For most companies, and particularly those in the B2B space, employees represent the most powerful brand communications channel. To be true brand ambassadors, employees must feel a sense of shared purpose, a fundamental connection to the company’s mission, vision and values, and an understanding of how they contribute to the company’s success. Engaging employees in CSR activities can go a long way towards building that connection.
According to an academic study in organizational psychology, employee volunteerism is correlated with employees’ level of engagement and feelings of support and autonomy from coworkers. This is an important insight, especially for large companies looking to engage and retain an sizeable workforce. The study concludes by expressing the hope that the study will “motivate employers who are not engaged in corporate volunteering to develop their own volunteering programs, through which they could provide additional motivation for a larger number of employees.”
There’s plenty of evidence that such a phenomenon is occuring. In 2017, Deloitte published a Volunteer IMPACT Survey, which focused on a culture of volunteerism’s effect on the workforce. The results?
These results show the impact that CSR activities can have on corporate culture and employee perceptions of their workplace. As we examined in our whitepaper “Branding Employee Volunteerism,” when companies create and engaging brand and communications around CSR initiatives, they can become culture-building activities. A sense of teamwork around volunteering, supported by shared goals, connects employees to the company-wide effort. And millenials themselves “have often been described as the most civic-minded generation to come along since World War II” (Deloitte). So if they have the passion for societal improvement and are looking for employers that share this passion, why not harness their enthusiasm in meaningful ways?
Achieving the right relationship between a company’s brand and its philanthropic or volunteer efforts is a delicate balancing act. But it’s well worth the effort. This whitepaper identifies four overarching principles that can guide a company in aligning corporate social responsibility activities with the corporate brand for authenticity and impact.
When it comes to maximizing the impact of corporate volunteer programs, a well thought-out branding and communications strategy can be your most powerful tool. This whitepaper shares seven principles for leveraging communications to enhance the long-term success and impact of your employee volunteer program.
Playwright Tom Stoppard once said, “Words are sacred…if you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.” We agree, especially when it’s time to discuss the good you do as acts of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility).
We took a look at the annual CSR reports from…