The time when employee volunteering was simply a good thing to do to create social impact is becoming a thing of the past. This is because business owners and managers recognise it provides significant commercial benefits, including increasing staff productivity and adding to the financial value of companies.
Productivity
Major research by Pro Bono Economics has, for the first time, put an actual price on the value of productivity gains resulting from staff volunteering. It found that in the case of professional and managerial positions, it is annually worth £4,551 per person.
This is reflected in a study by Gallup that established that workplace engagement levels resulting from volunteering increase productivity by 18%, leading to an increase in profitability of 23%.
But in fact, there is a much more impressive commercial factor linked to company volunteer programmes. An investigation by the Great Place to Work Institute discovered that businesses that establish a sense of purpose and clear direction within the workplace, typically through employee volunteering, can produce an additional 6.9% higher company market valuation.
This percentage figure can be very impressive for large businesses with a stock market listing. For example, in the case of an FT 250 company worth £2 billion, the 6.9% translates to £138 million. The huge number involved may relate to the higher end of the company scale, but the equation applies to every business.
Volunteering strengthens teamwork
Volunteering really helps optimise teamwork. A report published recently in the Journal of Applied Behavioural Science reported that staff members who come together and volunteer establish stronger group dynamics and increase collective performance at work.
The act of jointly contributing to a socially positive activity produces a sense of unity, which increases levels of inter-company collaboration and boosts output. It also reduces hierarchy barriers, enhances relationships, and improves communication between colleagues.
Generating new skills
Volunteering inevitably involves individuals being placed in new roles, requiring new skills. This includes different forms of problem-solving and enhancing one-to-one communication with people. No shortage of research finds a direct link between skills learned from volunteering and applying them to work.
A study by Accenture found that 76% of employees said they developed essential new work skills through volunteer roles, but two groups particularly benefited. Young employees in the formative stages of employment, and women returning to work. In both cases, the benefits are disproportionately higher than those of other demographics.
Volunteering Is The Best Wellbeing Tool
Believe it or not, volunteering is by far the best way to improve employee wellbeing. The Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford has made the ground-breaking discovery that staff volunteering trumps all other company wellbeing options. It found that other types of programmes and interventions fail to significantly make improvements, but volunteering works.
The Oxford research involved 46,000 UK employees and uncovered the fact that, unlike other wellness programmes, volunteering genuinely boosts employee wellbeing. By doing away with company relaxation rooms, specialist apps, yoga classes, and other staff wellness provisions, money can be saved, and focus can be put on a strategy that works.
Boosting talent retention and recruitment
After COVID, something extraordinary happened within the UK workforce, particularly among professionals. People started leaving their jobs in huge numbers, triggering what became known as the Great Resignation. It happened because individuals wanted much more from their jobs than just pay. They sought a sense of wider purpose.
The motivation for the employment phenomenon is reflected in a study by McKinsey, which found that the more robust a company’s ESG programme, the better talent it attracts. In younger demographics, this is an even more significant factor. An extensive survey by Randstad of 35,000 employees found that nearly 50 per cent of Millennials and Gen Zs will not work for a company unless it mirrors their social and environmental attitudes.
An investigation by Points of Light Foundation found that 82% of staff involved in company volunteer programmes experience improved job satisfaction. The Value of Volunteering study found that 79% of employees experience significant improvement in their sense of work mission, with more than two-thirds saying they have greater motivation at work.
Volunteer Suffolk
For many business owners and managers, employee volunteering was considered a good thing if and when time and resources allowed. But with a growing realisation that it has real commercial attributes, it is likely to become a mainstream practice.
Adopting or enhancing a staff volunteering strategy can seem time-consuming when more pressing matters call for attention. However, it is made easier by the free assistance of Volunteer Suffolk. It provides a full range of volunteering consultancy. It can source charity and voluntary organisations that will help fast-track programmes, and it is usually possible to source one that reflects the company’s function or brand positioning. Volunteer Suffolk can be contacted by emailing volunteering@communityactionsuffolk.org.uk.
