Should Your Company Create a Volunteering Program?

A corporate volunteering program is more than just a team-building exercise. If done correctly, it can have a real impact on businesses, volunteers and the charities themselves. According to a survey done by Deloitte, 89 percent of working Americans believe that businesses promoting volunteer activities offer a better overall working environment than those that don't.

Here are five reasons why you should consider adopting a cause for your small business.

Improves Company Culture

Most of us spend about 40 hours every week with our co-workers. Yet, we hardly know anything about most of them outside of their roles at the company. An employee volunteering program is a great way for colleagues to engage with one another in a new and different way. Team volunteering gives staff members the chance to connect and find commonalities, which might not be possible on a day-to-day basis, as there may not be enough time for them to develop and nurture positive workplace relationships. This boosts employee morale, improves workplace communication and enhances the overall company culture.

Attracts Strong Talent

Competitive wages and benefits are no longer the only variables potential employees look at while joining a company. Applicants place a high value on the importance of social responsibility. In fact, according to a Stanford Graduate School of Business study, “MBA graduates are willing to sacrifice an average of 14.4 percent of their expected salaries to work at socially responsible companies.” Young people want to be associated with a company that shares their values, including supporting causes that they agree with.

Increases Productivity

Instituting a solid volunteering program can boost productivity at your business. A study conducted in Britain by the Social Market Foundation and the University of Warwick’s Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy shows that happier employees are more productive in their workplaces. While being happy depends on numerous factors that are not in your control, you can offer the chance for your employees to engage with one another and help the community. Neuroscience proves that helping others makes us happy. By helping other people, our brain releases a chemical called oxytocin that boosts our mood and also counteracts the effects of cortisol, also called the stress hormone. Therefore, volunteering can lead to overall better health in employees.

Improves Employee Engagement

According to a recent poll by Gallup, on average, only 32 percent of employees in America are involved in their work. A corporate volunteer program can help drive employee engagement. Businesses that encourage such volunteer programs enjoy greater employee satisfaction and higher morale, and hence, higher productivity and profitability. This was highlighted in a report released by Realized Worth. According to the report, “for companies where employees were more engaged than not, their profitability jumped by 16 percent, general productivity was 18 percent higher than other companies, customer loyalty was 12 percent higher and quality increased by 60 percent.”

This is in contrast to a 2013 Gallup Poll that called attention to disengaged employees who cost the US $450 billion to $550 billion in lost productivity each year — the figures for 2020 would likely be much higher.

Boosts Brand Perception

Offering employees volunteer opportunities can help you develop brand perception. The Deloitte study found that while 77 percent of participants thought of volunteering as being vital to employee well-being, 70 percent of the respondents believed that volunteering was more effective at boosting morale than company-sponsored happy hours were. The study also showed that workplace volunteering can boost brand perception in the community. Therefore, an active corporate volunteer program can provide tremendous PR benefits, leadership skills and a sense of purpose to employees.

Employee engagement improvements also have an impact on your revenues. A study conducted by SAP showed a $40 million fluctuation when employee engagement rose or fell by just one percent.

Volunteering benefits an organization at a cultural level, and is a sure way of bringing employees together. However, developing a corporate volunteer program is no easy task. It takes a lot of background knowledge and coordination to be successful. So if you are planning to start an employee volunteer program at your company, a good place for you to start is by asking your employees where they would like to volunteer, and making volunteering a regular event that they can expect.