Chris Taylor

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – The world was shaken by the pandemic era in many ways. But the one that is most remarkable is the so-called Great Resignation’. There are many employees leaving the roles they held for years.

The’social Sabbatical’ is a way to motivate employees and keep them engaged instead of moving on.

The brainchild of enterprise software firm SAP – inspired by others with similar programs, like IBM (NYSE:) – social sabbaticals take selected employees away from their 9-to-5 roles and throw them an intriguing challenge somewhere around the globe while working with a team to solve real problems.

Alexandra van der Ploeg is SAP’s global chief of corporate social responsibilities. The value of injecting purpose into work was discussed by Alexandra van den Ploeg with Reuters. Below are edited excerpts.

Q: How long has social sabbaticals been around?

R: To test the waters, we began with just one pilot program in 2012. The pilot program proved to be a success and it grew rapidly after the first year.

Over 1,300 people have been involved in partnerships with nearly 500 non-profit organizations and social enterprises to make an impact on 6 million lives.

Q: How is a social sabbatical implemented?

Q: This is an immersive program that requires you to be present for at least four weeks. It is a time when you take time from your normal job to work on a strategic issue facing a nonprofit and deliver concrete results that really drive impact.

Q: Please describe your experience.

Q: This is an environment that puts pressure on employees. A group of around 12 employees is taken and sent to an emerging market.

They will be immersed in an unfamiliar organization and placed in a group environment with incredible diversity in age, nationality, and experience.

Q: Give me an example.

A: We worked in India with an organization that aims to reduce the digital divide, and encourage the use of technology in education. To help young people learn at their own pace, they needed expert knowledge.

It was also pre-COVID so it was a perfect timing: they got the correct input and were ready to transfer learning content from their physical environment into digital ones when COVID arrived.

Q: How do you help other companies set up their own social sabbaticals.

A: From companies like IBM that have worked with such models in the past, we learned a lot. We now work with many other companies for advice on setting up programs.

Typically, we invite companies to come join us and then leave some slots open for them. We give them direct access to our program so that they can try it out for themselves. This is how we show the real value of what you do.

Q: How has COVID affected this program?

A: Yes, we had to pivot. A: Social sabbaticals were canceled, however we provided virtual pro bono consulting models that had great success.

The program will be restarted in 2022, although not fully across the entire portfolio because that would have been too overwhelming, but as a conscious reentry to see if it is worth the risk.

Q: Which advice do you offer other companies in regards to starting their social sabbaticals themselves?

Q: Be confident that you can overcome any perceived hurdles or barriers. It is important to begin small, then test your idea first.

You need to ensure that the learning is aligned with your leadership principles. This varies between companies. A program such as this requires real-world experience. You can’t just sit in an office and design something theoretically.

Q: When employees return to the company, how does this affect them?

A: This has a significant effect on employee engagement. Our results show that social sabbatical participants are more likely to retain their jobs.

Retired employees are often more driven to complete their jobs and to find ways to apply the knowledge to their business. Employees return inspired to do more.

Companies that are serious about purpose, sustainability, and social responsibility must offer their workers the chance to live it. This is what the social sabbatical offers.