It is getting increasingly common for firms to introduce opportunities for volunteering amongst their staff. This may be partly altruistic – attempting to do some good for a national charity or for the local community – but most of the firms that do it, do so for ‘selfish’ reasons. They want to show some community and/or some stakeholders that they are the good guys, (so its a PR exercise) and they hope to cement the engagement of their staff with the organisation.
The employees who do take the opportunity to become involved in the volunteering efforts do indeed generally engage more positively with the organisation but they also claim to have improved well-being – often in relation to their mental health. They value the fact that they themselves are valued as more than a ‘human resource’, more than a number on the payroll…. they are valued for how they interact with others, including the community with whom the charity is engaged.
The net results – in addition to improved well-being- are increased staff retention (reducing hiring and onboarding costs for the organisation), improved attractiveness to potential recruits and perhaps most importantly, a boost to employee performance and productivity.
So, the introduction of a volunteering programme can have bottom-line impact and can make all members of the organisation feel better about the organisation and themselves.
These companies worried about the effects being temporary can ‘hedge their bets’ somewhat by, say, having a volunteering month each yeast when a particular charitable project is taken on. The benefits should last longer than the month and should proved an annual boost to organisational performance.