This year welcomed a new administration in the White House. As we discovered, the new administration poses questions for businesses and corporations within the country as it operates and functions in the world of community engagement. Many large, well-known organizations, especially those in the tech industry, are directly facing the effects of new regulations and changes in policy. With the rising interest and passion in social, economic, and environmental issues, having a strategy to support them is crucial.
- 74% of employees say they feel more fulfilled by their job when they can make positive impacts on social and environmental issues
- 70% would be more loyal to the company that helps them contribute to issues they feel are important
- 55% of people would take a smaller salary to work for a socially responsible company
- 51% won’t work for a company that doesn’t have strong social or environmental commitments
A corporate philanthropy strategy that considers inclusion, fosters collaboration, promotes storytelling and screams transparency is dire this year.
Get in on the conversation!
We’re hosting a webinar on this very same topic in late May on May 24th at 1 pm ET. Save your seat today at offers.cybergrants.com/winning-csr-webinar.
Use 2017 to turn your CSR strategy around. Here’s how:Tweet This!
Explore this more in-depth in:
Strategic Corporate Philanthropy: A Guide to Success Today’s companies understand that it’s about more than signing up for a new system or creating another nameless, ineffective program. A step-by-step guide to a successful execution of a corporate philanthropy program.
Inclusion
More than a buzzword or a “hot topic”, this concept will dramatically impact your workplace. The changing political climate has consumers, employees and other businesses watching the moves of those they associate with and, above all, your organization can make a real difference for the world.
What inclusion means for the workforce:
- 67% of active and passive job seekers feel a diverse workforce is an important factor when evaluating companies and job offers
- Racially diverse are 35% more likely to experience financial returns above their industry average
- Gender-diverse companies are 15% more likely to financially outperform the competition
Storytelling
One of the biggest challenges in creating a corporate responsibility initiative is that of participant engagement. For many, a reliance on statistics and corporate reports is the only approach offered. However, storytelling, despite its slightly traditional-sounding name, is the best way to encourage participation and convey the meaning of your cause with context. Borrowed from marketing, storytelling is just what it sounds like. Instead of relying on statistics few employees understand or annual reports read by even fewer, the act of couching your cause inside a story brings new life to a corporate philanthropy effort. Your brand may boast stats that seem impressive when stuck inside a pie chart, but that’s not how people make emotional decisions. They want to understand the story behind their involvement and make connections to what they are being asked to do. That’s where storytelling comes in.
Collaboration
39% of employees feel underappreciated at work, with 77% reporting that they would work harder if they felt better recognized! Employee engagement tactics need to be collaborative across every department to truly understand what drives employee participation. Key identifiers of employees who are engaged and participate are ones that feel recognized and appreciated and overall satisfied with their work and workplace.
Transparency
96% of job seekers say it’s important work for a company that embraces transparency. Today’s society and especially today’s workforce has an increasing intolerance for lack of transparency in consumer purchases, career choices, politics, current events, you name it. The Great Recession and the discouraging number of companies over the past decade committing fraudulent business activities, like ENRON and the Lehman Brothers, broke the trust of many of today’s employees.
Now, with the emergence of social media outlets like Twitter, Facebook and Glassdoor, there are a wealth of opportunities for people to openly vent their dissatisfaction about virtually – restaurants, stores, teachers, and employers, just to name a few.
What’s more is 65% of Millennials are even less trusting today of employers’ claims than they were in 2011. What does this have to with Corporate Philanthropy? We invite you to join us on our next webinar to explore this with us.
Webinar Enrollment is Open:
We’re hosting a webinar on this very same topic in late May on May 24th at 1 pm ET. Save your seat today at offers.cybergrants.com/winning-csr-webinar.
