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Business leaders have been scrambling to find new ways to keep workers happy and engaged over the past few years—from offering on-site therapy, to fitness classes and time management courses. But they may be skimping out on one benefit proven to have a real impact on employee wellness.
Employee volunteer programs have a positive correlation with worker retention, wellbeing, and engagement, according to a study published earlier this year by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford. And workers who participated in volunteering and purpose programs were 52% less likely to leave their companies, according to a 2022 talent retention study from Benevity, a donation, volunteer, and grant management platform.
“Employee volunteerism does have all of these benefits, and companies are investing a lot of time and energy into developing high quality programs,” Saara Kaudeyr, corporate research manager of Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose (CECP), a business counsel and network that helps companies with their purpose initiatives, told Fortune.
When it comes to building a meaningful and successful volunteering program, workplace experts and companies with robust programs like Cisco and Salesforce tell Fortune that there are certain fundamentals that are key for success: accessible programming, diversity of options, and executives who champion their company’s philanthropy.
Salesforce, a cloud-based software company, finds it crucial to hold volunteering events in-office so that employees can give back without having to travel—a convenience that contributed to their 75% participation rate among more than 70,000 employees.
And Kelly Petrich, the director of global community impact at Cisco, says that offering different options is essential to their volunteer programs’ success so that employees “can find the thing that maybe drives their own personal purpose.” Cisco says it has a volunteer participation rate of around 85% out of around 75,000 workers, and offers activities like urban farming, library assistance, and theater programming.
If you’re interested in creating or enhancing your company’s volunteering program, check out what experts had to say, and read the full story here.
Emma Burleigh
emma.burleigh@fortune.com
@EmmaBurleigh1
Around the Table
A round-up of the most important HR headlines.
A slew of banking companies—including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Bank of America—are reassessing and changing their DEI initiatives. Bloomberg
Ohio regulators fined CVS more than $1.5 million, citing understaffing, mishandling of drugs, prescription delays, and a general lack of cleanliness. New York Times
Former Twitter executives sued Elon Musk for not paying their severance packages, which collectively adds up to around $128 million. Wall Street Journal
White-collar workers now live about twice as far from their offices compared to pre-pandemic times. New York Times
Watercooler
Everything you need to know from Fortune.
Abrupt layoff. After a year-long fight for better benefits, Youtube Music’s unionized workers were abruptly fired mid-city council meeting while testifying for higher pay. —Chloe Berger
Straight to work. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon says education has focused too much on college, and not enough on jobs. He wants to see more high-school graduates landing $60,000 salaries. —Eleanor Pringle
Intense struggles. In a corporate environment increasingly hostile towards DEI, Black professional women face great difficulty in navigating their careers. —Terry Tang, Michael Casey, AP
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