Employees are your greatest brand ambassadors as they live and breathe a company’s values both written and unwritten. Their lives will inadvertently be a reflection of what a company stands for and what it aspires to be.
As such, employee communication can be a challenging job as you are reaching out to your toughest critics who may also be your strongest advocates.
Developing a successful corporate volunteering programme
Here are some things that I have picked up over the years working on corporate responsibility and employee volunteering programmes for different companies:
- There is more to life than just work
People cry out for more meaning in their work beyond the everyday grind. They want to see that what they do will have an impact on the larger scheme of things that simply goes beyond the company bottom line.
We want to see that what we do will have a positive impact on our families, communities and nation long after we are gone and this is where I believe a well designed and delivered corporate responsibility programme can empower employees to create meaning beyond their 9 to 5 work to give back their expertise to their communities in areas that they are passionate about.
This not only provides meaning but enables them to bring new insight, strength and purpose back to their work. This moves work from simply being a means to an end to becoming a gift of ourselves (our time, energy and effort) that we can offer to our children and future generations.
- Reaching out to influence the community
Employee volunteer programmes allow us to sow the seeds of change in the local community by instilling positive business and life values such as innovation, equal opportunity, diversity, teamwork, compassion and so many others through the positive examples of employees. Nothing speaks louder than to see an employee living out the values that a company expounds in its vision and mission statement.
A simple blood donation or collection for charity reminds us that it is not about what separates us from one another but what unites us at a deeper level as part of the human family.
- Allow employees to give of themselves.
Corporate giving is sometimes measured in dollars, but the key to creating a successful employee volunteering programme is to allow employees to give more than money.
An employee’s time, energy and expertise can be far more valuable in meeting a community need. Staff who donate their time to mentor weak students at a local school could have a far greater impact on the student’s lives than a cash donation any day.
In a materialistic world, we may think that throwing money at a problem will fix it but sometimes what is desperately needed is someone to take time out to show that they care.
My own life has been made all the richer through the many people that I have gotten to know through theses types of programmes over the years.
A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business – Henry Ford
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