“So we are in the process of merging,” confessed a brave executive director. “We want to make sure that we’re doing the best job we can to join our two cultures. We know Human Resources should be involved, but where do we begin??”
Even the most seasoned corporate human resources professional might pause when faced with such a delicate and complicated challenge. Then there’s the kicker, come up with a plan in about two and a half hours!
Event recap
Kraft Foods Human Resource associates did just that in the first ever ScopeAthon dedicated to addressing the human resources needs of nonprofit organizations. Gil del las Alas, Vice President, Human Resources for Kraft Foods sought to create a corporate team-building experience that accomplished more than your typical corporate offsite. What if they could create the chance for employee leadership development, team-building, and impact the community at the same time?
Gil joined forces with Taproot Foundation to pair up teams of Kraft HR leaders with nonprofits in need of human resources support. Taproot leveraged its ScopeAthon for a done-in-a-day event model to meet this need.
The Kraft HR team spent the morning of their ScopeAthon in a brief orientation and brainstorming the HR needs of the nonprofit sector, and how those might be different than the corporate world. The volunteers then joined their nonprofit partners to get down to business. Both sides rolled up their sleeves and jumped into identifying the HR project needs of the nonprofits. The Kraft HR professionals ensured each of the 11 nonprofits engaged walked away with a clear project and workplan to address those challenges.
Takeaways: key benefits of human resources
“Our HR professionals felt pride in their ability to do what they do best every day in service to the nonprofit sector. Not only did we have the opportunity to work together as a team in a new way, we were able to provide nonprofits with a needed resource,” said Gil del las Alas, Vice President, Human Resources, Kraft Foods.
The approach was a resounding success. All of the nonprofits and corporate professionals would recommend the ScopeAthon experience to a friend. Additionally, 100% of Kraft survey respondents found it fulfilling to use their talents in a new and different context.
Taproot ScopeAthons enable HR departments, as well as other functional departments to offer their employees a dynamic opportunity in applying their professional skills toward making a social impact. Benefits include:
- Develop employees of all levels of experience by engaging them in a robust, strategic problem solving session that allows them to apply their expertise in a new context
- Increase flexibility, innovation, and teamwork by exposing individuals to team-based problem solving in new and unique settings
- Connect with their communities by building relationships with nonprofit leaders
