We’re in the midst of breast cancer awareness month and it’s got me thinking about the positive effects of doing good.
We all face challenges and tragedy. I’ve personally survived thyroid cancer and while I watched my mom beat breast cancer, I watched my father succumb to lung cancer.
I wish it were different, but in this day and age we all know someone.
As business leaders, we get to set the tone for the role our company will have in our employee’s lives and in our community. What a tremendous honor, responsibility and opportunity! So why not set a tone that’s not only understanding of our employee’s health issues and those of their families, but open to giving them opportunities to give back?
Find a cause that matters to you and your employees first. Or let them choose what they’d like to contribute. And do what you can – sometimes it will only be a few hours a year, while some of you will be able to offer more. What matters more than anything is that there is openness and space to give back.
Giving back yourself – and allowing your employees to give back – is good for more than feeling good about yourself.
It’s also an important ingredient in employee satisfaction and even retention.
On the satisfaction front, I recently wrote about the positive effects of doing good and the impact on morale.
As a reminder – philanthropic activities help build employee engagement by strengthening four key areas:
- Gratitude: When employers give staff members the opportunity to give back, they feel a sense of gratitude to the organization for giving them this chance. This strengthens their emotional connection with your business.
- Productivity: An engaged employee is a more productive worker. Employees become more engaged with their team as they all work toward a common goal. This drives down absenteeism and career apathy while boosting productivity and employee satisfaction.
- Ethical Behavior: As employees engage in altruistic endeavors, they develop a personal identity that leads to more ethical decision-making. Working ethically becomes a part of the corporate culture.
- Pride: When your team members feel proud about the charitable work they do, this sense of pride is transferred back to the company. Corporate pride ties in directly with employee engagement.
So consider giving some of your time and letting your employees volunteer for a cause that’s meaningful to them – it will likely help keep them around longer and that can only be good for you.
I promise you, like the time you spend with those you love, you won’t regret it.
By Blair Koch
