on their respective social roles and the situation (Biddle, 1986). This paper concludes with a proposed phenomenological study that compares the workplace recruiting behavior of both liaison and non-liaison employees to generate a grounded theory on workplace volunteering (Glaser & Strauss, 1967)
Keywords
voluntarism
Rights
© The Author(s). Kelvin Smith Library provides access for non-commercial, personal, or research use only. All other use, including but not limited to commercial or scholarly reproductions, redistribution, publication or transmission, whether by electronic means or otherwise, without prior written permission is strictly prohibited.
Department/Center
Design & Innovation
Recommended Citation
Teague, Don E., "Workplace Volunteerism: Bridging Demand Through Employee Liasions" (2008). Student Scholarship. 544.
https://commons.case.edu/studentworks/544
