Companies are starting to take corporate social responsibility seriously. Each year, more and more groups are starting to see that making an impact on their community and the world is important for their business and for mankind in general.
There’s also a great side benefit to community involvement: it boosts employee engagement within the organization. Community engagement leads to happier employees who more strongly identify with their workplace. Employees who are passionate about what they do are also more likely to attract other quality employees.
Happy Employees
Every once in a while, every person needs to be involved and active in something that is bigger than themselves. Human beings are built to make an impact and often enjoy helping other people.
Science is starting to prove that the secret to happiness is serving others. By providing opportunities for employees to be involved in the community, the company is fostering happy workers.
Happy people make the best employees. They provide the best service to their customers and to their colleagues. They are also more engaged with the mission of the business when they know they are a part of something bigger than themselves.
Value-Based Identity
Engaging in the community also establishes the identity of a company. It tells employees what kind of company they are working for. Community engagement shows them that they are the type of people that work for a company that cares.
When that happens, it makes the company more human. It communicates to them that the company doesn’t just care about the bottom line, but that it also cares about people.
When employees see that the company genuinely cares for the community, it instills trust in them that the company cares for them as employees too.
New Quality Employees
In a recent survey by Career Builder, researchers found that 82% of employees viewed referrals as their best source of new employees.
When those quality employees love their jobs, engage with a company and enjoy the fact they are part of something bigger than themselves, they will recruit their friends and families to join them.
The ROI for community involvement is much bigger than what a company sees on paper. The internal rewards of employee engagement alone will reap great benefits for years to come.