Henkel recognises and supports voluntary employee engagement

The International Volunteer Day on 5 December highlights the impact of individual contributions in voluntary social projects. Henkel has been supporting its employees and retired workers in their voluntary engagement for more than 20 years  with its dedicated program, the MIT initiative (“Make an Impact on Tomorrow”). In total, the company has supported over 14,000 charitable projects in more than 100 countries through the “Fritz Henkel Stiftung” foundation.

From Asia and North America to Middle East and Africa, Europe and South America: Henkel celebrates the International Volunteer Day with volunteering projects across all regions on that day. In the UK for example, Henkel employees are collecting and donating food for the local foodbank and the three business units are donating numerous products for people in need – including shampoo, shower gel, toilet cleaner and Sellotape. The company also organised a quiz night with money raised being donated to DENS, a local charity that helps homeless people. In Ireland, Henkel employees support a wide range of charities by participating in several fundraising and volunteering activities, including coffee mornings, sleeping outside, running and wearing pink.

These are only some of the examples of projects brought to life by Henkel employees around the world. Their voluntary engagement is supported through the “Fritz Henkel Stiftung” foundation – not just with material and financial donations, but also with time, as employees are granted paid leave to go and make a difference in the field. “Employees and former workers of the company are at the heart of the MIT initiative. We are amazed by their commitment, spirit and the impact of their contributions,” says Nadine Frey, responsible for Voluntary Engagement Henkel. Marking the MIT initiative’s 20-year-anniversary earlier this year, the foundation made a special project donation of 50,000 euros for a mother and child medical center in Nepal.

Supporting employee engagement as part of Henkel’s company culture

Voluntary social engagement, also known as corporate citizenship, has been an integral part of Henkel’s company culture since it was founded by Fritz Henkel in 1876. Through the “Fritz Henkel Stiftung” foundation, the company makes a commitment over and above its business activities – an effort that relies greatly on the voluntary engagement of its employees. When launching the MIT initiative in 1998, Henkel became one of the first companies in Germany to create a program dedicated to supporting its employees and retired workers in their voluntary engagement.