We are all citizens of a dynamic and ever-changing world, yet, many employees find themselves working jobs that pose a threat of pigeonholing them to their 9 to 5 desk jobs. Employees spend almost ⅓ of their waking day at their jobs or doing tasks that can contribute to the betterment of their work or add value to their full-time job. A lack of a good work-life balance can take a toll on people, especially in monotonous jobs.
Monotony can take two forms: physical and mental. In a job, physical monotony is the repetition of the same physical action over and over again. Mental boredom might manifest itself in the repetition of the same task without consideration for how it is carried out, such as filling data in excel sheets day in and day out.
Monotony can impair staff morale, making them bored, exhausted, and lazy. This can also weigh on one’s creativity and enthusiasm to work. One way to help your employees avoid such monotony or exhaustion at work is by introducing employee engagement programs.
Employee engagement programs are those that attempt to bring out the best in the employees of an organization. These can be anything from joint team outings to intra-company sporting events, meant to give employees a break from their regular jobs. A study by Gallup found that only about 38% of employees felt engaged, involved, and enthusiastic about their jobs.
The most effective employee engagement program is one that helps employees grow professionally, enhance their performance, and stay happy at work. One way to achieve this is by introducing Corporate volunteering.
Corporate volunteering also known as employee volunteering can be an effective employee engagement activity for your organization. Here an organization encourages employees to volunteer as a way of giving back to the community.
The 2018 LinkedIn survey on workplace culture trends found that 46% of employees take pride in working for an organization that is socially responsible and making a positive impact.
Whether employees choose to volunteer online or in person, their skills will be enhanced and they will be able to make a positive impact on society. As most companies have people working remotely, virtual volunteering programs can be the best option for your corporate engagement program. We have listed a few ways in which employee volunteering can boost employee engagement.
Volunteering can be a good break from the routine tasks that employees perform regularly. While virtual volunteering, employees can choose the skills they wish to volunteer and help society with. If a finance executive has a passion for writing or an IT professional has the skills of a marketer, they give their passions a shot all the while helping the world become a better place. Volunteering is an activity performed on a short-term basis and can be a great way to try out different professional roles.
A skill-based volunteering program is an excellent way to help your employees. Volunteering gives employees a new viewpoint and a lot more opportunities to develop skills they already possess. It provides individuals with leadership and development opportunities that they might not have had access to in their job. Furthermore, it allows them to work with a variety of resources and new teams, which exposes them to new possibilities and challenges and also nurtures creativity.
The more employees are incentivized to volunteer, the more engaged they are at work. This includes increased productivity, employee happiness, and enhanced morale among employees. Volunteering gives people a sense of purpose and fulfillment. Employees who work for companies that have volunteer programs are more engaged, and they report having more autonomy and support from their coworkers and bosses.
It's no surprise that engaged employees outperform their non-engaged counterparts. Because they care about what they do, they tend to work faster and make fewer mistakes. Furthermore, if employees believe the company is socially conscious and has their best interests at heart, they tend to trust their company more. All of this is beneficial to production and, as a result, to the bottom line. Organizations with a high level of employee engagement are 17 percent more productive and 21 percent more rewarding in general.
Most nonprofits aim to be self-sufficient full-fledged organizations but due to a lot of factors such as the lack of funds and amenities, they need to rely on the generosity of volunteers. When corporations include volunteering as part of their employee engagement strategy, they allow nonprofits to gain access to highly talented individuals who would otherwise be unavailable pro bono. With the appropriate framework in place, charities can do so much more with their employees' time than just encourage them to help with fundraising, whether it's collaborating with marketers to develop a brand strategy or working with operational staff to increase internal efficiencies.
Employee engagement initiatives are usually part of a broader scheme designed to help develop an employee’s affiliation to their organization, improve their performance and keep them happy at their jobs. By adding any form of volunteering (virtual or in-person) to your employee engagement strategy, you can help your organization be socially conscious while helping your employees on a personal and professional level.
Chezuba is a virtual volunteering platform that is designed to help corporations seeking to engage their employees in virtual volunteering programs. We have tied up with thousands of nonprofits from around the world, supporting a wide range of causes. Request a demo with us to understand how Chezuba can help your organization.
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