Five benefits of Corporate Volunteering
If you’re considering how getting directly involved with a charity may benefit your business, a good place to start is thinking about how contributing your employees’ time through volunteering can bring value to everyone.
1. Increases employee motivation
Volunteering can enrich people's own sense of purpose in life and their connection to work. Studies show that most people see purpose as a way to bring meaning to their work and need to find this meaning in order to be fully engaged, improving commitment and performance. In addition, many surveys show that for both Millennials and Gen Z the clear opportunity to be part of a company's contribution to their community will impact on their desire to work for you. Employees can also have a great sense of pride in being directly involved in a charity linked to your organisation.
2. Positively impacts the local community
Every hour volunteered for us at The Children's Centre contributes directly to freeing up capacity for our practitioners, this means we can take on a greater caseload and make a bigger difference in our community. By volunteering, employees and businesses have the opportunity to gain new knowledge of different issues impacting on our community. And bringing new knowledge of the community and its needs into the workplace; can inform good decisions at work. Volunteering is a very easy way to encourage your team to talk with others about the direct impact they are having and create a positive association with your brand.
3. Enhances employee skills, self-confidence and wellbeing
Kindness matters, doing something for others has clear benefits for happiness and wellbeing. We all have a lot going on in our lives and often many pressures at work too, but if as an employer you provide time for people to be kind to other people, it will reap the emotional dividends. At The Children's Centre our volunteering involves getting outside and moving, which we all know has additional benefits for health and wellbeing. Volunteering at a charity can give you the opportunity to develop an expanded view of the world; to see an aspect of life that you may never otherwise come into contact with. This can help create greater openness to diversity and improved self-awareness.
4. Improves team building and communication skills
Volunteering as a team or together with people in different parts of your business can build social connections, which can improve communication at work and networks within the company. We all know getting out of the office with a team can have a massive benefits and by doing this through volunteering you are also helping other people too.
5. Supports and delivers your corporate objectives
Enabling your employees to volunteer can help you with a range of your own objectives; CSR, Brand and People/HR. Possibly others as well. In terms of CSR it can be a very direct way to bring to life the commitments you want to make for society or for the environment. Creating a volunteering partnership with a charity aligned with these values can really make it feel tangible rather than a distant objective. Another strategy, depending on the available opportunities for corporate volunteering is to create volunteering leave as part of your People/HR benefits. Employees can then choose where they wish to contribute their time, as well as this being incredibly positive for personal feelings of purpose, as well as developing skills such as coaching and leadership.