Learn more about one of the most rewarding ways to grow your business – via a good CSR program.
Having healthy CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) policies in place is one way your business can have a positive impact on the surrounding community. This can include corporate volunteerism, and the benefits can be myriad; just look at it as a virtuous cycle. What you invest in CSR will eventually help you to improve your business.
Why consider corporate volunteerism?
For starters, don’t think of corporate volunteerism as a drain on your existing resources. Instead, look at it as a win-win situation: it’s a great way to contribute to the community, generate positive PR for your business, and provides huge opportunities for purposeful team-building. The benefits of CSR far outweigh your initial investment of business resources.
Improving employee relations
Corporate volunteerism can be a great experience on an individual level. Giving your employees the chance to engage in worthwhile pursuits and offer their skills to non-profit organisations. Few things in life are as rewarding as contributing to the greater good.
What’s more, studies have found that employees who take part in corporate volunteering tend to be more engaged in their work than their non-participating colleagues. Volunteers also reported significantly higher levels of job satisfaction – a valuable asset for any business.
Offering opportunities for corporate volunteerism can:
- Increase employee loyalty and job satisfaction
- Boost employee engagement
- Create a knock-on effect that improves productivity
- Give employees the chance to develop new skills
- Improve morale and motivation
Building a great business profile
Showing the world that your business is ready to give back to the community is an effective way to build favourable brand relations. Contributing to a successful and well-organised volunteer program is a great way to raise your profile, improve your business’s reputation or help maintain a good reputation in the face of adversity by demonstrating your commitment to worthy causes.
Taking part in corporate volunteerism can:
- Help build brand awareness
- Create a better perception of your business
- Increase local media coverage of your activities
- Provide excellent networking opportunities
- Offer insight into non-profits and other working methods
Attracting desirable Gen Y employees
Although attracting and employing desirable Gen Y candidates can be a challenge, it’s essential if you want your business to continue to grow and thrive. The press is often keen to bash Gen Y, dismissing it as a selfish and lazy generation, but it seems this perception could be completely false.
In fact, Laurence Lien, chief executive of National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre of Singapore, says that young people are now more inclined to join companies that offer CSR opportunities. And according to Forbes, up to 88% of Gen Y believe in giving back to the community through work. So make your business an attractive prospect for these passionate young workers by offering vibrant and fulfilling volunteer opportunities.
Corporate volunteerism resources
Ready to start investigating your business’s volunteerism potential? There are a number of useful resources available online to help you get started. Simply google “corporate volunteerism ”, and there should be a number of verified organisations that need help popping up in your search results.
There are almost too many benefits of CSR and corporate volunteerism to elaborate on. So just focus on giving back to the community, and let everything else fall into place. It’s simply one of the more rewarding ways to grow your business.
