Working for the Social Good
Give Back and Attract Millennials through Serving Others
Millennials are the largest component of the workforce — and will be for a long time. One way to recruit and retain the best is to tap into their passions. Millennials want to work for companies that contribute to the social good.
There are three practical steps your organization can take to inspire employees — and potential hires — who want to do good work, and contribute to good causes at the same time.
It’s not just about talent management: The companies that inspire giving back at work will also be sending that message to their fans and customers. “Cause-sumption” — or companies that sell goods and services along with their generous ideology — is a top consumer trend.
As a millennial myself, this rings true. I want to work at an agency that has a culture of giving back. I also want to spend my family’s dollars at companies that embrace a similar culture.
Three pieces of advice:
Find a cause your organization can get passionate about. There are countless ways to give back. But if your goal is to get your team members excited about working together toward the common good, you should pick something that resonates with them. There are two major benefits from tapping into this passion: You’ll have more colleagues bonding over a shared experience, and you’re more likely to have a successful end result in terms of things like funds raised, volunteer hours or food donated.
Pick something that has an easy method of entry. Think about how to make giving back joyful — not onerous. One example: Food drives. They’re something people of any financial means can participate in — which feels good — and they are critical to fighting food insecurity in your area.
Volunteering is wonderful, too, but try to make it easy for team members to volunteer together — the more the merrier! Also consider your team members’ precious time: If you can have teams volunteer during their regular working hours or close to it, do it.
Track and share success, and be transparent. Share the details and data surrounding your charitable event or giving-back programs. We recently held a multi-event fundraiser for the March of Dimes including a happy hour and a 5K walk. At the next staff meeting, we shared how many people attended each event, and how much money was raised. We also regularly report how many volunteer hours team members spend. It acknowledges the culture of giving, and encourages more people to participate.
The future of working for the social good:
I really think the future is going to bring a major transformation to giving back. There are a lot of companies that have programs that embrace this culture, but there are so many larger, pressing social issues. For organizations to stand out in the future — 10, 20 years from now — they are really going to need to make a bigger, revolutionary impact. It will be scary for the organizations that go first, but they’ll stand out and benefit from being the pioneers.
Originally published at room214.com.
Maya Shaff is an Account Director at Room 214. She helps helps lifestyle and CPG brands tell their stories through informed, strategic marketing initiatives and works with her clients to be courageous, even when it makes them uncomfortable. Follow her on Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat @OregonMaya.
