How to engage your employees in your volunteering program

Creating a culture of volunteerism within your company can help improve employee engagement, recruitment, and retention as well as optimise corporate visibility.

However, sometimes it can be challenging to encourage employee volunteer participation. We work with businesses of all sizes to run corporate volunteering programs and have a few tried and tested tips to help you build participation in your employee volunteering program. Companies that have succeeded in this area tend to recognise employees for their volunteer contribution and ensure they understand how it can help their career growth. They also have buy-in at a leadership level to encourage participation.

Sell the benefits of volunteering to your employees

According to Deloitte’s “2017 Volunteerism Survey”, many employees understand the value of volunteering and have the desire to do more, but weren’t aware how volunteerism can contribute to career advancement and developing new skills.

Consider communicating with your employees that participating in your volunteer program can:

• Increase opportunities for employees to explore and develop new areas of expertise
• Help them develop new skills such as leadership, teamwork, organisational skills, etc.
• Create great career advancement opportunities.

Offer a choice of volunteer opportunities

Employees participate in corporate volunteer programs for a variety of reasons, including team building, increasing their own skills, and very importantly, to explore their individual passions. With this in mind, it is essential to offer employees a choice of volunteer opportunities so they can choose the cause(s) that matter most to them.

Recognise your volunteers

Recognition strategies help raise awareness and motivation within the employee base and also provide an opportunity to raise community awareness about the great work employee volunteers do. Ways you can celebrate and recognise your volunteers include:

• Share stories and photos of volunteers internally and externally. Develop a regular schedule of these stories and use communication vehicles that will reach as many employees and external audiences as possible (e.g., intranet, newsletters, social media, company magazine, website, CSR report, annual report, local media, etc.)
• Distribute a personal thank you letter from the CEO to all volunteers
• Depending on time, budget and scope of your volunteer program, hold a Volunteer of the Month (or quarter) award. The winner could get a certificate of appreciation signed by the CEO, a prime parking space, or a photo and profile in high-traffic areas to inspire other employees
• Host an annual lunch, dinner, or other special events to highlight the work volunteers do
• Create a point system based on the number of hours volunteered or other outputs and have volunteers turn their points into rewards like gift certificates or branded merchandise.

Let employees see that leadership team is on board

Corporates that run employee engagement activities with Landcare Australia often report that events with senior leadership in attendance generate more signups from employees than those without.

Click here for information about how your organisation can participate in Landcare Australia’s Employee Engagement Program.

National Volunteer Week takes place from 21-27 May and is a great opportunity to give your volunteering program the push it needs. This year’s theme is Give a little. Change a lot.

If you’re looking for something later in the year, check out the article about getting hands-on with Landcare in Landcare Week 2018.