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Russia - 2005
Turning Employees into Community Volunteers in Russia
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With almost 500 employees volunteering for Alcoa's Week of Service in October 2005, the company's four locations in Russia began shifting responsibility for community engagement from plant management to employee volunteers.
While Alcoa had an established presence in Russia through a sales and administrative office in Moscow and an Alcoa Closure Systems International facility in Lyubachany, the company's Russian workforce increased from around 230 employees to more than 11,000 with the early 2005 acquisition of two fabricating facilities in Samara and Belaya Kalitva.
The acquired plants were the main community contributors for years and had a long history of social involvement. In the past, plant management initiated most of the community engagement. The 2005 Week of Service provided an opportunity to engage existing and new employees in community activities, further instill the Alcoa corporate culture, and demonstrate how employees can apply Alcoa values to their everyday lives.
To ensure employees would benefit from the Week of Service experience, a team with members from all four locations developed the project's overall goals and then designed events at each location. Nearly 500 employees volunteered to participate in the various activities, which was significantly above the number expected.
Events at each location were the following:
- Moscow—About a third (30) of the employees from the Moscow office descended on a nearby playground to clean up waste and debris, paint, install a new slide and sandbox, and perform other beautification efforts.
- Lyubachany—The most employees ever (26—almost every employee not scheduled to work) volunteered to remove logs and iron sheet from the basement of the local secondary school.
- Samara—This plant's 150 volunteers also focused on beautifying a local playground. Activities included removing waste and debris, installing a sandbox and benches that were manufactured in advance by Samara employees, preparing a flowerbed, installing a new slide, and painting.
- Belaya Kalitva—During three events, the plant's 268 volunteers planted more than 1,000 trees at two community locations. They also helped with interior and exterior repairs and beautification efforts at the Belaya Kalitva Children's Home.
"Our kids found out what charity was and how it is carried out, and they also had the chance to meet people from another country for the first time," said Sergei Shumsky, director of the Belaya Kalitva Children's Home. "These people were benevolent, giving, and interested in the future of these children. They did not just talk—they also took action. The building has become more comfortable and beautiful inside. This is living evidence of Alcoa's commitment to the community."
In all, Alcoa's Russian employees volunteered more than 1,300 hours during the 2005 Week of Service.
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