Encouraging Volunteerism Can Improve the Bottom Line, Study Shows

Sarasota, FL (WorkersCompensation.com) – Employees who have a "best friend" at work drive higher profits for their companies, and have fewer safety incidents and more engaged customers, according to years of research. A new study sheds light on how company-sponsored volunteering can foster social bonding as well as greater identification with their employers. The results may be especially relevant during the pandemic, as it can address issues such as isolation and mental health conditions.

“Our results provide some additional insight into the mechanisms through which volunteering in company-sponsored programs improves both health and job performance,” said the study, published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. “Employers should sponsor volunteer activities and provide workplace flexibility, because employees who volunteer have greater individual wellbeing and also higher levels of pro-employer outcomes such as engagement and job satisfaction.”

Volunteerism

Researchers from Stanford University and the Institute of Economic Studies in London conducted a study to gain more insight into the reasons behind benefits of volunteering to determine how it could be most effectively constructed.

They analyzed data from 53,268 employee responses collected in 2018 and 2019 through Britain’s Healthiest Workplace initiative. The annual survey of organizations and their employees gathers answers to a variety of questioned answered online.  

“The associations between individual and work outcomes (physical and mental health, risk for depression, job satisfaction, work engagement) and volunteering were analyzed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) while statistically controlling for a number of employees’ socio-economic characteristics (gender, age, income, ethnicity, education, and job position) that were themselves related to the likelihood of employee volunteering,” they wrote. “SEM is a theory-driven data analytical approach for evaluation of a priori specified hypotheses about causal relations among measured and/or latent variables.”

The researchers found that part of the reason volunteering is effective is because it increases the social bonding among coworkers. That may be explained from previous research that shows the impact of workers who have close relationships with one another.

“Our results provide evidence consistent with the idea that one way that volunteering affects employee well-being is through deepening employees’ ties with their coworkers,” according to the study. “Summarizing years of research conducted by Gallup, Mann noted that by moving the proportion of respondents saying that they had a best friend at work from 20% to 60%, companies could have 12% higher profit, 36% fewer safety incidents, and 7% more engaged customers.”

Volunteering among employees was also shown to enhance their identification with their employers, in line with prior studies. “Volunteering can increase people’s identification with their employer because of the opportunity to engage in activities that provide employees with more meaning in their lives,” the authors wrote. In a 2017 survey of nearly 3,000 people by United Healthcare “three-quarters of respondents [said] that volunteering made them feel physically and emotionally healthier and feeling better about their employer, and 91% believing that it was important for an employer to permit them to volunteer on paid time.”

Employer-sponsored Volunteer Programs

Organizations that sponsor volunteer programs and offer workplace flexibility policies were shown to increase the likelihood that employees would volunteer. Those who volunteered reported better health, less risk of depression and increased levels of job engagement and satisfaction.

“Company-sponsored volunteer programs, ranging from worktime dedicated for volunteering activities in the community to employer-organized events (e.g., workshops, fundraisers), have become increasingly popular, with more than 90% of Fortune 500 companies reporting having run such a program,” according to the study. “They are often seen as part of a corporation’s social responsibility initiatives and therefore as an integral part of its branding as a good corporate citizen. Volunteering can provide benefits to the company that sponsors the volunteer activities.”

Understanding the drivers of effective volunteering among employees can lead employers to capitalize on the success of their volunteer programs. “Social bonding occurs through informal interactions in a pleasant setting, which suggests that providing good food and beverages and time for employees to socialize during their volunteering would be useful,” the authors advised. “Employer identification could be enhanced through messaging about the employer’s volunteering programs in company newsletters and other media, and providing evidence of the results of volunteering efforts and the employees and organizations served would increase a sense of pride in the company. Additional employee identification could come from having volunteering and its effects receive media coverage.”

Volunteering During COVID

The pandemic, especially with the recent spike in infections due to the Omicron variant may create challenges to some in-person volunteering activities. However, various companies and individuals have found some creative approaches.

For example, Liberty Mutual was poised to cancel an annual service event when it received pushback from employees who wanted to volunteer. That led to the creation of the Torchbearers Calling initiative, where employees connect to isolated community members.

A college student in Nevada started ‘Shopping Angels’ to provide free grocery deliveries to the elderly and others who may be at increased risk of severe effects from the virus. Med students in Minnesota provide help to healthcare professionals through MN COVIDsitters, in which volunteers provide such services as childcare and pet sitting.

Random Acts of Kindness Day, Feb. 17, presents an opportunity to help out others. Among the organization’s suggestions are:

Compliment at least 5 people

1. Let the person in line behind you go ahead of you
2. Leave happy notes around town
3. Babysit for a single mom for free.
4. Sit next to someone who is sitting alone at lunch
5. Help an elderly neighbor take out the trash or mow their lawn

Share This Article: