- Key insight: Discover how company-encouraged, employee-led volunteerism became a strategic talent and brand differentiator.
- Expert quote: Employees choose Cisco for culture, inclusion and community impact, says Brian Tippens.
- Supporting data: Over 500,000 hours of time donated; Cisco exceeded its 1-billion-lives impact goal ahead of schedule.
Source: Bullets generated by AI with editorial review
At digital communications technology conglomerate Cisco, employee involvement in the community is a highly-valued part of the company's culture. Their carefully-constructed approach to volunteerism helps
For six years in a row, more than 80% of Cisco's 90,000 global employees have taken part in
"We've long run a good business that allows us to do good in the world," he says. "Our employees largely choose Cisco because of our culture, our focus on inclusion [and] our focus on giving back in communities."
It's also a proven contributor to employee and organization success: A three-year longitudinal study found that those who were active in company-related giving efforts had higher individual performance rates, higher promotion rates, lower attrition rates and higher rewards recognition.
Read more:
Granting employees autonomy to give back
To maximize participation, Cisco makes it easy for employees to spend time giving: Its Time2Give program offers 10 days of paid time off to spend volunteering in a way that's dear to them, Tippens says, noting an example of his team member who spent time doing rescue work for monkeys in the jungles of Columbia. Other employees have devoted time to helping children or used their professional skills to help solve a community problem.
Employees also rally their team members to take part in group volunteer efforts, and the company organizes multiple opportunities for people to participate in volunteer events throughout the year. Employees joined this year's Pride Parade in Austin, and for multiple years a team has taken part in the Dulles Plane Pull, which raises money for the Special Olympics.
"A group of employees will come together and say, 'This is something that's important.'" Tippens says. "They'll pull together a team and be able to focus en masse on an activity, and that agency means a lot to them."
Raleigh, NC is one of the company's largest sites, and a team of volunteers spent time this summer on a Habitat for Humanity build in western North Carolina, which is still recovering from the effects of 2024's Hurricane Helene. Helping out within the community where team members work and live brings employees a sense of unity, but it's also a way to build Cisco's brand among customers and local decision makers, Tippen's says.
The company also has a crisis response program, which sends communications technology and workers into natural disaster zones to aid first responders. It provides tools ranging from a suitcase-size device to network emergency response vehicles that serve as mobile data centers, and this team relies on the digital support of fellow employees who volunteer from their home bases all over the world.
"I've got a small team that helps to manage that, but supporting that team is a network of over 800 volunteers around the globe who might be an engineer by day or have their technical role, but they take training to be able to be a volunteer in this crisis response," he says.
Read more:
Cisco's 31 inclusive communities, which, similar to employee resource groups, include categories based on gender, ethnicity and age, as well as commonalities such as parents of children with disabilities and loved ones with Alzheimer's, serve as a springboard for group action. Over 30,000 employees have participated in one or more.
"The ability to volunteer and be involved in groups like this helps to build cohesive bonds," Tippens says. "It's about human capital metrics and high employee-engagement scores, but it also endears us to the communities where we live and work and do business."
Doing good at a global scale
In 2016, Cisco set a goal to positively impact a billion lives over 10 years through the combined impact of its Networking Academy, a skills development engine that trains learners for free in areas such as cyber security and AI, portfolios from the Cisco Foundation, the company's nonprofit that promotes education, economic empowerment, critical human needs and climate efforts, and its Crisis Response program.
Impact was identified as someone gaining access to a critical resource, learning something new or engaging in an area of well-being in a meaningful way. The company had its efforts audited by a third party group, and announced in 2023 that it had exceeded the goal early. Its next 10-year goal, an initiative to enhance digital connection in 40 underserved communities around the world, is in the works.
Read more:
Setting large goals like these while supporting employees' personal areas of interest will be a continued part of Cisco's strategy to secure the best and brightest in tech talent and overall business success, Tippens says.
"Like all big tech companies, we have our big, audacious goals that we set up for product launching, and we do the same in terms of impact and giving back," he says. "It really does add business value."
Read more about CSR and the impact of volunteer-based benefits.
Corporate volunteering programs shift gears to adapt to a virtual world Why benefit leaders are partnering with Big Brothers Big Sisters mentorship programs Volunteering may be the next retention and recruitment strategy Why Fidelity Investments has offered a workplace volunteer program for decades Making charitable donations as easy as 401(k) contributions
