Does your company give back to charity? Perhaps you have a charity partner that you work with all year, or you participate in national charity days throughout the year. Maybe you do neither, and perhaps it is not even on your organisational radar? Having initiatives within your organisation that allows your employees to give back is important. Your company has a real opportunity to make a difference to people's lives and encouraging your staff to do so as well can be no bad thing surely?

YOUR EMPLOYEES

Giving back can not only provide employees with a real sense of achievement, it also connects them to a company that demonstrates it cares about people. It inevitably helps build the physiological contract. If they are also able to give back during the working week it can also help create a sense of well-being. Many people want to get involved but simply don’t prioritise it in their lives. There is also a tangible link to reducing stress because often employees can do something altruistic without having to find time in a jam-packed schedule or take time away from their family. It can also help define your brand identity and strengthen your company values. To the outside world you will be seen as an ethical and trustworthy business that cares about people. It’s also a great way to reinforce with your current workforce that they made the ‘employer choice’, especially as the next generation of talent is growing increasingly concerned about the communities within which they exist.

THE NEXT GENERATION

Not only that but it’s a great way to differentiate yourself from your competitors and attract and retain top talent, especially when we’re in an age where our future workforce highly rate organisation’s that actively practise giving back. With the average age bracket of those employed in the recruitment industry as being 22-33 years, most recruitment agencies are heavily populated with millennials and the next generation of millennials are growing increasingly concerned with whether a company commits to its wider social responsibility. Kellie McElhaney, Faculty Director of Haas Centre for Responsible Business says "The Millennial generation has seen a lot of natural disasters, political disasters and corporate disasters. They think the world is screwed up." And, "They feel personally responsible, and they feel empowered to create change." That's why according to a survey from Business Time, 70% of millennials (those aged 18-26) say a company's commitment to the community has an influence on their decision to work there.

By CEO, Michelle Watson

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