You Can Lead a Horse to Water
In study after study, one of the most cited reasons why companies value employee volunteering is the perceived benefit it has to developing employee skills. The thinking goes like this: because volunteering requires you to use certain skills, it must be good to practice them outside of work on a volunteer project.

Yeah, maybe... kind of... In my experience, it is sheer luck if anything of real value happens, and it is one area that could benefit from some additional thought and process for making a real linkage.

Team building is a classic example. Volunteer projects require teamwork. If, the thinking goes, we send a team on a volunteer project and they work together to get it done they will possess better team skills. If they come back with higher energy, they will have developed team spirit. Volunteering is good for team building.

That's a little like the proverbial horse being led to water. In the absence of someone either setting a standard for better teamwork or helping the team identify and problem solve around what worked and what didn't during their time together, the benefit of the experience will have the nutritional value and staying power of white bread.

In order for learning that really matters to result from volunteering, you have to make a direct and intentional link between skill development and the experience of volunteering. That requires having clear learning objectives, conveying new knowledge and skills through some form of training or facilitated reflection and dialogue, and utilizing the service experience relentlessly toward the end of refining employee performance abilities. That won't happen by chance. It takes some planning, structure, and leadership.