Incentive - December 2007 - (Page 22)

CASE STUDY Giving Back and Getting Back Urban Enterprise Initiative encourages Booz Allen employees to help momand-pop stores BY LAUREL MAURY Evetta Petty, owner and hat designer of Harlem’s Heaven Hat Boutique and one of the small business owners who took part in the Urban Enterprise Initiative, helps the boutique’s Web site manager, Danielle Sullivan, try on one of her pieces V olunteering is usually thought of as something done outside of work. It enriches people’s lives, but isn’t part of office culture. However, when Booz Allen Hamilton, a highly respected consulting firm, found itself involved with the Clinton Foundation, management discovered that weaving volunteer work into its corporate identity did more than give back to the community; it gave back to the company. Six years ago, after September 11th, a group of New York consulting firms, Booz Allen among them, banded together to assess the economic damage to downtown Manhattan. At the same time, small businesses in Harlem approached former President Clinton for help surviving both rising rents and the general economic malaise that terrorism brought to the city. Reggie Van Lee, a partner with Booz Allen Hamilton, gave a presentation on the effects of economic damage, which Bill Clinton attended. A few weeks after that, Mr. Clinton approached Van Lee with the idea of using volunteers from downtown consulting firms to help small Harlem businesses. Booz Allen took this suggestion and ran with it. To Van Lee’s surprise, between a quarter and a third of all of Booz Allen’s New York employees were interested. “We had about seventy people in the room, about twenty on the phone,” all wanting to volunteer. Sixty people from Booz Allen and a number of others from the National Black MBA Association and from New York University’s Stern School of Business signed on as volunteers. Thus Urban Enterprise Initiative (UEI), which is now in its fifth year, was born. Suddenly one of the most respected consulting firms in the world was leading volunteer teams to help small, mom-andpop, uptown businesses, including Katrina Parris Flowers and the Harlem’s Heaven Hat Boutique. Employees volunteered two to six hours a week after work and on weekends, and were so jazzed, Van Lee recalls, “It was like a religious experience.” The most obvious boost was to employee morale. Both Van Lee and Booz Allen partner Karl Kellner describe how, after long hours at the firm, employees are reenergized by their work in Harlem. Kellner feels a swell of happiness whenever he passes Katrina Parris Flowers on the bus, and he’s not alone. Employees no longer officially part of the project sometimes troop uptown to volunteer at the cash register at the businesses where they once helped develop strategy and motivate employees. Kellner says, “The ability to do this kind of work is one of the reasons I’m at Booz Allen.” But the work doesn’t only make happier employees at Booz Allen, it makes them more skilled. “There are lessons learned in the nonprofit sector that apply Profile: Booz Allen Hamilton Industry: Strategy and Technology Consulting Objective: Strengthen connection to local community and improve employee morale. Solution: 60 employees and others from the National Black MBA Association offered their expertise to independent Harlem businesses. Results: Local companies learned firsthand lessons in running a business from experts on the subject, and participating Booz Allen employees reported feeling both more energized in their work and stronger in their skills. 22 | Incentive | December 2007 | incentivemag.com http://incentivemag.com

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Incentive - December 2007 Contents Editor’s Note: Revved Up In the News Cover Story: Rolls-Royce Empowers Its Own Case Study: Booz Allen Hamilton Beating Your Best Incentive Primer: Add Value to Your Event Keeping Safety In Mind Incentive Interview Potentials Here and Now Research: Corporate Gifts Facts Report Tabletop Awards: Travel Gift Cards Travel News Viva Puerto Vallarta Indigenous Spas Advertiser Index Off the Cuff: Ambassador Christoph Bubb Luxury Brands Special Supplement

Incentive - December 2007

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