Volunteering: boosting employees’ solidarity commitment

• Being an economic player is not sufficient – companies must be committed to their territories to contribute to their vitality and cohesion.
• TotalEnergies’ employees are also citizens who are well aware of social issues, and it is important to them to take action for local life.
• The Company gives its employees the means to act individually or as a group so they may undertake solidarity initiatives during their working hours.

TotalEnergies firmly believes that a company should do more than just contribute to the economy – it must be a committed player. In late 2018, the TotalEnergies Foundation kicked off the Action! program, which enables employees to support local solidarity projects for up to three working days per year. The objective? To actively and benevolently contribute to the development of our host territories and encourage our employees to find out about the associational network and commit to it in the long term.

According to the latest edition of the 'volunteering barometer' issued by France Bénévolat, 19 million people in 2022, i.e. 36% of the population aged 15 or more "give of their time to help others or to contribute to a cause", including 11 million in associations. The partner associations are however, increasingly having to deal with changes in the attitude toward volunteering, as people are more and more reluctant to make regular commitments in the long term.
 

Meeting public interest needs

Knowing the local environment is a priority when meeting with the partner associations and exploring with them the challenges they face and their needs in terms of volunteers. "With reference to our Foundation’s four priority areas – Education & Inclusion, Road Safety, Climate, Coastal Areas and Oceans, and Cultural Dialogue and Heritage – we work with local public interest structures to define initiatives for our volunteers. The common thread is socially vulnerable young people, with difficulties in the standard education and employment systems," explains Isabelle Porterie, in charge of external relations at the Pau Site. "But this is not the only focus," she continues, “we’re also open to other actions for people in precarious circumstances. For example, the food bank and the Secours Populaire invite us to perform collection drives in supermarkets for which we always come forward."

After initially committing to individual Action! initiatives, some employees have become active and loyal volunteers with associations such as La Cravate Solidaire. For others, group actions are a way to take the plunge. Anne Echardel, Ambassador of the Action! program also proposes group initiatives called solidarity team-building sessions: "These initiatives have a twofold objective: to generate or consolidate cohesion in one of our teams while involving it in an activity that meets a real need for solidarity. On the one hand, we’re seeking to help the associations strengthen their impact, and on the other, to raise our employees’ awareness of this type of solidarity. The idea is for them to jump in as part of a group so that they ultimately respond individually to volunteering assignments. Some structures also need groups to carry out an action for a specific amount of time. This is the case of Anim’Ousse-Ere; thanks to our partner, we collect hundreds of kilos of waste each year around the Ousse river."

Generally for a half day, or sometimes a whole day, a committed and motivated group of employees puts its energy at the association’s disposal for an initiative that can include tidying, cleaning, picking up waste, sorting clothes, collecting toys, or odd jobs such as strengthening a fence, painting, assembling furniture, or taking part in an event with young people to welcome them, guide them, supervise them, train them, and so on.

"First, the association presents its purpose, how it functions and tells people more about itself in a convivial moment of exchange and discussion. The activity proposed to the group takes place next, ideally with the beneficiaries throughout the task and during a meal after. Take for example, OGFA which has called on our teams several times to unpack products collected during drives and sort them to give them directly, in small bundles, to beneficiaries hosted by the association," explain Isabelle Porterie and Anne Echardel. “It is important to us that our employees interact as often as possible with the staff and beneficiaries of the associations and form bonds with them. We are delighted to receive positive feedback from both the association and our colleagues. We like to remind our colleagues however, that the essence of the Action! program is for them to take up volunteering individually of their own accord." they conclude.