Impact of volunteering on organization culture
Posted by Beenish Rai on Wed, Apr 21, 2010 @ 02:41 AM
At times investing time and money in social activities leaves a notable impact on the culture of an organization. Getting your employees involved in philanthropic initiatives not only helps an organization fulfill its commitment towards corporate citizenship but also helps motivate its employees in general. No one denies that it feels good to be a part of a noble cause.
The majority of people who wish to be a part of philanthropic activities, may lack the enthusiasm to take initiative on their own. But once they are presented with the opportunity, you may find that they will take up the responsibility excitedly and be filled with pride once the goal is achieved.
It’s common that people like to get engaged in such activities in the company of their friends and acquaintances, as social activities give them an opportunity to relax and unwind. In this lies a great opportunity for organizations to plan team building activities for their employees. We can expect wondrous results if an organization is able to plan interesting volunteer programs and encourage their employees to participate as teams. The volunteer programs can also be a lot of fun if planned well.
One way is to plan excursion trips for employees to underprivileged areas where they can go and council young students living in suburban areas about choosing the right education and careers options. First Aid Training can be made mandatory for all employees and visits can be arranged to an area affected by natural disaster or let’s say to a military hospital. You could also take your employees out for a tree planting campaign or arrange charity walks on a weekend.
The activity based approach is much better than just making donations to charitable organizations as it greatly increases awareness of the cause. At Avanceon we have tried and tested this method and it has helped us improve working relationships between various groups of employees. One team was sent for a disaster management program. The team came back happy and satisfied. We were amazed to see they seemed to be more compassionate about their work commitments and the organization.
In the end it’s all about the contributions we make. So why not have more and more people help each other in doing good things? When caring for the community becomes a part of an organizations cultur, everyone wins.
Beenish Rai
Marketing & Communications Associate
Avanceon LP
email: brai@avanceon.com