By Rachel Levenberry and Grace Biermacher

This time of year, it’s hard to avoid seeing an ad on your television for one of the many versions of the holiday classic, Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” This story has stood the test of time, in part because it reminds us that even the grumpiest of people (even stingy bosses like Ebenezer Scrooge) can redeem themselves and embrace the spirit of giving. As a month, December is especially ripe with opportunity for showing employees how much you, as their employer or supervisor, appreciate and care for them. By showing appreciation for your employees and community as a leader, you can create a more supportive (and successful) organizational culture.

Best Practices for Giving Back to Your Employees and Community

Leaders who care for their employees as human beings and their broader community strengthen company culture and staff commitment. A 2021 SHRM survey found that 84% of working Americans believe that a great workplace culture positively contributes to their organization’s bottom line.[1] So besides being a good thing to do, showing appreciation and caring to your colleagues and workforce, and to the broader community, can positively impact one’s business. To show how leaders can integrate a culture of giving into their organization, we’ve compiled a few best practices for giving back to your employees and community, including those Rockwood has found success implementing:

1. Partner with Wellness Organizations and Apps

Offering employees opportunities for engagement with one another and the community is crucial to employers looking to create a positive culture. For example, Rockwood sponsors quarterly wellness challenges on the Givhero app, which encourages employees to engage in wellness activities while earning donation points for local charities (which translate into monetary donations the company makes to the charity of the employee’s choice). GivHero’s activities may include physical fitness challenges, team canned food drives, or mental wellness activities. These challenges raise money for charities that staff have submitted and voted on. By choosing the charity, staff feel involved in supporting causes important to them while supporting their personal wellness. In Rockwood’s case (although there are alternative ways to contribute depending where you are located), teams gathered canned goods from friends and family and donated over 150 pounds of food to the Capital Area Food Bank during November’s “Week of Giving Back” challenge. Other options for GivHero’s wellness challenges include a steps per day goal, daily yoga, or even drinking the optimal amount of water each day.

In addition to Givhero challenges, leaders can promote mental health and wellness resources such as the Calm app, FitBit app, and Headspace, gym memberships, or spa treatments by providing a monthly wellness reimbursement.

2. Communicate Charitable Giving Impact Back to Staff

Communicating the impact of employees’ charitable engagements strengthens employee motivation to support one another and the community, embodying a culture of giving back. To do this, leadership can share participation stories, how much money the organization raised, thank you notes (or statements) from the selected charities, and transparency around the ways in which employee feedback was implemented.

3. Strong Company Benefits for Employees

Company benefits like Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) provide resources to employees on matters related to travel assistance, medical needs, counseling services, online trainings, webinars, workshops, and more. Per SHRM, EAPs “help employers reduce absenteeism, workers' compensation claims, health care costs, accidents, and grievances. In addition, they can address safety and security issues, improve employee productivity and engagement, and reduce costs related to employee turnover.”[2] With 79-percent of the employers surveyed for SHRM’s 2019 Employee Benefits report already offering an EAP, employers can’t afford to compete for talent without one.[3]

Additionally, unlimited sick leave allows employees time to focus on their health and not worry about getting back to work when they are struck down by a serious virus or infection. They can be confident that their team will cover for them when they most need help. Ultimately, unlimited sick leave fosters a supportive and trusting environment. Keep in mind, when offering employee benefits, it’s best to evaluate them on an annual basis to ensure they are in line with industry trends and support the current staff demographics.

Unlike that little elf that magically (and irritatingly for most parents) pops up this time of year, workplace culture will not simply sit on the shelf. Leaders who establish and reinforce a culture of engagement and giving back everyday experience high employee motivation, retention, and successful business outcomes.

[1] https://shrm-res.cloudinary.com/image/upload/v1634558723/Visionaries/Executive_Briefing_of_Culture_at_Work_Research_Report.pdf

[2] https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/toolkits/pages/managingemployeeassistanceprograms.aspx

[3] https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/toolkits/pages/managingemployeeassistanceprograms.aspx

[4] https://www.forbes.com/sites/causeintegration/2017/10/04/how-a-culture-of-giving-back-inspires-something-better-than-engagement/?sh=1e9dc7e875c1