You don’t have to be a big business to make a big difference in your community. Employee-supported volunteerism is a good way to start

by Lara Ryan

When I started my consulting business in 2006, I decided to focus on community engagement because I knew many companies didn’t use their relationships with community organizations to their advantage. Instead, they viewed community involvement as an obligation rather than as an effective and powerful tool to engage employees.

I recently did some interesting employee-engagement work for a client who wanted to know how to get staff to feel good about their relationship with their employer. Experience shows that those who have a positive relationship tend to be more productive and stay with a company longer. These outcomes are among the spin-offs that ultimately save employers time and money, since they have to recruit and train new staff less often. 

The focus of my client’s employee-engagement strategy fell under the CSR umbrella in that it involved community engagement. An organization’s involvement in its community is a proactive way to build team spirit and loyalty. The premise that as individuals we demonstrate our personal values by the volunteer work we choose to do is valid; in the same vein, a company can demonstrate its corporate values and culture through the community organizations it supports.

It’s important to find the intersection between an organization’s values and employees’ collective values. That’s where you want an employee community-engagement strategy to live. To help my client find his company’s core community values, we developed a survey that would give his employees a forum to share their opinions about current initiatives. The survey consisted of questions designed to highlight the employees’ personal areas of interest. A second tool was a series of facilitated sessions that outlined other successful employee-engagement programs and provided a forum for discussion and idea generation about possible community organizations and volunteer work to get involved in.

Community initiatives that are aligned with an organization’s corporate objectives and values will inspire employees to be more connected with their employer. Participating in community programs is also a way to bridge the management/staff divide. For example, a community team event such as taking part in a Habitat for Humanity project can help build workplace teams as well as houses. Participants find that collaborating outside the office lets them show different skill sets than the ones they demonstrate on a daily basis. A change in the traditional dynamic is an effective way to break down any social barriers that may exist during work hours.

In Atlantic Canada, many organizations are doing good work in the CSR realm. Some are regional branches of national organizations, such as Bell Aliant, which focuses on community work with children, youth, and families, or the Royal Bank of Canada, which supports countless community initiatives. Others are based here and include Minas Basin Pulp and Power Company Ltd., Ocean Nutrition Canada, Nova Scotia Community College, and Credit Union Atlantic. All of these organizations have spent considerable time and effort developing their strategies around their social capital and environmental stewardship in addition to focusing on boosting their bottom lines. 

One element of CSR that has gained momentum is employer-supported volunteerism. ESV is defined as a company that encourages employees to volunteer in their community. There are several ways an organization can support the community interests of its employees. The most common is a matching grant program, in which employees who volunteer a specific number of hours can apply for a grant that will be given to their volunteer organization. Generally, there’s great flexibility in a program like this; an employee could choose her children’s school, a hockey team, a Junior Achievement of Canada club, a food bank, and the list goes on. Another option might be to designate one or two days a year for all employees to devote to volunteer work.

Companies that have implemented these strategies report improved staff satisfaction. Why? Because it makes employees feel good knowing their employer recognizes and values their volunteer efforts. Not only will a strategic community-engagement program result in employees who are more active in and committed to community organizations, but it also presents an opportunity for companies to serve as a positive example for other businesses in the region. The bottom line: You don’t have to be a big business to make a big difference in both your workforce and your community. 

Lara Ryan is a business consultant specializing in CSR. She can be reached at lara@lararyanconsulting.ca.