Community: Volunteerism

McGraw-Hill offices and facilities can be found worldwide in large cities and small towns. Grateful to these communities for giving us the resources on which we thrive, the Corporation works to improve the places where we operate. Our employees relish the opportunity to go out into the community and work in a hands-on capacity, so we have developed a robust set of volunteer opportunities for employees worldwide. In 2011, employees worldwide volunteered more than 45,000 hours of their time.

To bring together employees and their communities worldwide, McGraw-Hill created an annual Global Volunteer Day, which includes thousands of employees across almost every time zone working on community projects. In 2011, more than 6,000 employees took part in 280 team projects across 19 countries. We also support skills-based volunteering and encourage employees to donate their professional skills to help nonprofits build their capacity. In 2011, we continued to partner with the Volunteer Consulting Group on a placement initiative to encourage employees to volunteer on the governing boards of nonprofits. Additionally, our pro bono Writers to the Rescue program provides nonprofit organizations with the services of writers, editors and communication specialists from McGraw-Hill on a volunteer basis leveraging employees’ professional skills to meet the needs of nonprofit partners.

Our Employee Volunteer Grant program supports local organizations where employees devote their time and energy. Employees dedicating more than 50 hours a year are eligible to apply on behalf of their favorite nonprofit group. Employees who volunteer in teams may apply for a $1,000 grant.

Outstanding employee volunteers are recognized by our Chairman, President and CEO, Harold McGraw III through the CEO/MVP Award. Individuals can nominate themselves or be nominated by their colleagues for the CEO/MVP Award, which includes a $1,000 check to the organization of the recipient’s choice.

I work as a director in S&P Capital IQ, Hyderabad, India and head the Business Intelligence division with responsibility for Data & Analytics related to people, business relationships, company profiles and corporate governance.

Being the head of a division with more than 350 employees, I am also a member of the Hyderabad operating committee. Members of the operating committee take on additional responsibilities of working with other committees involved in sports, culture, food, and Corporate Responsibility (CR). My first involvement with Global Volunteer Day (GVD) projects happened in 2008 after the operating committee asked me to work with the local CR Committee. I got involved with GVD through the CRS department and organized 3 GVD projects at schools requiring a lot of help and I worked on those projects alongside 60 other volunteers. That gave me great satisfaction because our team’s work benefited more than 500 students studying in those schools. This first experience with GVD made me realize the need of voluntary service to our society and I committed myself to participating in GVD projects after that. The following year, the operating committee gave me the responsibility of organizing our annual GVD Kickoff and guiding other GVD leaders in implementing projects.

Now as Volunteer Head for S&P Capital IQ India my responsibility is to find new GVD leaders and work with them to identify needs in the community, work with NGOs, organize GVD projects and coordinate with Center Heads (Hyderabad & Gurgaon) and the CRS team. In 2011, we organized 57 GVD projects in Hyderabad.

Volunteerism at McGraw-Hill helps us build leadership skills while building bonds between McGraw-Hill employees and the community, and our work in Hyderabad is no exception.

Our work in and around Hyderabad has ranged from developing recycling and waste management strategies in small villages, to rebuilding and supplying books to a local library. A memorable highlight was when more than 500 S&P Capital IQ employees came together to refurbish a women’s home, which helped more than 300 residents that often do not have a voice in the community.

I am very happy to see the dedication of our employees, caring for society and working for its betterment.