So you’re sitting there about to enjoy another wonderful AHRI blog full of interesting opinions and insights when suddenly some guy asks “Would you care to make a $1000 donation to charity” Your eyebrows draw up, your jaw drops but just before you hit the close button you read “… yet it won’t cost you a cent”.

Hopefully I still have your attention and in the next 500 words I can tell you a little more about the value of skilled volunteering and our hopes for the AHRI goodcompany Super Human Resources Project.

First off, getting your staff volunteering for a few days a year was found by the 2012 Redballoon and Atlas Q Employee Engagement Capability Report to be the activity most likely to improve an employer’s engagement score. It’s an amazing admission from a company that encourages managers to throw their staff out of aeroplanes.

Similarly, the Deloitte Volunteer IMPACT Survey 2011 showed that employees who engage in workplace skilled volunteering programs are often more loyal, satisfied and proud of their company.

Volunteering was also found to be an attractive proposition for new graduates who are looking for that something extra from prospective employers – an opportunity to change the world. Indeed it’s for these reasons that a day or two days a year of paid volunteer leave is now the backbone of many a staff rewards program.

But at the heart of the skilled volunteering revolution is the donation of thousands of hours of time (worth thousands of dollars) to community groups who could never afford to pay commercial rates for the kind of professional assistance that a skilled volunteer can offer. Volunteers assist in a range of highly skilled areas including IT, accounting, board roles, legal, design advertising, PR and HR.

And that’s why this month goodcompany and AHRI are launching the ‘Super Human Resources Project’, specifically encouraging you, HR professionals, to consider volunteering your highly valuable skills and time.

Since 2001, goodcompany has facilitated more than $12 million worth of pro bono services to the community and have helped match thousands of skilled professionals with over 1000 charities across Australia. However, having the time, capacity and skills to advertise for volunteering roles is a real issue for these charities. The problem impedes organisations from accessing the thousands of professionals who are willing to volunteer their skills. And without these skills, many groups struggle to stay viable.

By having people like you – experienced HR professionals – volunteer, it is our hope you’ll assist hundreds of community organisations listed on our website to help them get a clearer understanding of where the skills gaps lie in their organisations and once done, help them scope and create volunteer roles to attract further skilled volunteers.

Our goal is for 1 per cent of AHRI members (210 HR professionals) to come to the rescue of one charity and add three more volunteer positions. This snowball effect will add 600 more volunteer roles on our website.

Given goodcompany’s 10,000 registered skilled volunteers and access to another 100,000 plus corporate volunteers through our partners (NAB, ANZ, Telstra and Optus), we’re confident of filling at least 500 roles within 12 months resulting in an estimated $2 million worth of pro bono services to the community.

It’s a super hero result which will require just a little super hero effort.

To start your Super Human Resource adventure, simply click here.

Ash Rosshandler is the chief executive officer of goodcompany, an organisation working in partnership with AHRI on the project which is the subject of this blog.