Comfama is a social enterprise, based in Colombia, whose objective is to “develop the middle class”. To achieve this noble goal, it is based on three fundamental pillars:
- A great team of workers, who feel great pride in belonging to a project like this.
- Accompaniment in new forms of work that favor the consolidation of the middle class in the current economic and demographic context.
- And at the base a conscious capitalism: under the conviction that from organizations and inspirational leadership can positively impact the lives of people.
Within this strategy, the mentoring volunteer program, which has been carried out since 2022, has a special relevance for Comfama to achieve these objectives.
Two editions have been held during 2024:
- 131 volunteers participated in the first edition of 2024.
- 128 entrepreneurs from SMEs from all over the country.
- In more than 2,008 hours of mentoring valued at approximately $502 million (COP).
The program was supported by major allies such as Grupo Nutresa, Fundación Haceb, Fundación Grupo Argos, Interactuar, Protección, TCC, Fundación Sura, Frisby, CESDE and Savvy, who were fundamental for the development and success of this initiative.
This year, in addition, volunteering in mentoring wanted to go further with a second level aimed at outstanding companies from previous editions 2022- 2023, which identified that they had incorporated conscious practices within their organizations.
The purpose of this second level has been to deepen the accompaniment of SMEs entrepreneurs with leadership practices and conscious culture, something that would allow them to continue generating value for their stakeholders.
In this second edition:
- 14 volunteers participated.
- 21 entrepreneurs of SMEs in the region.
- In more than 180 hours of mentoring valued at approximately $450 million (COP).
Impact results of previous editions
These two editions of 2022 and 2023 have achieved an enormous impact for the participating companies. Key highlights include:
- + 111% in communicating the higher purpose within organizations.
- 33% of leaders say their products and services are aligned with that purpose.
- 47.3% of leaders now actively seek new creative ways to improve, prioritizing adaptability and teamwork.
- + 77% of leaders feel that purpose guides their daily work.
- 88% of leaders perceive that their workers have internalized the higher purpose.
- + 58% in the effective implementation of diversity policies.
- + 38% in the implementation of employee benefits.
- + 27.8% in actions in favor of the environment.
- 4 out of 5 organizations improved their capacity to generate social value.
- 59.6% of these changes are attributed to the program.
- 50% in the number of organizations that do not generate financial surpluses.
- 3 out of 5 organizations improved their financial sustainability, attributing
- 53.5% of these changes to volunteering.
As for the volunteers, the improvement in their soft skills and the increase in their organizational commitment were measured using the Volies methodology. Identifying four key competencies that participants develop during their participation in the program:
- Action Orientation.
- Effective communication.
- Adaptability
- And Complexity Management.
For this analysis, 21 Comfama volunteer employees were compared with 21 non-volunteer employees. The results confirmed the positive impact of the volunteer program, highlighting the group of volunteers with higher scores in the four competencies.
In particular, they excelled in Complexity Management (+12%) and Action Orientation (+8%), while in Adaptability and Effective Communication they showed a 3% advantage.
Volunteering has been a vehicle for spreading this philosophy, creating a space for meeting, reflection and learning where stories of positive impact are woven. This impact not only touches the business leader, but also transforms the employees and extends to their families, creating a chain effect of well-being and growth.
