How Volunteering Benefits Your Business

Ever wonder why corporate volunteering has grown so big over the last decade?

The paid time off for volunteering starts at about 40 hours a year with companies such as the software firm VMware,   the medical technologies giant Stryker, and the tech company NetApp. It is slightly higher (48) at Salesforce and Autodesk, goes up to 80 with the healthcare giant Novo Nordisk and is unlimited at Deloitte.

Many of the bigger corporations have now created their internal volunteering programs aligned with the causes they support. IBM, for example, allocates teams to tackle specific community problems in emerging countries, an experience that IBM employees describe as invaluable.

At the same time, many other organisations have teamed up with non-profits that provide volunteering opportunities for their employees.

And it is not just large multinationals that let employees donate time, knowledge, and skills to those in need. A lot of smaller, local companies have followed suit both in the US and here in Europe, including in Ireland.

So why the volunteering fever?

I believe the main reason has to do with what Mahatma Ghandi once said:

The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.

It’s that meaning and sense of purpose that we so excessively seem to lack in the consumerism-driven and hectic life of today, that volunteering and helping others gives us.

And it’s not that business has suddenly become concerned with the sense of fulfillment of employees, but meaning has become an important factor directly impacting employee retention rates. Retention is a huge issue in many industries today causing businesses to lose hundreds of thousands every year.

Volunteering adds meaning and purpose to the job. It also allows for philanthropic efforts that enhance the company’s reputation and brand.

But there are some other great benefits of volunteering that companies who engage in it have shared. Here are a few:

It brings teams together –

Chances are many of your employees probably never communicate with each other outside the office. Even if employees like each other, the office setting creates boundaries. As a result, they typically only get to know each other’s work side.

Volunteering brings them together in a completely different environment where they get to share a different experience and oftentimes a fun experience. As a result, they loosen up and get to know each other better in a way that team-building activities couldn’t get them to do. It’s just that many people don’t like having to participate in team-building events and this creates barriers.

Volunteering is a more natural experience that predisposes people to open up and that makes your workforce a much stronger team as a whole.

It develops leadership and other skills –

Volunteering puts employees in a new environment. They tackle problems that differ from their usual work challenges. This, in turn, helps them develop leadership skills, interpersonal skills, organisational skills, etc.

An article in the Stanford Social and Innovation Review called Skill-Based Volunteering: The New Executive Training Ground says that “today’s volunteers are tomorrow’s leaders”.

IBM employees in the example have highlighted the tremendous benefits of volunteering. They’ve gained valuable insights that they now apply in the workplace.

It enriches employees personally –

Volunteering presents unique challenges that differ from work. It also helps develop new skills to address these challenges. The overall experience of volunteering is even more valuable.

Seeing a different reality helps employees gain a new perspective. It also fosters an understanding of the complexity of social issues. As a result, some employees develop qualities like emotional intelligence and compassion. They may also feel gratitude for what they have.

It sparks innovation –

Direct contact with people in need, or hearing about their issues, prompts employees to think about the causes. This inspires them to develop potential solutions through products and services.

On other occasions, the volunteering experience gives them an insight into trends, needs, and market niches that haven’t been explored. This sparks innovation and innovation is the single most important pre-requisite not only for survival in the highly competitive markets of today but also for business growth.

Yes, volunteering offers various benefits, business and personal alike. Professor Cassie Mogilner’s research, discussed in the Harvard Business Review, shows that volunteering makes you feel like you have more time.

At the same time, researchers from the London School of Economics have examined the relationship between volunteering and happiness. What they’ve found is that volunteering builds empathy, strengthens social bonds, and makes you smile which in turn increases the feeling of love.

There have also been studies that conclude that there are great health benefits related to acts of kindness such as volunteering.

Not that one needs an incentive or a reason to do good and give back. As Winston Churchill once said:

We make a living by what we get but we make a life by what we give.

However, it is nice knowing that apart from giving us personal satisfaction, it also makes us healthier and happier, right?