101: Incorporating volunteerism into company culture
As the holiday season draws near, charitable giving and volunteerism come to the forefront of peoples’ minds. There are many proven benefits to corporate volunteerism, such as team building and community relations appeal, but how can managers inspire their employees to give back?
Offer paid time off for volunteering. A big hindrance to getting employees to volunteer is time availability. Instead of making employees choose between their personal time and volunteering, Salesforce suggests companies provide a few days of paid time off solely for volunteer activities. “Using volunteer time off, team members can incorporate charitable acts into their regular working hours,” the customer relationship management company advises.
Let employees select their favorite nonprofits. Employees are more likely to be enthusiastic about company volunteerism if they personally care about the charitable organizations benefiting from the work. Hunter Johnson, CEO of California-based marketing firm Xpedition, wrote in Forbes that companies should ask their employees to share their favorite nonprofits and get them involved in the process. The ultimate decision rests with company leadership, but this allows employees to feel invested in volunteering. “Your human resources team might also want to look into your team’s recommendations to ensure that the stated values of each nonprofit align with your company values,” Johnson writes.
Get other stakeholders involved. Another way to promote volunteerism is to think outside the traditional circle of current employees and get other company stakeholders involved. Asking customers, suppliers, retired employees, and board members to get involved in a company volunteer event is an effective way to get employees motivated about giving back, Jessica Rodell, a professor at the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business, writes in the Harvard Business Review. Seeing familiar faces, whether past retired workers or current employees, can emphasize a company’s culture of volunteerism. “By fostering employee productivity, improving employee engagement, and deepening a company’s ties to the communities that they serve, corporate volunteering can unlock substantial intangible value for companies,” Rodell says about the positive impact of company-driven volunteerism.
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