It is no secret that some of the most successful businesses heavily invest in making social responsibility a core part of their working culture. The reason why they do it is simple: it leads to increased productivity and better employee engagement. There are many social responsibility strategies but one of the most effective ones is volunteer time off, where companies pay their employees to volunteer. Salesforce, Deloitte and Starbucks are a couple of businesses that have taken this policy onboard, with positive results. Below we discuss the top three benefits of volunteer time off.
Attract top talent
Corporations have started paying greater attention to their social responsibility strategies with the arrival of Millennials and Gen Z in the workforce. Both place great value on ethics and have a desire to serve others through the work they do, which is why compensations and benefits have also changed. 72% of Millennials expect their employer to allow workers to use time and resources for positive social change. Volunteer time off is one of the best ways to motivate employees to engage with corporate social responsibility schemes and to attract young top talent into the business.
Employee engagement
Volunteering gives employees purpose in their work, allowing them to engage with the communities the business supports. In many cases, keeping employees engaged throughout the pandemic has been a challenge. Online volunteering and virtual fundraising are some of the options available to managers, that will help them unite their team members. On top of that, volunteering has been proven to be beneficial for mental health as it lowers stress levels, which in turn minimises the risk of illness. Happier, healthier employees are more productive and more engaged.
Brand image
Consumers also expect to see their favourite brands take responsibility for the social aspects of their business. The image that a brand conveys is a powerful way of attracting talent and maintaining high employee engagement levels, meaning that investing in social responsibility programmes, such as volunteer time off is not just “the right thing to do”, but also beneficial from a business standpoint.