You can often see businesses posting images on their social media and websites. Those images are often related to their latest community service volunteering programs and all the good they have done. Sometimes, you can glance at those photos and think “Good for them” and continue with your life. However, you shouldn’t underestimate the benefits of community service for the community and the company. Sure, the company volunteers are helping the community grow and get tighter, but they can also improve the workplace they are coming from. So how can community service benefit the workplace, and why should every company consider investing time and effort into it?
It changes your daily routine
One of the great ways to invigorate and motivate your workers is to sometimes change their daily routine at work. It’s easy to organize a day out of the office where your workers will help clean up the community. You can all build a kids’ playground or volunteer to help the elderly, disabled members of the community or autistic kids. Such events all your employees a chance to collaborate and interact without being in the company’s quarters.
Also, such volunteering events can be a great exercise in team building and can significantly improve the performance of all teams and make a big impact. According to research, companies that regularly organize or take part in volunteering have a much healthier work environment than companies that choose to sit these events out. However, if it is not possible for you to stop the production for the entire day to go help the community, you can offer the so-called “volunteer time off”. This allows workers to be charitable and helpful as they see fit.
It helps your brand
Every business takes good care of its brand image as it attracts potential customers and helps the company to stand out from the competition. Through volunteering, it’s easy to improve that image and profit in many ways. For instance, imagine a talented person choosing an employer between you and your rival. If the pay and conditions are similar, they are much more likely to give their trust to you because they can see your community service effort.
Community service is a vital branding strategy because today, around two-thirds of all employees want their employer to support community service. Also, volunteering can positively affect company morale, plus it is much healthier than happy hours sponsored by the company. It’s much better to see a company investing time and effort into community service and building houses for the needy than day drinking. When you make an effort as a team, you can create a forever home for someone. This wonderful feeling will keep all your employees invested in further good doing.
Make sure to highlight your charity work on your company website so consumers and job seekers know what kind of company they are considering joining. It’s easy to see how they might opt for your business when they see how much good you’re doing for your community.
Better time management
When we have too much free time at work, we start slacking. Therefore, including community work into worker schedules can get people moving much more effectively. Volunteering encourages people to be efficient and more successful at managing their time which is a great practice for your company’s workforce.
Better perspective
When we’re stuck inside our bubble we don’t even know how to appreciate what we have. It’s easy to take your employment and your pay for granted unless you go out to see how less fortunate people live. When you and your employees go out and see the challenges others face daily can encourage everyone to work better and harder on their work tasks and volunteering tasks.
It creates healthier workers
Stress, anxiety, and depression are serious conditions in today’s world, and volunteering can greatly reduce the risks of these conditions. Community service puts people in contact with others, broadens their network, and creates a strong support system for every individual. This is especially true if your company chooses to help animals and pets, which can offer great stress and anxiety relief.
Workers of any age can benefit from volunteering for their health, especially senior workers. According to research, senior volunteers have lower premature death numbers, better overall health, and lessened symptoms of chronic diseases like chronic heart conditions and pain, which means lower absenteeism!
Helping your community is a great way to spend time and resources for all businesses, so make sure to add volunteering to your work schedule and let everyone reap the benefits.
