By now, you’ve read the headlines, scanned the article, and listened to the talking head experts opine about the evils of the modern office place. Amazon is now the symbol of the modern day Victorian factory – a place where people toil ungodly hours for a faceless corporation, receive little in compensation and struggle to keep themselves and their families healthy. The curtain behind your Prime account is starting to lift, and this week, Amazon fought back with choice words (just as the All-American lawsuit begins to take off).
Our pal Ryan Scott at Causecast wrote a great article last week making the link between Amazon’s disengagement and its lack of community service programs. Scott outlined what many have been saying for years: Amazon is far behind every major company on the planet when it comes to supporting the communities in which it operates.
But is Amazon the only company failing to maximize its efforts to engage its employees in the community? Or is every company in the tech industry “making the world a better place”, as the show Silicon Valley satirically claims?
The answer is somewhere in the middle. The tech industry is likely a microcosm of the entire practice of corporate citizenship. There are good guys – Google, Cisco, and Facebook all recently made the Top 10 in Fortune Magazine’s annual Change the World index. There are “middle of the pack” companies who provide dollars for doers and matching gift programs, happy with less than 10% participation rates. And, as stated above, there are laggards – Amazon being one of them.
Back in April, I wrote about Deloitte’s proclamation of a “looming engagement crisis” around the world. Given that Amazon’s exposé has reignited the discussion on disengagement in the office, we’ve republished the list below as a reminder of how a strategic corporate volunteering program can help eliminate the engagement crisis. Click here to see the original post.
How Volunteering Engages Your Employees
87% of employees who volunteered with their companies reported an improved perception of their employer, while 94% of employee volunteers believed volunteerism was a core component or positive influence on job satisfaction.
When companies act pro-socially, employees view themselves in a positive light, generating trust between you and your employee.
A company’s commitment to the community can live or die with middle management – employees will believe in their boss if they know they meaningfully support causes they care about.
64% of employees who actively volunteer said that volunteering with work colleagues has strengthened their work relationships. Millennials who frequently participate in their company’s volunteer activities are twice as likely to rate their corporate culture as very positive, as compared to Millennials who rarely or never volunteer.
In a major study by the University of Georgia, employees who volunteered “worked harder, were more willing to help their colleagues, [talked] positively about their company, [and] were less likely to waste time at work or miss meetings.” They just tend to be better performing individuals.
For people that volunteered within the last year:
- 74% say that volunteering makes them feel healthier.
- 94% say that volunteering improves their mood.
- 78% say that volunteering lowers their stress levels.
A 2008 study found that companies that enable employees to volunteer produce affective commitment, creating a warm perception of themselves and the organization they work for as helpful, caring, and benevolent.
Do you work for a tech company? Want to learn more about how community service can engage your colleagues more? Give us a call. We’re always happy to chat.
Corey Diamond
Partner, Business Operations
coreydiamond@realizedworth.com
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