To Boost Employee Wellbeing, Consider Embracing Volunteerism

How can employers boost happiness among their workers, while also increasing engagement and loyalty? To improve employee wellbeing, volunteerism may be your best bet.
Research published in the Industrial Relations Journal found that workplace-sponsored employee volunteering opportunities increased life and job satisfaction, self-rated mental health and work engagement. They were shown to be even more effective than traditional wellbeing interventions, such as mindfulness and stress management classes.
Research from Ares Management also makes the case for volunteerism. Looking at employees in five countries, the study found that 79% of employees who participated in volunteer programs at work were satisfied with their job overall compared to only 55% of employees who did not participate in volunteer programs at work. Employees who participated in workplace volunteer programs also had higher approval rates for their organization’s culture and the leadership team.

How Volunteerism Boosts Wellbeing

Have you ever felt great after doing something kind for someone? According to Mental Health America, there is a link between consistently helping others and a reduction in depression, a greater feeling of calm, less pain, and better health. People who consistently help others may even live longer.
Since volunteering is one way to help others, people who volunteer may experience all the health benefits that come with helping others. For employers, this means a volunteer program could help workers become less depressed, reduce stress, and even improve physical health – advantages that may boost productivity and lower healthcare costs.
Volunteering for a cause they believe in also gives people a sense of purpose. Psychology Today says having a sense of purpose improves both physical and mental health. Once again, this makes workplace volunteerism programs attractive to employers that are looking for ways to boost engagement and productivity while lowering healthcare costs.

Should You Add Volunteerism to Your Benefits and Perks?

A volunteer program may provide significant benefits to the employees and the company. Before embracing volunteerism, though, it’s important to consider whether it’s a good choice for your company.

• Can you commit to promoting the volunteer program? Ares Management found that 70% of employees want executive leadership to commit to the volunteer activities their organization offers. When employees don’t participate in workplace volunteer programs, 53% say it’s because it’s not a priority for their leadership. If you launch a volunteer program but then don’t promote it or get upper management to encourage participation, there’s a good chance the program will fail. On the other hand, if executives and managers buy into the program, it may end up being a huge success.
• Are your employees interested in volunteer programs? Before launching a program, it may be helpful to gauge interest among your workers. This will also give you a chance to find out what type of volunteer program would appeal to your employees, which will help you design a successful program.

Pitfalls to Avoid When Adding Employee Volunteer Opportunities

A volunteer program may be highly beneficial, but before you decide to move forward with a volunteer program, there are a few potential problems to make sure you avoid:

• Focusing on causes your workers don’t care about. Maybe someone in your HR team is dedicated to catch-and-release programs that spay and neuter feral cats to keep populations under control. The company organizes a volunteer program to help a local catch-and-release organization. However, the rest of your workforce doesn’t care about this cause. In fact, a couple of your workers believe these programs do more harm than good and share their views with all their coworkers. Participation in the volunteer program is low, resulting in the idea being abandoned. To avoid this problem, choose a program most people will be passionate about or let employees pick their own cause.
• Choosing divisive causes. Few people will object to organizations that help sick kids, but what about organizations that provide access to gender-affirming care for minors? Some causes are highly divisive. If your organization chooses one of these causes for its volunteer program, you may end up bringing drama to the workplace. This could have a detrimental impact on workplace morale. To avoid this problem, choose a program that everyone can get behind or let employees pick their own cause.
• Adding volunteer programs that create extra work. Let’s say you pick a volunteer program your company leaders are passionate about and it’s a good cause that no one objects to. There’s just one problem: everyone is encouraged to participate in the volunteer program on the weekend – and they won’t receive extra pay for their time. Many of your workers have family obligations or other plans, but since management is pushing the volunteer program, they’re afraid to say no. Participation is high, but many employees grow resentful. To avoid this problem, carve out time from employees’ work schedules to allow them to participate without increasing their overall workload. This is a big part of what makes volunteer programs a workplace perk.
• Ignoring bigger issues. Adding a volunteer program won’t increase wellbeing if other issues are at play. Employers may also need to resolve other issues impacting wellbeing, such as a toxic work environment or unreasonable workloads.

How to Add Employee Volunteer Opportunities

Employers that want to launch employee volunteer opportunities have a few options:

• Sponsor corporate volunteer days and events. For example, your company could form a team to participate in a charity run or host a fundraising event for a nonprofit. The advantage to this approach is your volunteer program will pull double duty as a teambuilding exercise while giving your company good publicity. The downsides are it may require some administrative work and you’ll need to select a cause that everyone is excited about.
• Give employees paid time off for volunteer work. For example, you could give employees one day a month off from work to volunteer at any nonprofit organization of their choice. You could also encourage workers to share how they spend their time and use this for some good publicity for the program, your workers, and your company. The advantages of this approach are everyone picks a cause they care about and the amount of administrative work for your HR team is minimal. The downside is everyone is doing their own thing, meaning you won’t necessarily gain any teambuilding benefits. There’s also a risk employees will pick controversial causes that you don’t want connected to your company.
• Take a hybrid approach. Some companies incorporate both approaches into their strategy, planning one or two corporate volunteer events, while also giving employees some paid time off to spend volunteering.

How Well Does Your Benefits Package Support Employee Wellbeing?

A volunteer program may be a great way to boost employee wellbeing, but it’s just one component of your overall employee benefits strategy.
Need help designing a cost-effective employee benefits package that helps you attract and retain talent? Altura Benefits can help you craft a benefits package to serve the needs of your team. We offer a full suite of employee benefits services and earned countless five-star reviews from Utah employers. Learn more.