McGraw‐Hill wordsmiths craft their skills in the community : Volunteer programs benefit charities, individual employees and the company as a whole

Purpose – Explores the benefits that employee‐volunteer schemes bring to information‐services provider McGraw‐Hill and its workers. Design/methodology/approach – Describes the various aspects of employee volunteering, which involve some 20 percent of the company's 20,000 employees worldwide. Findings – Concentrates on the Writers to the Rescue scheme, which gives McGraw‐Hill writers, editors and designers the chance help voluntary groups and charities to communicate their needs and accomplishments. Describes, in addition, several community education schemes, plus McGraw‐Hill's annual Global Volunteer Day, its volunteer‐team service grants and its matching‐gift program. Practical implications – Explains that, over the past decade, the company has expanded its community‐partnership program to provide leadership‐development and project‐management training, enabling its employees to foster stronger business relationships through project management, leadership development, training and community‐skills building. Originality/value – Reveals that employees benefit from the sense of giving something back to their communities, while the company benefits from a better‐skilled, more fulfilled and more contented workforce.