Volunteering may be the next retention and recruitment strategy

Most HR leaders would agree that what's good for people is usually good for business, a philosophy that is best supported by giving back to the community as a company. 

In-person volunteer rates are becoming increasingly popular, according to a new report from software company Blackbaud, making up 87% of all hours donated — a nearly 21% increase from 2021 and a 6% increase from 2022. Employee engagement in volunteer activities has also increased 17% from 2022, which employers should take as an indicator for how pivotal of a role they can play in their recruiting and retention strategies.   

"It's aligning with what's going on in the broader society," says Leila Saad, CEO of nonprofit Common Impact, which creates social impact programs for businesses. "For better or worse, we spend a lot of time at work and we now look to our workplace to really encourage community engagement and volunteering." 

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Since the pandemic, employees have become much more mindful of the companies they're working for — especially younger generations. In fact, in a recent poll conducted by consulting group Blue Beyond, 80% of employees said that working for a company with values that align with their own was very important, and just over half said they would quit their job if company values did not match their own.

As a result, a company's corporate social responsibility mission statement has never been more important than it is now, according to Saad, and it's in their best interest to revisit their strategies sooner rather than later. 

"At the moment, a lot of companies are just trying to figure out how to combine these practices with their business goals or how to fit them in general," she says. "There are two general approaches: traditional volunteerism and skills-based volunteerism." 

Traditional volunteering efforts are the most well-known and include initiatives like spending the day working at a soup kitchen or donating clothing items and food. Skills-based volunteering is when a group of individuals — in this case employees — donate their time and their skillset. For example, lawyers helping on a case pro-bono or tech workers helping set up WiFi in rural areas. The former improves a company's culture and the latter improves employee engagement, but both are equally important. 

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"With traditional volunteering there's a team-building component of spending the day with your colleagues that's very rewarding in and of itself," Saad says. "With a skill-based opportunity, you're also building on and developing new skills of your own, like problem solving or leadership or communication. A lot of companies offer both because there are multiple benefits between them." 

There are a number of ways employers can decide which causes to invest in, according to Saad, including working with a platform like Common Impact that helps them figure out options that align with the work they're doing. Organizations can also draw from personal experiences or issues within their immediate environment, as well as let their employees choose for themselves. Regardless of the route they choose, giving their workforce the opportunity to give back will only be beneficial in the long run. 

"Corporate volunteering has grown a lot and will only continue to grow more in the coming years," Saad says. "The way I see it, deepening and investing more in the opportunities is the best use of leveraging our corporate resources, expertise and our most important resource — our human resource — for the benefit of all of us in all of our communities."